ALCL London Anime Con 2010

Written by Jon Liang on 29 Jun 2010

This weekend, on Saturday June 26th, the Anime League Club London ran their first “full-blown convention” (at least that I’m aware of). At an advertised 800 member capacity this looked to be the biggest convention of its type to be held in the heart of London in recent memory. On behalf of the UK Anime Network, I was sent down to investigate what all this noise was about.

I wasn’t sure what to expect coming in. There have been many an individual or group that has talked-the-talk before and produced nothing to show for it. I didn’t even know anything about the Anime League running this outside of some small controversy of paying money for more active forum members. Besides, it’s a blisteringly hot day outside and the football is on tomorrow. I didn’t expect to see hundreds of people willing to forgo a Saturday out in the sunshine for an indoor event, let alone in heavy costumes. At least that was what I told myself as I packed on to the underground rail, heading for Holloway Road Tube Station.

I happened to run into group of friendly con-goers en route. They helped me find the place easily, made conversation and even held my place in the queue so I could take pictures for this report - A queue which completely exceeded my expectations at that. During which time some cosplayers & photographers took the initiative to take advantage of the sunshine and do some street-level photo sessions. Off the top of my head I can recall one particular Jenova complete with laser-etched metal nameplate and two of the lovely Code Geass girls as well as some great black-winged butler.

Again to my surprise I found myself being given free sandwiches from these alien strangers. From a community of people who've largely never met before and whose names I don't even know, their friendliness and generosity are most notable.

In the midst of the blazing summer heat, the waiting did seem to go on for quite a while, partly due to the slow processing speed. It's not something I can criticise too heavily since that has been fairly common at many an anime convention, especially smaller ones. The organisers were also very prompt to apologise for delays so it's not something I feel I can hold against them.

Once inside, registration was quick and painless. Names were written down, payments made and paper wristbands were attached. These are the same types of tamper-proof entree markers used even in London Expo. Incredibly efficient and cost-effective means of knowing who has paid for entry and circumventing the con-badge-swapping shenanigans that often dog conventions (and to which I personally wag a finger of scorn at). After processing, I finally managed to rendezvous with Andy, who turned out to be half a dozen places behind me in the queue. A much-need cool and refreshing cider later he presented the event's Con Book. Turns out they'd forgotten to give me mine; A small gaffe that was easily remedied by grabbing one from the front desk. The book itself became very useful in figuring out what was on the menu for the day (and to some extent making this article much easier to write too).

The list of events on offer is divided in to "Upstairs “and "Downstairs". Essentially the dealers room & a stage taking up most of the upstairs room and downstairs was an open bar area with video screens, a smaller stage, artists corner, some tables to play card games, doodle or drink at and another room set aside for computer games.