Anime Midwest 2026: Just Downright Bad
Hello r/animecons.
I am a long time con attendee in Chicagoland who has been going to cons in the area for over a decade. And this latest Anime Midwest was just downright bad this year. It had issues with panels, 18+ ID checks, general badge checks, and more. Let me get into it below.
NOTE: I am well aware of the accusations and reports around Ryan Kopf. I will not be addressing this in this post, as others have done a far better job at this, and any attempt to mention it would only distract from the core of my critique, and could be factually incorrect on my part.
Alright. So for some background on this years convention.
- Anime Midwest has moved away from the Hyatt Regency O'Hare, and into the Doubletree and Embassy Suites. The reason they cited was due to the rising costs of the Hyatt Regency.
- Hall A in the Donald E Stephens Convention Center is undergoing maintenance, so Hall E had to be used instead. This was completely out of their control, so I won't hold them for that.
So let's begin.
I want to lend some credence, as there was a few things I thought were good.
One, preregistration was simple and fast. Adding in QR Codes really improved the speed of the lines, which have been a problem in the past.
Two, the Consweet is always a welcome addition to any con. The ability to get free soda, cup ramen, and rice will always be appreciated.
Third, the Artist Alley was pretty good. It had a good variety of artists, and they were all pleasant.
Four, all the panelists and people I met at the convention in general were all great, and were awesome to be around. But this is for almost every single con I go to anyway.
Five, the guest list (for a convention of its size) was okay. They were mostly English dub voice actors, but that is to be expected of a con of this size (more on that later).
But now, we have to get into the plethora of negatives.
One, there was minimal arcade games for the video gaming section. Only crane booths (which cost money), and console games were in the video game room. There were a few arcade games on the mezzanine level, but not enough for Anime Midwest. While this would be okay for a smaller convention, this is not okay for a con like Anime Midwest.
Two, there was just no formal TCG presence at all. This was allegedly due to the people who were supposed to run it bailed on the convention. As someone who regularly plays MTG, this was a let down. As for why they couldn't contact one of hundreds of card shops in the Chicago area to do it, I do not know.
Three, the "Main Events" room in the Embassy Suites could only hold around 200 people, and got really hot and humid during the rave. For reference, this room was much smaller than the Medium Room at Anime Midwest before COVID. It was about the size of the TCG/Board Game area of years past at the Hyatt. Popular things like the Burlesque show capped early, which was a first for me at a mid sized con. It really made me miss the rooms at the Hyatt, which I never thought I would.
Four, there was no checking IDs for any 18+ panels. I attended around 4 18+ panels (I am 22), and at none of them was I ever checked for ID. Checking ID for 18+ panels was the standard not even a year or two ago. It was so unusual that even people at the panels were joking about it, holding their IDs up to each other to prove they're adults. The only exception to this was the Burlesque show, but this was probably more of a hard requirement by legal.
Five, 18+ panels were WAY too early in the day. 18+ panels should be left for after 7 PM. However there were 18+ panels (where there were no checking of IDs) at noon on Saturday. Meaning any high schooler could've walked into the 18+ panels after getting dropped off by their parents at noon, and made the odds of a minor going into an 18+ panel all the more higher.
Six, the Rosemont crossing guards left after dark. Meaning that if you wanted to get to the convention center (all the panels) at that point, you either had to take the sky bridge, adding 10 minutes to your walk, or cross a 4 lane road where cars are going 50+ miles per hour, and don't stop for pedestrians. This was fine when it was the Hyatt, as most foot traffic was going to and from the Hyatt and Convention Center, where there is minimal vehicle traffic. But with the hotel change, this could prove to be more dangerous.
Seven, there wasn't enough variety in panels, and a lot of them were repeats for Chicago conventions. Anime Midwest used to have around 10 panel rooms spread across the Hyatt Regency and the Convention Center (including Main Stage and Medium Stage) in 2022. This meant that there was always a variety of panels. But with the move, the amount of panel rooms has lowered to 6 (only including a Main Stage). This means that there can't be as much variety in the panels, and that groups might find themselves having nothing to do. My group ran into this problem multiple times, where we didn't not even a year ago. Also, a lot of the panels were repeat panels, where although good, were repeated without much changing from year to year.
Eight, the Doubletree had small issues hosting. The big problem was a lack of an easy way to get to the second floor without taking the elevator. This means that everyone who is trying to get the Consweet, Karaoke, Escape Rooms, etc. all had to take the elevators with the people trying to get to their hotel rooms. And only three of the four elevators were working, causing lines for the elevator on the first and second floors. And no panels were hosted in the Doubletree, making it much harder to justify staying with the convention.
Nine, there were very few badge checks anywhere at the convention. The only places they actually checked that I knew of was at the dealers room, rave, and the burlesque show (so maybe the Main Events room only). No other panels, activities, or events had badge checks that I was aware of. It made me paying 55 dollars for my badge feel like I got minimal reward for it. Like someone could've just ghosted the con, and still got more or less the same experience I did.
Ten, for some reason, they put the AnimeCon.com table right in front of the doors to get into Registration and the Dealers Room on Saturday afternoon. I don't understand why they did this. My theory is that they wanted more people taking their convention books and ads for the next conventions. But the book is useless, as it doesn't contain a list of the panels, and no one would ever take an ad. Like most people who were attending know about their other cons, and they didn't need the badge check, as they had convention center staff doing this for the dealers room. All it did was force force foot traffic to route around them. Honestly, this one is pretty minor, but it's enough to note.
So before I dive any deeper, I want to say that everything below is pure speculation, and should not be treated as a hard fact.
First, the decrease in attendance is obvious. Anime Midwest used to attract around 15,000 people pre-COVID in the Hyatt. Hotels rooms in the Hyatt would sell out a month or two before the con. It wasn't as bad as ACen, but there certainly was demand. But this con had maybe 7,000 to 10,000 people max. This has overall decreased the quality of the convention along with it. Look, I'm a huge fan of small cons, but this felt like it was trying to be a larger convention, without any of the organization or infrastructure of a large con, and it really showed.
Second, there is also a massive decrease in volunteers and staff for this convention. Volunteers and staff are the unsung heroes of all anime conventions in the US. But most of them left, either due to Ryan Kopf and the issues surrounding him, a lack of organization, or Anime Magic attempting to usurp Anime Midwest, and driving most of the volunteers and staff with them.
All in all, this convention felt like some kind of compromise. Like we don't have enough attendees or good panelists, so we compromise with this. We don't have much space, so we compromise with this. We don't have enough volunteers, so we compromise with this. Look, a few compromises would be okay, but this many compromises causes a major problem, and makes the event less fun for all attendees.
This is a really painful thing for me to say as a long time Chicago con attendee, but I would NOT recommend you or anyone you know go to Anime Midwest next year, especially if they don't move back to the Hyatt Regency. I know me and my party won't.