Kumoricon 2025: The Good, the Bad, the Ugly!
Well it’s that time of the year again good readers. It’s time for another critique of Kumoricon, the anime convention in Portland, Oregon. Once again it took place at the Oregon Convention Center. This critique as always got based on the seven-tier criteria system I developed. Now with that said here are some initial observations.
As stated Kumoricon got held in the Oregon Convention Center. And it’s for the best as the convention has become that big. A thing of note is Kumoricon in 2025 actually happened on Halloween. This was the first convention that this critic has ever been to on Halloween. And it was quite an interesting experience.
Another thing of note is this year I paid $531.68 for a top tier VIP pass. Why would I do something so insane? To make sure all readers know if the top tier pass is worth the price. As a con critic it’s my duty to take the financial hit so others don’t have to. With those observations out of the way let the critique begin.
Customer/attendee service is the first criteria for this review. For this the Kumoricon staff and volunteers were first-rate. A good example of such would be this. When this critic was heading back to the Autographs area, I was looking to meet one of the guests of honor. While there I ran into a young lady named Lilac.
I asked her about when the guest would be there, and she was very helpful. She explained the situation and when the guest in question would be in. There was another staff member there who lent a hand. Teamwork is always a good thing.
Another example was at the VIP booth. The lady running said booth remembered me and was very courteous. Friendly staff and volunteers equal a good experience for the customers. Good service towards customers or in this case attendees is top priority. Good will is a key to the success or failure of a convention.
And the con did a superb job this year.
Staff organization is up next and for this year here's something of note. There were different colored cat paw print trails in the registration area. This was an inspired idea on the convention's part. These trails kept things organized and allowed people to get to the booths they needed to. The autographs area of the Kumorimarket is another good example.
Lilac and the staff worked like a well-oiled machine. Everyone worked together to make sure questions got answered and lines organized.
Another good example would be Kaydra and the staff with her. They did a great job keeping the lines for Cosplay Chess and Kumoricon Cabaret organized. Based on these observations it's safe to say staff organization was first rate this year.
Now comes the next piece of criteria in this review, staff morale. And it’s safe to say, it was very good this year. This year's staff and volunteers were very friendly and courteous. Even when there were some technical issues in the main events hall. So, no complaints there.
Next up comes the criteria known as accessibility. For the record this is not an issue for the Oregon Convention Center as they did a great job on that count. As for Kumoricon they stepped up and they did very well. I noticed that the handicapped attendees were getting around with little to no issues at all. So, on accessibility both did well.
As always being so close to some great public transportation helps a lot. I would add one slight complaint though. In the autograph lines of the Kumorimarket there was an issue. They had banners for the various guests of honor. But they needed billboards at the end, that would help the con goers with vision problems a lot.
That way they could see which guest was where. I had to ask some staff members in order to find where I needed to go. This is something Kumoricon should fix for next year.
The next piece of criteria is event/panel variety. Now for this one there weren’t quite as many adult-themed or rather R rated panels this year. But the ones they did have such as the Dating Game 18+ were an absolute hoot. There were panels on Doll making, writing, anime, and voice acting related content. It was okay, a good solid set of choices yet a little bit on the unremarkable side.
Other than that, the panel/event variety was good this year.
Next up comes food variety as the next piece of criteria. This year’s convention was quite unique. The reason being most of the food variety got contained to a single area in the Kumorimarket. There was a macaroni bowl place on the far end of the market. But most of the foodstuffs and drinks got contained in a single area.
There was even a large cafeteria style dining area for people to sit. This was actually a nice touch for the convention. This made things a lot easier for the convention goers. And of course, there were the usual eating places outside the convention Center. Examples being Denny’s, Red Robin, and Burgerville. Food availability was good this year, so nobody went hungry since it was all confined to a single area.
And for the final piece of criteria for the convention comes the important one. How well did they keep modern politics out. This piece of criteria got put in for the following reason. Because modern politics of late has inserted itself into the fan convention scene. And done so in ways that are quite inappropriate.
Now who a person voted for, or what they believe shouldn’t matter at a fan convention. That’s not to say we can’t have debates. Fans can debate which characters are the best and the worst. They can debate what worked and what didn’t in an anime series or movie. Or they can even debate which romantic pairings work and don’t work.
That’s fine, that’s fandom, and that’s okay.
Also, many con goers don’t want to see any kind of political flags at a convention. Now if the flag waved is The Survey Corp from Attack on Titan it's fine. If it's the Holy Britannian Empire flag from Code Geass that’s fine. If it’s the flags of the United Federation of Planets or the Klingon Empire that’s fine, that's fandom, and that’s okay.
On this count Kumoricon did a good job for the most part. Yet Kieran Strange brought some LGBTQ+ flags with him. People can believe what they want. But at a fan convention Robin from Anime America said it best. “Keep your personal politics to yourself.”
Anime conventions should be about celebrating Japan, anime, and culture nothing else. And for the record Kieran Strange can believe as he will. Free Will should always get respected as long as there's no actual physical harm to people.
And now I'd like to address the people out there who are gay, lesbian, or transgender. For the record I have no problem with anyone. How grown adults choose to live their lives or love that's their business. But you don't need to wrap up your whole identity behind a flag, activism, or a single set of beliefs. Treat others with respect even if they disagree with you.
If they're disrespectful in return that's their problem not yours. Be a nice person to all regardless. Judge others and get judged based on content of character.
I have no problem with Kieran Strange. I've known him since I met him at Vancouver Hilton in Vancouver Washington for Kumoricon. And I can say Kieran is very cool and I don't care if he's transgender. He's a person and all people I judge based on their content of character.
Okay rant over, back to the convention critique.
So, the criteria checked out well other than some hiccups here and there.
Now to an important part of the critique some observations. As stated, this author paid $531.68 for a top tier VIP pass. I did so to see whether it was worth it or not. A friend of mine on Discord named Harvestfan and I have talked about this. And we noted the price of a top tier VIP membership seemed more than a bit steep.
After seeing it for myself here is the answer to this question, is the top tier VIP pass worth the price? To be honest no, it’s not worth it! Not even with the Puranormal Cafe perk. In fact, it seems more than a tad bit steep. It’s good to give value to VIP membership but over $500.00 for a membership that seems more than a bit much.
So no, the top tier VIP membership is not worth the price. It’s better to go with one of the lower tier passes. Harvestfan and I talked of this and having a price tag that’s around $400.00 would be a lot more reasonable.
So, after all that’s happened at Kumoricon 2025 this year I give this convention a solid 8. That gives it a B minus grade. They did a lot of good things but there’s some work they could do to make things better for next year. Well, that concludes this critique of Kumoricon 2025. Sakura-Con 2026 will be the next review up, unless something else comes up.
Thank you so much for reading and take care.
Thanks for reading this review of Kumoricon 2025. Sakura-Con 2026 will be next year unless something comes up. Stay tuned to wherever you're reading this. Meanwhile let me know your thoughts in the comments section. Did I miss anything at the convention?
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