Tampa Anime Day 2026 Review

Posted on May 15, 2026 by Otaku_Kurai

My first local anime con of 2026 was one of the smallest anime conventions and turned out to be the unexpected crowned winner so far!

Missing out on Swampcon, Freecon, and ACEcon day 2 was brutal. After all the much-anticipated hype for those three, I couldn’t attend them, and to make matters worse, April turned out to be a month with no anime conventions or events whatsoever. So, to sum it up, I was unable to duke it out in the otaku interactive fun activities that I’ve been doing since Sarasota Anime-Fest, which started in December 2025. Of course, it didn’t last too long, but nonetheless, boredom was strong, and I could tell that Animangemu’s content was growing a bit stale for my readers.

That’s when Anime Day Official, the group that I’ve been following for over a year, finally announced its scheduled date for Tampa locals, and the timing couldn’t have been better. Right at the start of May, I knew that my drought of attending anime cons was finally about to end.

If you’ve been following me for a while now, I’m sure you’ve read my articles about the anime cons I’ve attended previously, like Brick City Anime Festival and Sarasota Anime-Fest, for example. Similar to my previous anime con experiences, Tampa Anime Day is yet another example of a local anime convention done right. In fact, it’s arguably the best I’ve attended so far.

Located at the Sheraton Tampa Brandon Hotel in Tampa, Tampa Anime Day was my first true local anime convention of the year. I know many of you probably thought it was ACEcon, and while that’s true for the broader Tampa metro area as a whole, ACEcon was held in Palm Harbor. If we’re talking about Tampa itself, then this was the first actual local anime con of the year. It also had the shortest travel distance for me (except for Brick City Anime Festival during my time at my former local base in Ocala). Anime Day Official is known for hosting events in several cities across the country, like Nashville in Tennessee and Huntsville in Alabama. Florida has had three so far: Jacksonville, Orlando, and most recently Tampa. I wanted to attend last year, but was unable to do so.

Now, I was finally able to attend in 2026, and how did my first true local anime con turn out? Well, a tiny bit of spoilers, but it went beyond my positive expectations. In fact, it was so darn good that I can’t wait to tell you about all the awesome stuff that happened for me at Tampa Anime Day. Buckle up and get ready for the show!

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ACEcon 2026 Review (DAY 1 ONLY)

Posted on March 16, 2026 by Otaku_Kurai

Even though my first local anime con got cut in half, this library-themed gem delivered plenty of surprises—stuff I never would’ve imagined!

2026 has started with a massive bang for me! I’ve already attended a total of five anime conventions since the beginning of the year. Sadly, the weeks after Ocala Anime-Fest haven’t been kind. I missed SwampCon due to personal issues, and then I had to skip day 2 of ACEcon—even though it was my first local con. Because of this, I won’t be able to do a full review of ACEcon 2026 like I have for the previous anime cons I’ve attended. That’s a huge shame because ACEcon was so darn fun… I’m still pretty sad about missing day 2—even two weeks later. I really hope 2027 will be different.

Putting the negativity aside, my expectations for ACEcon—like all the previous anime cons—were filled with massive hype. However, due to ACEcon’s limited social media presence, this library-based Palm Harbor anime con remained a huge mystery to me. I heard very little info about it and struggled to find much general hype surrounding the event. In fact, I think ACEcon has been the least advertised con I’ve come across. Despite that, I was still excited as heck, and the lack of info only made the hype even stronger for me.

For a quick synopsis: ACEcon is a public library anime convention held in Palm Harbor, Florida. It runs for two days and is completely free to attend (admission-free con). First inaugurated in 2014, ACEcon has been going strong for over a decade and hopefully will continue for many more years. It’s another great example of an anime convention run purely by dedicated fans with the support of passionate otakus. Even though it’s a library con, it was packed with fun panels to attend. My only regret is that I could only experience one day of it. Either way, buckle up and join me on this quick recap of my time at ACEcon 2026!

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Ocala Anime-Fest 2026 Review

Posted on February 16, 2026 by Otaku_Kurai

The third anime convention of the year was filled with an unexpected twist—one that raised my expectations even higher in an area I’m already very familiar with!

