Feb 20, 2026

Spiraken Con Report: Ichibancon 2026

Ichibancon returned to the Embassy Suites in Concord, NC from February 13th–15th, marking my first visit to this particular convention. It's part of a Carolina trifecta (alongside Triad Animecon and Banzaicon), sharing staff, community, and social media presence. After years of bigger conventions like Otakon, Anime Boston, and Animazement, I was curious to see how this smaller, more regional event would feel. Being only twenty minutes from home made it an easy choice to finally check it out.

Spoiler: it was quirky, it was cozy, and I genuinely had a good time.

Full disclosure: Saturday was Valentine's Day, so I took Gretta out for dinner and missed some evening panels. Otherwise, I was there all three days.

The Guest List: Small but Solid

Ichibancon kept things intimate with their guest roster:

Voice Actors: Ben Balmaceda (One Piece, JoJo's Stone Ocean), Dawn M. Bennett (My Hero Academia, Fairy Tail, Re:Zero), Brittany Lauda (Dr. Stone, Made in Abyss, Higurashi, Darling in the Franxx), and Matt Shipman (Dr. Stone, Attack on Titan, SK8 the Infinity, My Hero Academia).
Musical Talent: Caleb Hyles (YouTube powerhouse who's worked on Made in Abyss and Kaiju No. 8) and Jonathan Young (metal covers of anime songs—need I say more?).
Performers: Chalk Twins, Samurai Dan Coglan (martial arts), Kazha (band), and Likely Vain (DJs).
Panelists: The Manly Battleships (a panel group I'd heard good things about).

A lean guest list, but everyone who showed up brought solid energy.

The Venue: Quirky, Compact, and a Little Confusing

Ichibancon lives in the Embassy Suites Concord—a smaller hotel convention setup. The dealer's room and artist alley shared one space (more on that later). The manga library was someone's personal collection housed in a custom-built traveling armoire, which is either brilliant or delightfully unhinged. I respect it.

There were five event rooms total: two main panel rooms at the ends of a hallway, three larger interior rooms for concerts, the flea market, and the art show. Plus four outdoor areas for photoshoots.

The guide map had a few typos. For a convention that's been running for sixteen years, it was a minor hiccup but nothing that ruined the experience.

My Panels: Two for Two

Friday – "I'm Still Not Old! More Main Characters Over 30" (11pm-12am, Event Room 5)
The fourth iteration of this panel hit at 11 o'clock at night, and people still showed up. Adults craving representation cheered when I played clips from Tojima Wants to Be a Kamen Rider—a show about a middle-aged man living his tokusatsu dreams. That's the energy I'm here for. This panel never gets old, much like its protagonists.

Saturday – "Manga 101: A Beginner's Guide to Japanese Comics" (11-12pm, Event Room 4)
Not a packed room, but the people who came were engaged. Good interactions, fun comments, and a few genuine "I had no idea manga was read right-to-left" moments. Sometimes you need to start with the basics, and this panel flowed nicely.

Panels I Attended: The Good, The Middling, and The Interesting

Friday

"Oishii! A Food Appreciation Panel Across Anime and Manga" – Paradox Panels brought the culinary content. I think my cooking in anime panel does it better, but they had some solid clips and tasty visuals.
"Be the Protagonist of Your Life!" – This felt like a mix between a motivational seminar and an MLM meeting. Not really my thing.
"Arcane 102" – A smaller room and a quieter energy. The two hosts clearly loved the show and had fun diving into their theories, though the dynamic felt more like a conversation between themselves than a full panel presentation. Still, they were passionate, and the handful of us in the audience (including one very enthusiastic Arcane fan) got to see some genuine fandom appreciation. Not my favorite panel of the weekend, but harmless.

Friday Events I Skipped (But Noted)

Otaku Art & Craft Fair – Industrial-scale artist alley energy. Sounded cool.
Speed Friending with Paradox Panels – Speed dating but platonic. A little odd, but I respect the attempt to help people make connections.
Bad Anime Night with Borderline Panels – MST3K for hentai and cringe series. Not my cup of tea, but the room seemed to enjoy it.

Friday Dances

Rose & Romance Formal Ball – This one made perfect sense. A romantic formal dance on Valentine's Day weekend? That's just good programming. The ballroom was decorated nicely, couples and groups alike were dressed up, and the atmosphere was genuinely sweet. It wasn't overwhelming—just a nice, classy way to spend a Friday evening at a convention. People slow danced, took photos, and actually leaned into the romance of the weekend. I appreciated that the con leaned into the date rather than pretending Valentine's Day wasn't happening.
Love & Heartbreak Emo Night – The rave option for those who wanted more energy and less candlelight. I get the theme, but calling it "Love & Heartbreak" on Valentine's weekend felt a bit too anti-love for my taste. They could have rebranded it to something like "Crimson Beats" or "Valentine's Voltage" and kept the same high-energy vibe without the downer framing. That said, the people who went seemed to have fun—just not my crowd.

