Cosplay of characters from “Adventure Time.” Photo by Holly Collins.

One of the country’s largest anime conventions, Youmacon, took place officially for its 19th year at Huntington Place in Detroit, Michigan. The convention is a place where nerds of all different fandoms can come together and express their creativity in a safe place. Whether a person is interested in anime, video games, card games, cartoons, books, or any other form of media, they can find someone who shares a similar interest.

Technically, this is the 20th year of the convention but for the sake of having a proper 20th celebration in 2025, the convention organizers are choosing to omit the virtual year 2020.

Many who attend participate in cosplay, emulating a character or idea from pop culture. These cosplays can be store bought, made from found items in the home, or handmade from scratch, an act which can take many hours, if not days and weeks, to complete.

Those who have made a minimum of 60 percent of their cosplay can enter the cosplay contest. The contest has different skill levels, each with a different award offered. The “novice” level is for cosplayers who have never won an award before, “journeyman” is for those who have won 1-5 awards before, “master” is for cosplayers with 6 or more awards, and there is a youth category as well for ages 14 and under. For those who would like to participate but prefer not to grace the stage, they can enter the Hall Craftsmanship Contest. Those who want the chance to show off their cosplays internationally could enter the Cosplay World Masters category.

The cosplay contest can be performed individually or as a group with up to eight members. It is required to perform a skit that ranges from two and a half minutes to four minutes, depending on the number of people in the group. For the international solo and duo contests, the required skit must be a minute and a half to two minutes long. The skit could be a choice of lip syncing and dancing or performing a scene from the media of choice or an original scene that fits with the characters’ world. There was a panel of judges with incredible cosplay and craftsmanship experience overseeing the event. It was obvious from the audience that the cosplayers who entered and performed in the contest worked hard on their costumes and their performances.

The winners of the Cosplay World Masters USA Representative for the solo category were Clover Aura for Lemon Kokoa from “Waccha Primagi” and Rose Blue Cosplay for Jill Warrick from “Final Fantasy XVI.” The winner for the Cosplay World Masters USA Representative for the duo category was Last Minute Cosplay for Jusetsu and Koushun from “Raven of the Inner Palace.” Each cosplayer showed excellent craftsmanship in both costume and props as well as putting on skits that truly emulated the character and the show they were from. The solo winners will have the chance to represent the U.S. in Lisbon, Portugal, and the duo winners will be representing the U.S. in Madrid, Spain.

Youmacon also features a game room which has a variety of arcade games, dance games, and PC games. The game room was much smaller than years prior which meant the lines to play them were longer, but many were willing to wait to play their favorites and find something new. There is also a tabletop gaming room, which houses the game library. The game library is a free checkout system: leave your ID and borrow a game to pass the time. The library offers a wide variety of board games and card games that can be played in a variety of dedicated rooms on that floor. The tabletop gaming room also has a Dungeons and Dragons figure vendor where you can purchase unpainted figurines. You can then take the figurine to the Paint ‘N Take table where for $3 you can purchase some paint and paint the figurine there.

Youmacon offers an opportunity for nerds to expand their collections or vamp up their wardrobe in the “dealer’s room.” The dealer’s room is like a shopping mall with aisles of stands hosting vendors with a variety of products. Some are selling manga and anime DVDS where one might find the missing piece to finish their collection. Other stalls are selling figurines from all sorts of sources of media. These figurines can range from $20 to upwards of $200. It may seem pricey for a nerdy statuette, but these figurines fly off the shelves. Besides figurines, there are also posters and prints of characters and scenes. There are numerous comfort objects available as well, as you do not need to be a kid to enjoy a snuggly item. These range from body pillows, to plushies, to blankets, and more.

Youmacon vendors sell a variety of T-shirts, socks, hats, and dresses. These items can have characters, funny sayings, or just a cute design. Or they can be in the Lolita or Harajuku style. Lolita is all about frill and maximalism, full of lace and cute design. Lolita comes in goth, classic, sweet, and many more styles. Harajuku can be bright and colorful, like a candy explosion or dark streetwear. Many of these items are imported straight from Japan, where cosplay originated with fans of Japanese anime, or can be found handmade by the vendor.