By the time I publish this article, there’s one thing I can definitely tell you: I’m already very familiar with the city of Ocala as a whole. It all started way back with Ocala Comic Con in 2023. Since then, I’ve attended at least four events there in total—and five if we’re counting repeat yearly ones. So what is this anime convention I’m talking about? Well, it’s Ocala Anime-Fest, another anime con from OurCons—the same awesome group behind Sarasota Anime-Fest, which I attended (the second one) on December 6, 2025. Held at the Hilton Hotel in Ocala, this was my second time visiting that hotel, with the previous visit being for OGPokeCards (OG Con) on August 30 of last year. Not only that, but I was also pleased to cosplay as Kaito from Vocaloid—my first brand-new cosplay since Len Kagamine’s for Sarasota Anime-Fest. So far, he’s been the best and my favorite to cosplay! I can’t wait for more cosplay in the future!

Ocala Anime-Fest 2026 came out of nowhere! Just as I was about to finalize my entire calendar for my 2026 anime convention plans in 2025, it suddenly popped up, bringing me a ton of great excitement. Hilariously, though, right after I moved my base from Ocala to Tampa, Ocala starts lighting up my otaku radar again—after a few years of barely anything happening there except Ocala Comic Con and Brick City Anime Festival (both of which I’ve already attended). Nonetheless, I was utterly pleased to learn that the Horse Capital of the World now has another anime con to check out.

Another interesting part is that this year marked the first inauguration of Ocala Anime-Fest. This anime con in Ocala is completely brand new and still so young. So just knowing that I was able to attend its very first year gives me yet another cherished memory and another personal achievement that I’m really happy to have experienced. So, how did this newcomer do? What great magic did this anime con have in store for me?

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SSAS+ Toracon 2026 Review

Posted on February 3, 2026 by Otaku_Kurai

What was my first anime convention of this year would turn out to be the only one at this event’s small and humble finale.

Following the successful Brick City Anime Festival 2026 weeks earlier, I was obviously eager to continue my anime convention journey for the year. Before I discovered SSAS+’s Toracon in late 2025, I was always checking animecons.com to see if any new anime cons in Florida would pop up—and sure enough, one did. This humble convention, despite having run for 15 years, was one I shamefully never knew existed. After learning, it was held in Sarasota—a city I was already familiar with from my previous time at Sarasota Anime-Fest 2025—I knew my chance to attend Toracon was all but cemented. Once it concluded, SSAS+ Toracon became my second anime convention of 2026. It was also my first free convention ever and one of the few free ones this year. My choice of cosplay? None other than the original one: Tobi! My good boy deserved to attend his first anime convention, and at long last, he did!

SSAS+Toracon is an anime convention located in Sarasota and hosted at the Sarasota School of Arts and Sciences charter school. It was first inaugurated in 2012 and ran for fifteen years, with 2026 marking its final edition. It is highly likely that no future events from SSAS+Toracon will happen anymore. Unlike previous years, the con was admission-free in 2026 and lasted only three hours. Toracon is notable for its family-oriented theme and popularity among children—particularly elementary and middle schoolers—but despite that, it remains an all-ages anime convention open to everyone. This simple fact makes Toracon the smallest and shortest anime convention of 2026 for me (as of right now). So, the question is, why did I travel to attend SSAS+Toracon? Well, exactly for that reason. This con had its last year ever in history, and just knowing that I, Kurai of Animangemu, got to attend Toracon’s finale—with photos, recordings, and having witnessed all the events—makes me feel proud that this otaku was able to be present at an anime con’s closing chapter. In the distant future, when some advanced civilization discovers that an anime convention called SSAS+Toracon once existed, they will see that this otaku journalist’s name and brand were etched into the history books. At the same time, just remembering it fills me with overwhelming sadness. Toracon wasn’t just a con; it gave me my first real taste of “con crash” in the history of my otaku life—something beyond the usual anime, manga, and video game consumerist world. In other words, this was a truly revolutionary moment for me…

SSAS+Toracon 2026 had a lot of great things. However, you’re probably wondering: How did this anime con, despite its small size and short three-hour run, manage to rock the fun for me?

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Brick City Anime Festival 2026 Review

Posted on January 12, 2026 by Otaku_Kurai

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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