Zenkaikon is a multi-genre convention specializing in geeky themes such as anime, gaming, and sci-fi. Anime took the center stage at this Pennsylvania convention, though indie animation is going quite strong, too! Along with the usual Masquerade, the Idol Showcase returned again for the 2025 convention. An isekai theme was prominently shown around the con floor with plenty of photo ops to choose from! 

Thursday of Zenkaikon is a ‘preview’ of sorts for the weekend to come. Attendees may call this Day Zero, as folks typically get settled into the hotel and discuss plans for the adventures ahead! 

 But man, Thursday wasn’t the best. I tried to maintain expectations, but even before the con began. The room block seemed limited. Our group struggled to get a hotel room. Service in the hotel also took a dip in quality. But we were here for the con danggit…. and the weekend did improve! 

Let’s go back again to Thursday.  The convention drastically changed the layout.  Registration moved to the second floor, right above the hotel lobby. Registration was on the lower level years prior. Cosplay events shifted to the lower level this year, in a more prominent area for cosplayers and fans to hang out and take pictures.  I also got my accessibility badge sticker without any hurdles. I wrote a detailed accessibility review for the convention–the accessibility department was so kind –and I want to give them a quick shout out and thank you! The convention did not receive the usual badges on Thursday and attendees used paper badges instead. The con quickly notified folks via social media about the issue and ironed out a solution: swing by registration and get the temporary paper badge switched out for the real deal!

.

 Zenkaikon provided extra content on Thursday of the convention. Some panels were offered, and the gaming room opened early! I attended a panel called Identity Crisis: The Psychological Impact of Being Isekai’d. The panelists discussed various characters from the isekai subgenre, ranging from as old as 90s series such as ‘Fushigi Yugi’ to newer series. ‘Re:Zero’ was a noteworthy example for the psychological aspects. Panelists talked about the show, especially the character Suburu in satisfying detail. I liked the variety of series mentioned and did not anticipate discovering an isekai series about a person reborn as a vending machine. Yes, that series exists, and I did indeed learn about a sentient vending machine in a panel.  It was awesome! The panelists showed off gorgeous editing skills during the video introduction of their panel. The edits were polished and showed off the characters brought up in the presentation in a trailer-like way, which reminded me of AMVs! The panelists discussed the characters by series and gave more of a direct context on the psychology (in an academia style), after the intro. I think that adding even more video clips to the presentation would further improve on this panel. The key art of each character is shown on a slide, but adding screenshots of some moments is something to also consider.  Some of the slides were a little verbose and showed the effort panelists put in for their research. I wanted to read all of the details out of curiosity but had a tough time from the middle rows. Overall, this was a solid panel! 

I  played in the gaming room right when it opened, getting in my usual rounds of rhythm games like Chunitym. The gaming room went back to the Lancaster Convention Center this year rather than the Holiday Inn. I liked the convenience of having gaming an elevator or two away. 

I made my typical Friday trip to the Lancaster Farmer’s market. This market has a range of items like produce, sweets, and handmade goods. I have a tradition of waking up before the crack of dawn each Friday morning for the Farmer’s Market. Why? Three words: Maple Bacon Donuts,

Shady Maple is a booth attendees and staff adore. The donuts are so good, nerdy attendees like myself wake up early for dibs! Con staff pick up some donuts in question around the time the small bakery booth opens as a yummy treat. The bakery didn’t have its usual maple bacon donuts this year. Maybe next year? 

Mean Bean Coffee and Amaranth Bakery are two more booths I made part of my Friday run.  Mean Bean’s staff  offers excellent cups of coffee! Amaranth Bakery makes delicious allergy-friendly goodies such as bread and cookies. If anyone happens to be in the Lancaster area and feeling hungry,  please swing by and support these small businesses. The options are delicious and aplenty. 

Zenkaikon felt…off this year.  The convention did remain professional with issues like the aforementioned paper badge situation. Getting a replacement badge was easy! My main gripe of 2025 ended up being the layout changes. The layout changes threw me for a huge loop; I struggled to get settled into the con for Thursday and even much of Friday.

There are cons in the area that give tours of the con center before the event to show off the layout of a con and build up anticipation for the event. I think Zenkaikon could consider doing a tour of the con center prior to the event on a platform like YouTube. The video could then be shared across social media channels. A post explaining the changes before the con may also reduce confusion.

 I planned on attending a panel about the changes of the convention on Friday. The panel room wasn’t available, possibly due to a last-minute scheduling change. The Con Chair was present for the panel. He remained flexible, did an impromptu Q&A, and attentively listened to questions from attendees. The Con Chair explained about the expanded Exhibitor Hall during the session. I stuck around for a little until needing to refuel for lunch.

I had my lunch and swung over to the Exhibitor Hall. I cosplayed as Bocchi from ‘Bocchi the Rock’ while browsing and shopping. Other shy fans of the series approached me for pictures. Moments like these were so wholesome and I’m glad this cosplay gives others so much courage.  It’s a cosplay that is cozy and I look back on fondly. The layout for the convention had been static for several years in a row. Vendors had the same spots, variety stayed slim, and similar wares gave me a big feeling of deja vu year after year. For 2025, changes and updates were positive. Anime goodies like gachapon, t-shirts, figures, and keychains had much more visibility due to wider foot traffic. Attendees had more room to look at the expanded variety of wares. The increased space felt much more to scale in regards Zenkaikon’s growing attendance.

