On Friday and Sunday I attended the London February Anime and Gaming Convention in Hammersmith, West London. The event was held at the Novotel, a large space that included halls, rooms, a stage, a bar, and more. The event was family-friendly and the franchises that were highlighted included universally loved properties, such as Pokemon and the Miyazaki Studio Ghibli films.
I think this particular convention had more groups of young teenagers than past events. Young kids with parents were also prevalent. I felt a bit out of place as a 33-year-old man. Despite this, the event would have been a great one if you had found yourself absorbed by an anime that was being shown, or if you were gaming in one of the retro gaming rooms. If my friend hadn’t backed out at the last minute I’m sure I would have had a better experience. Read on for a short review of the London February Anime and Gaming Convention 2025.
Vibe
To get to the event you just turn right outside Hammersmith underground station and walk for two minutes and you are there. You then walk up some steps to get to the Novotel courtyard. The place was buzzing with activity when I arrived on Friday at about 11.30 AM. There were lines of hundreds of people, about half dressed in cosplay. Many were confused if they were in the right line or not. It was pretty much chaos. The staff told me to wait for 10 minutes before I was able to pick up my press pass. I feel lucky to have been able to skip the queue. People that morning were friendly and kids were running around excitedly. It really was a good place for young teenagers. They were all excited for the event to come. A timetable was available online detailing all the activities and the guest speakers.
Upon entering the building and getting your wristband checked by security, you’ll notice stalls to your right and left. Pokemon had a big presence at the event with many stalls selling Pokemon cards. There was the feeling of a carnival at these spaces. You could barter with the salespeople to get a good deal (or have the illusion of a good deal). There were also BB guns being sold, as well as prop weapons. I assume you’d have to show ID to buy these props. This all gave any young cosplayer the chance to build on their collection, with the slight chance of being ripped off. There were also anime novels on offer. Some of these really appealed to me. The concept of an anime being novelized just screams creativity.
Activities
There’s a lot to do at the Anime and Gaming Conventions in the UK. Firstly, there are celebrity speakers. These are usually anime and video game voice artists. In Japan, voice artists are true celebrities but in the UK there are no real well-known voice artists. However, the talks are insightful and worth listening to. Then there are rooms showing famous anime such as Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away. Then, the highlight for me, was the video game tournament. Unfortunately, I missed the registration for the Smash Ultimate tournament. My skills will have to be secret until I can wake up early enough to register for a tournament at one of these events.
The anime shown are always the classics and often Miyazaki films such as Howl’s Moving Castle. The rooms with gaming are really interesting if you are a fan of retro games. Console from the NES and Master System through to the Nintendo Switch and PS5 were being played. The UK has a different history to the USA in terms of its relationship to video games. For example, the mid-eighties video game crash due to no quality control and a flood of poor quality games never happened in the UK as we were too busy playing the ZX Spectrum and learning to code on early computers. At least that is the simplified narrative often put forward.
What I remember was that Pokemon was massive in the late 90s and the cards, anime, and Game Boy games were some of the most addictive pieces of media I’d ever experienced up until that time. I was around ten years old and if my ten-year-old self had been at the Anime and Gaming Convention London 2025 I probably would have loved it. However, as a 33-year-old man I felt really out of place.
Conclusion
The Anime and Gaming Convention London February 2025 had the potential to be a fun event. If you were with friends and liked anime and gaming there was a lot for you to do. In terms of cosplayers — Demon Slayer, Genshin Impact, and One Piece were well-represented. there was also a big Pokemon presence. The stalls sold lots of anime memorabilia. You could get some good deals, but a lot of the salespeople had bad attitudes and would rip you off if given a chance.
The event didn’t have me jumping over hurdles to even attend as the Birmingham event a few months ago did, but the teen-orientated makeup of the guests meant I felt out of place and didn’t enjoy it. The weapons on sale at the event is also legally questionable. I didn’t think selling BB guns and throwing stars would have been allowed at an event with 14-year-old boys who might have bunked off school to even get there. However, it is a family-focused event with mainly family-focused activities and I would recommend it to families and younger people. If you’re older just know what to expect and go with specific activities as goals to attend and you’ll have a great time.