Saturday

"A World of Swords: An Intro to Japanese TTRPGs" – Jimilia (who attended both of my panels—shout out) absolutely knows her stuff. She covered the history, the popular titles, and some delightfully niche Japanese games I'd never heard of. I now want to play Sword World. This panel was excellent.
"Gameshow Impossibru™: Tame That Tune!" – Standard music match game show. Fine for what it was.
"Cat Culture in Japan" – For the cat lovers in the room (myself included), this was a pure joy. No notes.

Saturday Panels I Missed

"1 Star! If I Could Give It Zero I Would" – A game show with a mean-spirited concept. Not for me.
"You're Wrong and You Should Feel Bad" – Deconstructing audience favorites in a confrontational way. I skipped it.
"Spy x Family and Cold War Germany" – Sounded genuinely fascinating. It was also at 1am, and I was running on fumes by then.

Sunday: The Otaku Flea Market

The Otaku Flea Market – This was the highlight of the weekend for me. They dedicated three of the five event rooms to this. Bring your old anime and manga memorabilia, sell it, make money. I walked away with $200 from stuff I was happy to part with. Lots of interactions, lots of hagglers, lots of fun. Made me wish I'd brought more inventory. If Ichibancon does one thing well, it's this.

Sunday Events I Skipped

"Around the Anime Fandom World in 60 Minutes" – Anime's global influence. Probably solid.
"NEW! 2025 Anime Tierlist! All 128 Shows!?!? (No Shot!)" – A tierlist panel that openly insulted two anime genres while doing it. I passed.

Dealer's Room, Artist Alley, and The AI Question

Dealer's Room – Decent size. Several small vendors. Not much I wanted to buy, which is probably good for my wallet.

Artist Alley – Shared the same room as the dealers, which made things feel a bit cramped. Some lovely homemade artwork alongside some AI-generated 3D prints. The AI presence is becoming more common across conventions, and it's something worth keeping an eye on.

Video Game Room – Pretty big, actually. A few cool games. I didn't spend much time there, but the space was respectable.

Music/Concert Stage – Concerts happened throughout the weekend with a mix of performers. Caleb Hyles and Jonathan Young drew decent crowds, and the smaller venue created an intimate vibe. Some sets were shorter than others, but the variety was nice to see.

Cosplay Contest – Three hours long. Some genuinely good costumes. Lots of Hazbin Hotel representation. No overarching theme, but the passion was there.

Art Installations – A chalkboard image of Apothecary Diaries worked on all weekend. Genuinely impressive. They also had a chalk wall where anyone could draw. Simple, interactive, and lovely.

Manga Library: The Traveling Armoire

The manga library was someone's personal collection housed in a custom-built mobile armoire. Late 2000s to early 2010s titles mixed with modern classics. The owner clearly knew what he was doing and loved sharing his collection. This is the kind of weird, passionate fandom energy I go to smaller conventions for.

Cosplay: Highlights from the Floor

Nothing overarching in terms of a theme, but plenty of standouts:

Multiple Maomaos (Apothecary Diaries)
A ton of video game characters (Pokémon, The Last of Us, Mega Man)
K-pop demon hunter costumes (yes, really)
A classic Kamen Rider in the Shin Kamen Rider outfit
The Rocketeer (unexpected but welcome)

Overall Vibe and Thoughts

Ichibancon is small. Sometimes awkwardly small. The layout has a few disjointed elements—panels scattered across the venue, minor typos in the program guide, a dealer's room that felt a little cramped with the artist alley sharing space. But here's the thing: the attendees did not care. They were having a great time. Their joy was infectious, and it made me enjoy this little convention more than I expected.

The convention seems to lean into two areas heavily: 1) swap meets/flea markets/otaku art fairs and 2) "ask the character" events. That's not a kiss of death—it just gives Ichibancon its own personality. The masquerade was lively, the Friday dances gave attendees options depending on their Valentine's mood, and the community was genuinely welcoming.

Will I go back? Yeah. The people are great, I made two hundred bucks selling old manga, and being able to drive home in twenty minutes certainly doesn't hurt. Hopefully next year they tighten up the map and schedule a bit, but even if they don't? I'll probably still show up.

—Xan (@Spiraken)

Tags: #Ichibancon2026 #SpirakenReport #AnimeConvention #SmallConEnergy #OtakuFleaMarket #MangaLibrary #Over30Anime #Manga101

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