Animax Carnival 2016 has rolled on by once again and we can’t help but feel they could have stepped up their game. Here’s a few things we felt Animax could have done better for their annual fan carnival.
1.Traffic flow and crowd control
This looks like the same problem convention goers had last year, with the event being free entry it drew in an absolutely enormous crowd. However there was a lack of signage directing proper traffic flow and they kept changing the flow of traffic in order to attempt to contain it. This resulted in very long lines leading into the hall and the exit route was set up in such a way that you had to make a very long way around the convention just to get out. Same for when you wanted to get back in.
Maybe this could have been remedied with a more efficiently laid out route, but given how big the turnout was we’re not entirely sure if there was much that could be done.
2. Too many barriers
The sheer amount of barriers in the event is probably what compounded the first issue. The event literally had barricades everywhere and a fair bit of the convention had blocked routes unless you had a VIP or media pass. This included the inside and the outside of the hall.
We think most of them were put up for the sake of trying to keep areas partitioned properly (like the queues for the games for example) but they just didn’t quite work out as expected.
3. Lack of communication among event organisers
An unfortunate problem that seems to strike many conventions, both homebrew and commercial, Animax 2016 wasn’t exempt from it either.
One of the VIP package winners was made to wait for almost an hour to pick up their VIP kit because the staff weren’t sure how to handle the situation because the VIP goodie bags were kept in one of the Guest’s rooms. On top of that, it seems some of them weren’t entirely sure of what was actually happening at the event as people who asked for information were simply re-directed to check the bulletin board outside the hall.
This is pretty unacceptable as far as cons go, especially one as big as Animax.
4. Not much things to do in the hall
Not so much as a problem but this is something we noticed this time around. Last year’s Animax featured a whole lot more booths and games with activities for fans than they did this year. Granted the games were more interesting (there were arcade machines like the punching games in their One Punch Man zone) and a bigger area was cordoned off for the free concerts.
So there you have it, our thoughts on Animax 2016. Hopefully they’ll step up their game and make Animax 2017 a better experience. Til then, check out our gallery for the event below!
