Beyond Seguin Borders: Three Days at San Japan

Beyond Seguin Borders is a column written by Seguin Daily News staff members. We all love Seguin, but we also know it’s normal to travel outside Guadalupe County. This is a lifestyle feature column exploring our staff’s adventures Beyond Seguin Borders.

Column by Lizz Daniels

(San Antonio) – Thanks to the Seguin Public Library, Seguin locals may be familiar with the word cosplay. But they may not know that just outside of Seguin, one of Texas’ biggest anime conventions happened just a few weeks ago.

San Japan took place at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in downtown San Antonio, where fans converged to share their love for anime.

My little sister, Cat, has been going to the event for years, and after her friends got sick at the last minute, she asked if I’d like to join her for the weekend. So, on a whim, I threw some clothes in my suitcase and headed off with her for a three-day getaway.

The last time I went to San Japan was in 2016, and once before in 2013. The first thing that stuck out to me when we arrived this year was how much it has grown. This convention has gone from being a relatively small, localized event to something that people from all over the state and country travel to attend. And it does it well.

The convention offered a wide variety of entertainment and shopping to check out, along with discussion panels covering all kinds of topics, from fan theories to how to become a voice actor. And, of course, celebrities were in attendance so that fans could meet their favorites.

Cat and I headed to the artist’s alley first –– an entire convention hall dedicated solely to independent artists and their fan art creations. It’s like a crafter’s bazaar with shimmering neon lights, techno music, and shiny trinkets just waiting to be discovered. We went back there multiple times over our three days at the event, and I swear, there was still more to find. Not only that but the sheer variety and breadth of the art available blew my mind. If you’re ‘nerdy,’ your fandom was there somewhere.

Beyond the artist’s alley was the dealer’s room. Rows and rows of mini-shops lined the hall, similar to the artist’s alley but dedicated to what you’d consider more traditional businesses. The variety of products available isn’t limited to arts and crafts; it’s costumes, plushies, wall art, decor, clothing, jewelry, and much more.

Friday afternoon, Cat took me to the maid cafe. If you don’t know what that is –– it’s okay –– I didn’t either. Honestly, I think I left more confused than I entered, but that doesn’t mean it was a bad experience. After arriving, we were soon ushered into a small ballroom decorated in shades of pastel pink while pretty girls dressed in fluffy maid dresses –– also in pink, escorted us to our tables.

Photo by Lizz Daniels

They served us lemonade (or tea) and a dessert of a chocolate cake or apple turnover. Our maids shared ‘magical spells’ to sprinkle happiness over our snacks, and we had to shout them out and do the special hand movements they taught us –– this is not my cup of tea. Nonetheless, I joined in for my sister, who was having the time of her life.

The maids performed song and dance routines and led a ballroom-wide game of paper rock scissors, and soon it was over.

The next day, Jarred Kindles joined us at the convention for the afternoon, and we took the opportunity to explore something we hadn’t checked out yet –– the gaming area. They had arcade-style games, PC gaming opportunities, a board game library, with lots of room to set up any tabletop game –– even Dungeons and Dragons.

“There was a lot of different stuff there,” Jarred said. “The hosts were super friendly. I sat down for a while and played one of the PC demos, which was really cool. I’ve never been to anything like this before, and didn’t know what to expect. It was nice to see they had stuff for people even if the costume aspect of it doesn’t appeal to them.”

That evening, Cat and I headed back to our hotel room in the Hyatt, and kicked off our shoes to sore, tired feet. I’m unsure how many steps we walked, but it was a lot. We hoofed it to and from the convention center to the River Walk Mall and back multiple times a day because that’s where most of the food was unless you wanted to stand in a long line for the single nearby food truck or pay high prices inside the convention.

That evening, a few events were happening, and we planned on going to the anime rave together, but Cat was too tired. I almost stayed in, too, but something about having a solo adventure sounded fun, so I got dressed and did it. I met some really cool people standing in line and inside the event I had a fantastic time. The music was great, and the DJ even mixed in some that I knew, making it even better. I only stayed for an hour or two and then headed to bed.

The weekend was a lot of fun, and the event would be perfect for families looking for something to do not far from Seguin –– I even ran into a few locals while I was there! I think the part that has stuck with me the most is how diverse it was. Every single kind of person was there, from babies to older folks. People of all ages dressed up and just PLAYED because growing up doesn’t have to mean giving up something you love.

My favorite cosplay of the entire event was a family dressed up as the characters from the Emperor’s New Groove. They had the babies in the stroller, and dad was Pacha. Izma and Kuzco were there too. It made my heart happy to see them all having fun together and getting complimented on their costumes. Fun for the sake of fun –– we should all try it a little more often.