Brick City Anime Festival 2026 Review

New year, new beginnings, and new otaku fun! 2026 is off to a roaring start with a new anime convention. A first-time as well!

2025 was a difficult year for me. I missed out on basically the entire calendar of anime conventions, along with several important social events I really wanted to attend but was unable to. It really sucked… I was devastated and genuinely mourned missing what felt like a huge year for anime conventions. To add insult to injury, it all happened in Florida—the state with one of the greatest landscapes of otaku life and the third-largest number of anime conventions in America. In the end, I only managed to attend a few tiny events, while still missing out on all the big ones.

So, for 2026, I didn’t want the same mistake to be repeated. Toward the end of 2025, as all the great anime cons were wrapping up, I only managed to attend Sarasota Anime Fest in December. With everything ending and the year coming to a close, I dove into some heavy planning for 2026. My first objective was to make sure that, in 2026, I would prioritize cosplay and anime conventions. I decided to put aside my constant focus on merchandise like anime figures, Gunpla, plushies, and J-pop/idol albums. I also toned down my consumerism when it came to anime, manga, and physical video game media, saving up only for cosplay and anime conventions. While the circumstances in 2025 hadn’t favored me at all, I also made some personal mistakes that year that contributed to those blunders. Eventually, Brick City Anime Festival became the first anime con already planned for 2026—and how did it turn out?

I was finally able to experience my first ever multi-day medium-sized anime convention: Brick City Anime Festival 2026, located in Ocala, Florida, and held at the World Equestrian Center. It was first inaugurated in 2022, and this year marked its 5th year—boy, was I glad to have experienced it. The overwhelming amount of fun stuff that happened at Brick City Anime Festival was amazing. It was an anime con full of great things, ranging from incredible cosplay, a welcoming community, idolfests, and so much more. So, how was it for me? How was my first ever anime convention of 2026?

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Is Pokémon The Greatest Achievement of All Time in Pop Culture History?

Many pop culture phenomena have made history, but something about Pokémon stands entirely apart…

On October 16, 2025, people waited in line to buy the latest Pokémon game, Pokémon Legends: Z-A. It didn’t matter how long the line was—all they wanted was to buy the game, play it, and experience the magical journey that every Pokémon game has to offer. (Myself included.) Young and old—the demographics didn’t really matter. Millennial Pokémon fans in their 30s or 40s, who still felt like eight-year-olds from the late ’90s, were showing their children the magical world of Pokémon. Gen Z fans in their 20s (or wrapping up their late teens) were ready to dive into the adventure, just like they did in the 2000s and 2010s. And Gen Alpha kids were gearing up to enjoy the new Pokémon journey, courtesy of their parents. All had one thing in common: they love Pokémon. As time goes by, no matter how old they get, the feeling of playing Pokémon never gets old. As a fellow die-hard Pokémon fan, I echo the same sentiment.

By the end of the first week, Pokémon Legends: Z-A had sold an impressive 5.8 million copies worldwide. This figure, announced by The Pokémon Company shortly after the October 16, 2025 launch, included sales across both Nintendo Switch and the new Switch 2 (with roughly half on the latter platform). Lines at stores, midnight releases, and massive digital downloads proved the hype was real—fans young and old couldn’t wait to dive back into Lumiose City. Never mind that this game is simply a continuation of Game Freak’s experimental Legends series, or that first-week sales were down compared to Pokémon Scarlet and Violet’s explosive 10 million units in just three days back in 2022 (a Nintendo record that still stands). Despite the dip—placing Z-A as the fifth-best Pokémon launch ever—these numbers once again proved just how popular and beloved the Pokémon franchise remains. Another year, another blowout success. No matter how many years go by, the popularity of Pokémon never seems to age. And with the franchise set to celebrate its 30th anniversary in 2026 (kicking off on February 27 with special logos, animations, events, and more announcements on the horizon), the question begs to be asked: Is Pokémon pop culture’s greatest achievement in history?

Many pop culture franchises have enjoyed tremendous success. Disney is known as an animation empire and has always summoned massive audiences. Other well-known pop culture icons—from Hollywood blockbusters like Star Wars to entertainment based on comics and art like DC, Marvel, and international phenomena such as Britain’s Harry Potter—also boast iconic status and huge followings. Yet, in spite of that, their popularity and fortune don’t even compare to Pokémon’s staggering $105–$288B lifetime revenue (with the highest estimates reaching $288 billion as of late 2025, including games, merchandise, trading cards, anime, and more). This makes the Pokémon franchise the highest-grossing media franchise in entertainment history, outpacing giants like Hello Kitty ($80–$88B), Mickey Mouse & Friends ($52–$70B), Winnie the Pooh ($48–$75B), Star Wars ($46–$70B), and the Marvel Cinematic Universe (~$30–$35B from box office alone, plus merch). Pokémon’s fans remain young at heart, it keeps gaining new generations of followers, and somehow manages to retain the old audiences who grew up with it from the very beginning in 1996. The recent launch of Pokémon Legends: Z-A on October 16, 2025—selling an impressive 5.8 million copies in its first week (with roughly half on the new Switch 2)—further proves the enduring power, even if lower than Scarlet and Violet’s explosive debut. So, for this article, I’ll be doing a deep analysis of today’s topic: Is Pokémon pop culture’s greatest achievement in history?

