Gamerhub at Bristol Anime and Gaming Con

In a couple of years that have been, let’s not beat about the bush, ruined by covid, 2022 is seeing the return of ‘IRL’ events. The Anime and Gaming cons, hosted at various locations around the country are organised by Anime League and on the 20th of March, was hosted in Bristol at the Mercure Hotel. The weekended turned out to be probably the first ‘spring’ weekend of the year! Perfect timing!

As usual there were a host of niche shops and stalls, selling some great ornamental decorations, lights and pictures. We got some pictures of our favourites that can be seen below. Bristol brought out the best in local cosplay too, with some truly fantastic outfits from some of the most well known anime (and some of the not-so-well-known)

By far the highlight for us (as you might expect) was the games room. It was one hellavu games room too. Brimming with nostalgic goodness for old men like me, through to Xbox Ones and PlayStation 4s. We sat down and chatted with gamers enjoying some of the greatest hits through the ages. We do have a couple of more focused pieces in the coming days discussing these, so stay tuned for them. But in terms of some of the wonderful people we met, we wanted to shout out Joe, Kate and Paul. All regulars at the Bristol Anime and Gaming Con, Gamerhub had a chat with the three of them while enjoying some retro games.

Interviews at Bristol Anime & Gaming Con

Kate and Paul had both performed earlier in the day (see a clip below) which was action packed full of performances and giveaways! Gamerhub were lucky to get to ask these wonderful people about their experiences.

1. JE: How long have you been coming to Anime & Gaming cons, is this the only one you go to?

I’ve been attending the Bristol Anime & Gaming Cons the past 5 years. No, I also go to lots of other conventions too.
Kate

No, I’ve been going since 2017 to these Anime League cons, but this was my first time back since lockdown.
Joe

About 4 and a half yeara now. I’ve been to other gaming/comic conventions that have happened locally, also been to some wrestling conventions in the States.
Paul

2. JE: For you personally, what is the best part?

The performance competitions such as lip sync battles and karaoke competitions.
Kate

Meeting new people and finding kindred spirits. I met some of my closest friends since going to these cons.
Joe

With any convention it’s the social element. It’s easy to start talking to people because that shared interest is there. And there’s always a friendly atmosphere to these cons.
Paul

JE: Follow questions have you ever won?

Yes, we have won in past years but this year came runners up.
Kate

3. JE: After the whole covid mess, how glad are you to see IRL events back on?

Very Glad, they were dearly missed.
Kate

I’m a massive extravert so the whole virtual event thingy didn’t really do it for me. I’m happy that things are slowly going back to normal. Unpopular opinion IRL is better than virtual.
Joe

Very glad! Again, what makes these events special is the atmosphere and interatction, which you can’t replicate online.
Paul

4. JE: Kate and Paul, do you regularly perform? (at conventions)

We perform each time we come to the Bristol Anime & Gaming Cons, but not at any other conventions.
Kate

Yes! I think me and Kate would take any chance to perform. To give her credit, Kate will meticulously plan out a detailed routine for us. Then I just ignore it and do my own thing.
Paul

5. JE: What was your best moment of the 2022 Bristol Anime & Gaming Con?

Getting to see mates there and having fun doing the lipsync battle and karaoke competitions!
Kate

I manage to create a mosh pit by singing chop suey, meeting new friends and just getting out and trying new things.
Joe

Getting to perform with my best friend is always almost certainly the highlight. We both love to make fools of ourselves for the entertainment of others. I love how people will come up to us afterwards and say really kind things.
Paul

Here is a snippet of some of Paul and Kate’s performances. We very much hope to see them picking up more awards next year.

Gamerhub very much look forward to seeing everyone at the next Bristol Anime & Gaming con in 2023. It’s so great to see people out there enjoying events again in 2022. See below for some photos of the friends we made and where you can find them!

Stalls of cool merch at the at the Anime & Gaming Con

These Awesome and original Pokeball designs by Bespoke Pokemon Art are all handmade!! Perfect designs for a games room! We were so impressed with these and it was hard to select just a few photos for this piece.

Canime design some seriously cool anime designs onto canvas. See some of their works below or go to their website.

We also saw some really cool badge and print designs from PhaseChan Art and Illustration. Offering some unique designs of owner Lydia’s own invention! See one of her designs below, but more to come on that later.