Last year, Michigan anime convention goers expressed disappointment on social media about how Michigan’s largest anime convention, Youmacon in Detroit, was becoming increasingly disorganized and problematic each year. For Michiganders, the newest anime convention, Detroit Otaku’s IsshoCon, may just be the alternative they have been seeking.

IsshoCon, which was held Jan. 26-28 at the Sheraton in Novi, is the brainchild of Angelo Williams, and his fiancé, Terry Alexander, owners of Detroit Otaku, an anime shop located in Madison Heights, Michigan. The shop opened in 2020 and has hosted a few smaller one day conventions at a local middle school. In 2023, the store announced that they would be hosting their first three day anime convention, IsshoCon.

Taking the name from the Japanese word Issho, meaning together, they wanted this convention to focus on the attendees and follow their store motto of “Community not customers!” The mindset for IsshoCon was that they wanted to create a convention for those who oftentimes get left out of the community: POC, LGBTQ+, and those with disabilities. “We wanted to give everyone a chance to feel seen and we wanted to make IsshoCon the platform to do that,” stated Williams during IsshoCon’s opening ceremony.

Recognizable cartoon characters were among the cosplayers at IssoCon. Photo by Katherine Warden

IsshoCon started off with the staff hoping that it would be a small step up from the smaller conventions that they had hosted previously; however, it quickly became apparent that this would be much bigger than they originally planned. Where they hoped for a few hundred people to show up over the entirety of the three day weekend, to cover both presales and at-the-door sales, the convention sold out weeks prior to the event with no additional in-person tickets being sold to make sure the staff for the convention and the hotel didn’t feel overwhelmed.

Cosplayers pose at IsshoCon. Photo by Katherine Warden

The convention was filled with everything that fans of these events would look forward to at any other convention: Artist Alley, Video Game Hall, TableTop Gaming Room, Cosplay contests, guest panels, celebrity meet and greets, Ribbon Game, and photoshoot meetups. There was a focus on making sure panels and Artist Alley were an open space for queer, minority, and small artists who are overlooked at larger conventions. IsshoCon also brought in fan favorite artists from other local conventions, such as BoldEogist.

IsshoCon held original events that helped to bring fresh air to the convention. In Artist Alley, the organizers had gotten together with vendors to participate in their Stamp Rally. This rally consisted of artists who had a stamp at their table, and after spending a specified amount at that table, they would stamp a sheet of paper. After five stamps were received, they would be entered into a prize contest to potentially win a prize of one or more pieces of art from every participating artist. This gave artists who may have been struggling with other conventions a chance to see more movement at their booths. Williams announced during the closing ceremony that some artists saw “record sales” during this event.

The Stamp Rally wasn’t the only unique game that con-goers could participate in. There was also the IsshoCon healthy habits event hosted by the Americans with Disability Act representative, Joëlle. This event helped attendees to not only have a fun activity to participate in but also to make sure that people were actively taking care of themselves, something that can oftentimes be forgotten in the wake of the many moving parts within a convention. At the end of the convention, those who collected the most stars end up winning a gift card to a local artist’s shop. But this also helped to put people in touch with Joëlle, who was able to help with any information and receive help with accessibility concerns.

Props are a big item for many cosplayers at IssoCon. Photo by Katherine Warden

The TableTop Gaming host and Ribbon Game Quest Wizard, Benjamin ‘Ben’ Martinez, who is a mainstay at Michigan comic conventions, observed that IsshoCon “was a much smaller and a much more intimate convention.”

Martinez added, “The game room went very well; we got a lot of positive feedback and even some of the suggestions for future conventions were very constructive and not negative.”

Martinez plans on participating in the convention again in 2025. Martinez hopes that next year, the tabletop room can expand to accommodate more people. “I would also like to do more constructed type gaming, like tournaments for card games or tabletop games like Warhammer or X-Wing,” Martinez said.

Detroit Otaku has also announced a summer convention, Detroit Otaku’s Summer Bash, taking place from July 13 to 14 at the Sheraton Detroit. IsshoCon will be returning in 2025, dates and venue to be determined. Information on both events can be found on www.isshocon.com.