I didn’t attend many panels at this year’s Zenkaikon and put more focus into events like the aforementioned Masquerade and Idol Festival.  I spent much of Friday exploring the new layout and making pit stops to the Exhibitor Hall, gaming room, and the room for snacks. DJ Ramma asked for help with coverage of the Idol Festival somewhere along my many snack pit stops. The Idol Festival took place Friday night of the con.  Barracuda Cosplay went onstage again this year as the host! Whereas masquerades provide a competition side to the cosplay scene and are broader in scope, Idol Festivals put a spotlight on the popular idol genre and aren’t always competition-based. I mentioned this in prior posts, but do appreciate having a non-competitive option in the Idol Fests for attendees. The Idol Festival is available on Zenkaikon’s YouTube if anyone wants to watch the show.  Performances consisted of dances, covers, and original songs. The length ended up being just shy of two hours. A perfect length! 

I relaxed in the room after the Idol Festival as our group watched YouTube videos and segments of Diners, Drive-in’s, and Dives. Banter about Guy Fieri and the meals then ensued. I made some final rounds at the Farmer’s Market on Saturday and purchased a tasty variety of goodies like matcha cookies and gluten-free raisin bread. 

The Carolina Manga Library helped me pass the time and unwind; they had a gorgeous ‘Sailor Moon’ art book with stunning illustrations that I loved holding in my hands. Turning the pages and seeing the artwork had a tangible feeling to a series which means a lot to me. The Manga Library has certainly grown over the years and expanded in scope.  

I cosplayed as a female Meta Knight on Saturday. I met a fellow Meta Knight cosplayer that day and we exchanged tips on our cosplays. I combine craftsmanship with compiling pieces. DJ Ranma also took me down to the cosplayer area, which I do avoid out of nerves. When I think of cosplay, I do get nervous about wearing anything I create and showing it to others on the con floor.  We briefly talked to some of the judges, and it wasn’t as scary as I thought.  Yay! 

A friend also wanted to get a picture by the beloved isekai truck photography stand! We took some funny photos; our group loved the photography offerings in the halls, like this stand and the gorgeous balloon arch. 

As the afternoon soon dimmed down to a chilly evening, it soon was time for the masquerade!  The costumes and talents were stunning as always, but this part of the review is one of the most challenging to express. I wanted to handle my thoughts of the masquerade carefully.

Let’s start off with the positive. The staff who ran the show did a great job of making a solid show. Masquerades have many logistics behind the scenes, from the lighting, sound to the organization of the audience and attendees. It takes a lot of work, and Zenkaikon does a great job putting all elements together.  

As for the performances? They were excellent as always!  I always love seeing the beautiful costumes on stage and a variety of performances, from the more somber to silly! There were dances, skits, and walk-ons from media, both old and modern.

The masquerade is available to view on Zenkaikon’s YouTube channel, just like the Idol Festival. I do like that the convention uploads the masquerades on their channel after the show. 

There is one major piece of feedback for the convention to consider. Other than the layout changes, this topic does matter deeply to me as a fan who writes articles for cons.  Anime is a medium that sometimes covers difficult topics such as trauma, depression, and grief. Characters in anime may be fictional, yet they have relatable experiences that often resonate with fans.  Performing may be a way for folks to express themselves and navigate their own personal journeys through the characters they enjoy. At the same time, including warnings of such content (before they are shown) is becoming more of a standard with the increasing discussion of mental health in spaces such as cons. 

I strongly urge the convention to have a more concrete approach (possibly a policy?) on content warnings in future events, especially with major ones run by the con like the masquerade.  If a person is uncomfortable about a certain subject, they can quietly disengage by leaving the room prior to the performance. At the same time, performers still should have their freedom of expression. I do believe that masquerades can be an outlet of sorts, even if there are difficult topics. Including warnings can better balance the experience for both attendees and performers.

The momentum of the weekend slowed on Sunday, but I still had food on the brain as always. The Farmer’s Market wasn’t open, but I still had a satisfying stash of goodies left from the previous days! My energy tends to be lower on Sundays at cons. The hype from Thursday dwindled down, but the hallways were lively! Cosplayers roamed the halls on Sundays, giving it their all,  and looked fantastic! Kingdom Hearts cosplays, a Love Live duo, and even a Monster High cosplayer walked around. Sunday does tend to blur for me through the whole chaos of bringing luggage down and navigating checkout. This year has had a lot more chaos than usual with the checkout process. 

 I went with CCGreyWitch at one point as we waited for DJ Ranma S to finish up his time at the con. We enjoyed snacks at a nearby lot and relaxed for a while. 

I brought up the decline in the hotel in previous reviews and want to emphasize that the hotel staff is separate from the volunteer convention staff. The convention books the hotel as a venue space. Concerns regarding the hotel continued in 2025. The room we stayed in this year, like last year, also did not have a bathroom door with a lock. There are loud sliding doors instead. The doors give me agita. So much agita. 

The limited room block before the convention also resulted in our group struggling to find a place to stay in the main convention hotel. We have gotten double beds without many roadblocks along the way. Now, hotel booking and checking in and out of the hotel were quite the nightmare. 

Increased attendance at the convention, along with low amounts of rooms with double beds, was a little frustrating.  I was also worried that at one point our luggage got lost amongst the chaos of checking out. We waited over thirty minutes for our luggage and stopped by to touch base.  I got nervous at one point that the staff had misplaced our group’s items.

Zenkaikon 2025 was different from the typical year. The attendance is continuously rising as the years go on, and the event has expanded to the Holiday Inn. Space has been an ongoing hurdle with the convention due to its exponential growth.

 I think that including food trucks with local eateries outside of the convention space would be an excellent idea, perhaps on the way over to the Holiday Inn space, or even in the Farmer’s Market area after-hours?

Now I’m craving food again…I miss those matcha cookies…

Anyway…

If you like to kick off your con season in the spring and are in the area, Zenkaikon is a good con with room for improvement as it grows and evolves. Please make sure to plan early if you’re attending this event and leave extra space in your luggage for the Farmer’s Market sweets!