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Grok’s Cosplay Creep Epidemic: What The Heck is Going On?

“The cosplay community is being rocked by a horrific trend unfolding on X—but what exactly is it?”

New year, new beginnings, new excitement, and of course, new drama. Although that sounds typical, this new crazy firestorm that’s been rocking X lately is what I’d call “something else.” Today we know that, nowadays, the concept and lifestyle of hyper-sexualized living may be in a golden era—or in this case, “a dark era” for sane individuals like us. On the internet—whether it’s social media, websites like YouTube, Facebook, Instagram (especially), and of course X (formerly known as Twitter)—these platforms, along with the entire online hemisphere, are rife with sexual content. The phenomenon has gotten so out of hand that there’s now a popular term for it, which I’m sure most of you already know: “gooning.” Those who practice this insane pornography-addiction ritual are called “gooners.” Because of this wild gooning epidemic, the internet has truly lived up to its meme and that old song: “The Internet Is for Porn.”

Cosplay is a fun passion where many people dress up as characters they love—fictional ones, original ideas, and of course, all sorts of other creative concepts. In my personal opinion, cosplay is a form of artistic expression where a fictional character is brought to life by an individual simply through dressing up in a costume. While this sounds typical, it carries a very deep meaning, and when done professionally, it elevates costume-wearing to a whole new level. In other words, it’s like two souls—one from the real world and one from the fictional world—merging into one. That’s how I feel when I cosplay as my favorite characters. Of course, like all interests, cosplay has a dark side. The community is plagued by notorious issues such as racism, degradation of looks, toxic attitudes, indecent incidents, consent violations, and body-shaming. These problems run rampant throughout the cosplay community, and even as of 2026, they continue to persist. Of course, there’s another issue emerging right now—one that no one, myself included, ever expected… In fact, it’s pretty scary what’s going on…

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2025 In Review: The Year of Revolutionary Change, And Frustrating Setbacks

The year 2025 has been a huge roller coaster for me. It was a year of unprecedented revolution, but at the same time, a year when frustration and setbacks ultimately held me back from fulfilling my potential. For the first time in my entire life since I started Animangemu, I went fully social. I showed my face, dramatically changed Animangemu’s course, and transformed it from a simple brand into an interactive one that embraces social media, personality, and the importance of individuality. Meeting new people, finalizing Animangemu’s true identity, and finally awakening my passion for cosplay and events after years of keeping them on the back burner felt incredible. Animangemu also experienced unprecedented levels of growth and recognition. My knowledge expanded, and embracing this new Floridian otaku identity feels amazing—I’m truly glad I made this change for both myself and the brand.

Sadly, this year will also be remembered for the big plans that ultimately failed to materialize. I missed out on many amazing events and found myself more bitterly waiting for change than actually living in the moment—constantly walking up and down, watching others have fun while I did… well, nothing. Not to mention how angry and bitter I feel knowing how many awesome 2025 events I missed. My anime, manga, and video game consumption also hit its lowest point ever. The year suffered from massive droughts of activity, and in the end, the really big moments didn’t arrive until December.

So for 2026, I’m going to dramatically change everything for the better. Still, this year had some truly memorable moments. Here’s a recap of everything that happened for me in 2025.

When I first started 2025, Animangemu remained pretty basic, and most of my interests from 2024 simply carried over into the new year. For a short while, everything stayed the same. But during the winter of that year, something felt off—a glaring issue was beginning to surface. At first, I couldn’t quite pinpoint what was wrong, but by the time March rolled around, it became obvious: things were getting stale. Time was moving forward for me, and what once felt basic and mandatory no longer did. Indeed, things changed later on, and the ride was bumpy. I achieved some major milestones, but I also suffered some serious hits and setbacks. Around the middle of the year, I realized nothing was going to improve as long as I kept relying on the same stale methods as the sole foundation of my platform. So, I dramatically reshaped Animangemu’s brand along the way. By August, it hit me hard: as long as Animangemu stayed the way it was, things would never get better. Cosplay and anime conventions had been my constant desire, but they remained out of reach due to various issues. Eventually, though, it happened. I purchased a lot of awesome merchandise, and I genuinely enjoyed some notable anime, manga, video games, toys & games, and even some Tokusatsu. Finally, cosplay became the absolute highlight of 2025 for me—and so did my event schedule. This forever changed Animangemu and ultimately kicked off a new era of interactivity—not just for my brand, but for my life as a whole. In other words, I began to live life again, fully engaging with others over the cringe otaku stuff that still makes me happy to this day. Of course, none of this would have happened without the revolution of Animangemu’s brand change. Over the months, my brand grew bigger and bigger, and even some big-name figures in the community took notice of my work. Animangemu became a full-time job for me, and I loved publishing hit articles that caught the attention of so many people. Now, in 2026, expect things to go into overdrive. I already have a HUGE amount of big plans ready for next year, and unlike 2025, I won’t be missing out on any of them. I hope you enjoy what I have in store. Here’s a recap of everything that happened for me in 2025.

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