15 years. It has been 15 years (give or take a couple of events outside their control) since a group of like minded anime fans got together and decided to organize a convention to celebrate their love of anime and Japanese culture. From their humble beginnings at Our Lady of The Lake University to nearly taking over a renovated Henry B Gonzalez Convention Center, San Japan has been the heart of the anime community here in San Antonio, Texas. So what better way to celebrate this occasion than with a big birthday party. And not just any kind of party, a quinceañera. A quick cultural lesson: in most Hispanic cultures, a quinceañera is the celebration marking a girl’s passage from girlhood to womanhood and emphasizes the importance of family and community. And since San Antonio has a predominantly Hispanic population, it makes sense to use this bit of Hispanic culture and integrate it to this year’s theme.
True Dungeon returns- After being gone for about four years since the closure of PAX South, the Dungeons & Dragons inspired LARP escape room, has finally come back to San Antonio. It kind of makes sense to have True Dungeons at an anime convention, as in the last few years there has been an increasing number of anime shows that have elements and tropes seen in a game of D&D. Personally I didn’t get a chance to experience True Dungeon as the wait times were a bit too long for my liking and that there were various other panels and events that coincided with the available time slots for True Dungeon. Nonetheless I am glad to see True Dungeon back in San Antonio and I hope that it comes back next year.
Expanded Itasha car show– Ever since their first car show in 2017, Itasha Paradise has alway had some of the most impressive decorated cars every single year. And with each passing year, there are more and more participants showing up to show their favorite waifu on their cars. This year was no different as there were an estimated 75+ cars taking part in the car show. Some of them were familiar faces while others were showing off for the first time. At the pace that the car show is growing, it could easily be spun off into its own event outside of San Japan. If this does happen, it just means more San Japan related events to enjoy during the year.
Expanded arcade area– I mentioned in a previous review of San Japan that the arcade/console gaming areas took a hit post-Covid return as to keep in line with in person measures and restrictions. Since then it has been slowly being built back up to what it once was. This year the arcade saw an increase in games as local anime store Otaku Cafe has provided their entire arcade for con-goers enjoyments. This includes brand new rhythm games. Filling out the arcade area was more Arcade 1up cabinets and since Arcade 1up has been around for a couple of years already, there was a wide array of arcade games on display, including the Terminator 2 light gun game. If that wasn’t enough, there was also a great selection of pinball tables to play on. I do still miss the candy cabs and the Gundam pods that were in the arcade in previous years though. But with the way that San Japan is returning to how it was pre-Covid, hopefully we’ll see the return of those.
Expanded indie gaming area- Indie gaming has always been a fixture at San Japan for as long as I can remember. Even before PAX South, San Japan gave local game developers a platform to promote and show off their games and network with each other and fans. This year the number of developers showing off their games has increased. Not only that, it seems that there were also some tabletop gaming developers that were also in attendance giving demos of their games. Its great to see that both video game and tabletop developers found a home with San Japan and I hope that they continue to grow.
Return of non-anime activities- One of the more common “complaints” that San Japan has had over the years was what else was there to do? Sure there were plenty of panels with some of them being interactive, not to mention the concerts, the anime inspired EDM dance, arcade/console gaming areas, meeting guests and of course the dealer hall and artist alley. But what else is there to do once you’ve seen and done the things you wanted? How about catching an indie wrestling match? Or maybe some in-door laser tag? How about getting a small taste of a ren-faire and learning the basics of medieval dueling.
There were two missed opportunities that I felt San Japan could have added to help enhance the theme of the con. They are the following:
Mexican VAs/industry people- When San Japan started to bring over guests that work in the anime industry in Japan (directors, producers, studio founders etc) being able to hear what goes on in creating anime was a huge highlight of the convention that they still continue to this day. However I feel that there was a missed opportunity for this year. Since this year’s theme was inspired by Hispanic cultural traditions, I felt it would have fit the theme to have Mexican voice actors and industry workers as guests. Anime is a very big deal in Mexico, with Dragon Ball being the most popular anime in the country. It would have been great to see how the industry works from their point of view, hear their stories about how anime grew in Mexico and learn the differences between English dubs versus Spanish dubs.
Not leaning into the theme, music wise– Building on top of the theme of this year’s San Japan using aspects of Hispanic culture, I feel that the convention, in addition to the Japanese music acts, should have added Mexican musicians as well. As I mentioned earlier, anime has had a very big impact in Mexico and with the theme being a quinceañera, there should have been a mariachi band. Or if mariachi music isn’t your thing and you’re looking for something that you could possibly dance to at an actual quinceañera, a Norteño banda would have been awesome. San Japan’s musical lineup is already full of very talented artists, but it would have been nice to lean into the con’s theme music wise.
After all these past 15 years (give or take a couple of years due to issues beyond staff’s control) San Japan is still one of San Antonio’s best cons to attend. Every year just gets bigger and bigger, and with the current growth it is having now that’s it been three years post-Covid it will eventually will have to take over the whole convention center and possibly add in a fourth day. Here’s to a great 15 years and to another successful 15 more.
