Get Into The Rhythm with Castle Point Anime Con
Castle Point Anime Con, a fun family-friendly convention with a lot of excitement. Here's what you can expect and what you should be prepared for when attending:
Meadowlands Exposition Center in Secaucus, New Jersey
Castle Point Anime Con, is an amazing convention that we've attended for the past 4 years. Our first experience of CPAC was at their college campus in Hoboken, NJ back in 2015. We're excited to see that they returned for their second year at the new location, the Meadowlands Exposition Center.
A Convention With Ease
The atmosphere here is enjoyable and comfortable as people can connect or reconnect with friends and family. You can also see how attendees go about their business, and how staff members check in with other staff members to make sure things are running smoothly which is much appreciated. The staff members at the con are very polite and super helpful, we love the cheerful and friendly people chosen to work at this convention.
Panels & Guest
They had a great line up of panels this year. We were truly impressed with the guest they managed to bring in such ProZD, Elizabeth Maxwell, Christopher Guerrero and so much more such as reoccurring guest Creep-P and VocaAmerica. There were some confusion points when it came to finding panels of your choosing, some panels were in the convention center and others were in the Holiday Inn hotel. So depending on your choice of the panel, the walk to and from the main building to the Holiday Inn can get confusing but thankfully there is an information booth and there are staff members posted around the center to help you find your way.
ProZD Industry Panel
Dealers Room & Artist Alley
The dealer’s room was packed, as usual, there are always so many different amazing vendors whenever we go to this convention. One particular dealer that stood out this year was CosMom ConShop. Not only did they have quite the selection but they were super helpful and gave one of our editors some amazing tips on wig handling as well. There were also some amazing artists in the artist alley, we were not allowed to take photos out of respect for the artist there but we were impressed with what we have seen. To top it off Manga creator Lizbeth R. Jimenez of Sacred was there as well which was a pleasant surprise to see as we've been following her work for a long time, if you haven't heard of it go check it out.
Luna with CosMom ConShop
Photo Booth
There was a free photo booth section that attendees of the convention were able to access, this is a great idea considering there were a large number of cosplayers there. The photo booth gave you the option to take your own photos or have them taken by a photographer which is an excellent way to build connections.
Food Vendors
The food vendors chosen this year were an amazing choice. As huge fans of GoGo Curry, we were ecstatic to see them here for a con we thoroughly enjoy every year. Koro Koro Rice Balls was also an excellent addition, as it was a good treat to snack on while traveling around. We also loved the Wild Bill vendor that was here this year, for some of us it was our first time trying classic soda and you can't beat that unlimited refill cup for $5, what a steal!
Improvements
Although being spacious is not a bad thing and gives people space to move around, we would love to see what more can be done with the space they have. We believe they can utilize the space with even more vendors and gaming vendors if given the opportunity too.
Highlights
Have to save the best for last! We gotta say that this year really left an impact on us and we cannot wait for what CPAC has in store for next year. These are some of our highlights for CPAC 2019
1. ProZD - ProZD's Q&A panel which happened on Saturday was very delightful. There were a few funny questions asked but there were also some insightful ones as well. It was amazing to see the variety of questions that came to mind from fans and to hear ProZD's story and response on each of them. He is truly an inspiration to those who want to be a voice actor and gave out thorough advice on how to begin.
2. Kohei Anime Sing-Along - Kohei Hattori's event was outstanding for us. It was so amazing to see so many guests come together on one stage and celebrate our love for anime music. Seeing anime fans sing along and dance to the music together was so joyful to watch and be a part of. We hope to see more of Kohei Hattori's events in the future as he knows how to bring life to the party!
3. Cosplay Repair Station - This is extremely useful in any convention. More conventions should have them as cosplaying can be very tedious and not all cosplayers carry repair tools on them. You never know when you're going to rip something or if your wig is just trying not to cooperate with you. Having a repair team on board with the convention itself to help out their guest with no cost at all is absolutely amazing in our books.
4. VocaAmerica - It was amazing to see VocaAmerica come back as their shows are always phenomenal. We were excited to see that they played some of our favorite Voca originals such as "Breathe" and "Echo". The Utau models that were used were amazing on stage and their movements looked so real, the production team behind this project surely knows how to exceed expectations. The virtual world of concerts is amazing to watch and we hope to see them more active in the convention world and eventually on the big stages one day!
5. Cosplay Pro Wrestling - This year was perfect for the cosplay wrestling event. They made use of the space that was given and it was right by the food court as well, dinner and a show is the way to go. For some of us, it was our first cosplay wrestling show and all we can say is that we want more. We were so excited to see the variety they brought in this year, this is a storyline that never fails to amuse us and we can't wait to see them again.
Wrapping Up - With that being said, that wraps up our review for Castle Point Anime Con 2019. It's still one of our favorite conventions of the year to attend too, and we can't wait to see what next year has in store for us. Till then we'll see you next time!
*Be sure to check out our gallery to see if your cosplay made it on our website!