The convention’s “artist’s alley” has a wide array of artists showing off the fruits of their labor. Some artists draw and sell their work on prints, pins, or keychains. Other artists make headbands, clothing, or jewelry. One such artist is DOVES Leather who sells various leather products like collars, harnesses, clothing, purses. DOVES leather is locally based in Detroit, Michigan. They strive to use sustainable leather made from plants, hoping to change the way people look at leather. All their products are plastic free and cruelty free, with a slow fashion guarantee to maintain style while producing less harm on the environment. DOVES Leather also provides leather workshops to teach others how to take plant-based leather and turn it into something beautiful. Their last workshop took place on Belle Isle in June with an excellent turnout, prompting them to plan another in the near future.

Youmacon has been aligning with a charitable organization to raise money for a good cause for many years. This year the charity was Extra Life Detroit, a fundraising program for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals founded in 2008. Extra Life works to raise donations for local hospitals using the funds toward critical life-saving treatments, healthcare services, innovative research, medical equipment, and child life services.

This money was donated in several ways. One is the unique choice to host the “Go Wild! UNO Charity Tournament.” on Saturday. One hundred percent of the $10 entry fee benefited Extra Life Detroit. The game offered a fun twist to help secure more donations; any extra contribution would allow the house rules to be changed. The Friday night Charity Cosplay Ball also brought in donations for Extra Life Detroit. The $20 event was held Friday night. While the price seemed a little steep, many were happy to pay it for a good cause.

At the closing ceremony, $6200 was raised to benefit Extra Life Detroit. However, the host of the closing ceremony was not satisfied with this amount. He called on the audience members to dive into their pockets and see what final donation they could make. There was a digital QR code option as well for donations. He took off his top hat and began going through the aisles collecting the last-minute money. After he took to the stage and counted the money, they reached the $7000 goal. Extra Life Detroit plans to use some of the money to buy video game consoles for children to use during long-term hospitalization.

A highlight of the closing ceremony was hearing from the new Youmacon chairman, Eric Gaiser, who was elected this year to get Youmacon back on track. He took over the position only three months before the con was to take place. Gaiser has been involved with running conventions since 2012 and is taking over for Youmacon’s founder, Morgan Kollin, who ran the convention since he started it in 2005.

Kollin stepped down after the difficulties of 2023. Youmacon 2023 has been called the worst anime con of the year by many who attended. This is attributed to several factors, from accusations of past charities not receiving donations, staff members not being paid for their services, mailed out badges that many did not receive in time for the con, panelists not receiving reimbursements, and a lack of organization in the convention. Social media posted many photos of the long lines where convention-goers last year had to wait hours in line, and how many of those who did not receive their mailed-out badge failed to receive a refund in a timely manner.

Another criticism of Youmacon 2023 was canceling the “maid café.” The maid café was an opportunity to raise money for charity. Attendees could pay up to $200 to secure a table in the café and they would be served snacks and drinks by a staff dressed in cute Lolita maid outfits. In 2023 this event was canceled days before the convention took place without much explanation. The staff said that those who had paid for a table would be comped for a table the next year. Many were unsatisfied with this response as they were not guaranteed to go to the convention next year and would prefer to receive a refund.

In an official capacity, not much had been said by the company about the events of Youmacon 2023, until Gaiser took the role of chairman. In Gaiser’s letter sent out in August, he discusses the state of Youmacon upon taking over. He stated that he and the convention leadership was in a critical state and would need to explore all the options in front of them, even if it meant postponing the convention. He stated that he and the convention’s council would be implementing a 5-phase plan to help solve the crisis.

Phase 1 focused on finding financial aid and much-needed organizational restructuring. Phase 2 repaid the financial debts owed to the panelists, the failed mail order badges, and the maid café of 2023. Phase 3 secured the convention location and the discounted hotel blocks. Phase 4 updated the con website, opened registration, and announced the guests featured. The guest list included a mix of voice actors and VTubers. VTubers are virtual youtubers who use a computer-generated avatar to hide their real identity. The inclusion of them began with the virtual year of 2020 and they have been included every year since. Phase 4 also included a town hall meeting where the Youmacon community could bring their questions to the council. Phase 5 was the execution of the event and the goal of continuing to make the con a better experience.

Youmacon 2025 is labeled “Rebirth.” The council and chairman plan to make Youmacon 2025 its 20th celebration and want it to be bigger and better than ever.

In years past Youmacon has had over 20,000 attendees. This year there were an estimated 11,000 attendees. Whether the changes planned for next year’s Youmacon can attract more attendees remains an open question.