Stacking Up at Anime Central (ACEN) 2025

Michael at Anime Central taking a photo of the entrance space at the Donald E Convention Center

Location: Donald E. Convention Center, Rosemont, IL

Dates: May 16th to 18th, 2025

Thirty minutes north of Chicago, Illinois, is the town of Rosemont, home to the famous Donald E. Stephens Convention & Conference Center. This facility holds everything from intimate weddings to large trade shows, and of course, the amazing Anime Central convention (ACEN for short).

Not only is this facility huge (804,000 sq ft), but it is also connected conveniently to a few hotels and garages for easy access for the attendees of all these different shows. There are local restaurants and activities to do when the conventions are slow, and only a short ride to the O’Hare International Airport for attendees, celebrity guests, and vendors who fly in for any convention. The main hotel connected to the convention center is the Hyatt Regency Hotel. This particular Hyatt is the largest hotel outside of downtown Chicago, and has the space to hold its own events, even smaller conventions!

I was surprised to learn that not only does Anime Central take up all of the Convention Center, but it also uses almost all of the various meeting rooms and the grand ballroom in the Hyatt during ACEN! This means that almost a MILLION SQ FT of Anime is happening all weekend long!

Feeling a bit overwhelmed yet? Keep reading, it gets better!

Anime Central - It is exactly what you expect and more!

This convention encompasses everything to do with anime, Japanese culture, and anything that could be tied back to those two things! And while this may seem obvious, no matter how much of a die-hard fan you are of anime, there are still parts of this convention that will stump you and allow you to dive even deeper into the amazing world of art, storytelling, music, and humor that is anime.

ACEN transports you to a place that is welcoming to everyone. No matter who you are, you will find someone who will enjoy the same show, artist, or has similar humor to you. This convention truly allows attendees to be who they are, who they want to be, and to even transform themselves into their favorite cosplay attire to show off their love for any character they wish.

ACEN started back in 1998, but had been in the works for a couple of years prior and was to be just a local club for anime fans. Due to the exponential growth, ACEN is now among the top conventions in the United States and still keeps growing! The convention not only has booths and panels, but also includes concerts, live events, cosplay masquerade, dances/raves, gaming, and competitions, as well as social areas and even chances to meet people from other countries in controlled (including translators) environments. While other conventions have some of these things, or even close to all of them, there is one thing that ACEN does that no other convention can claim: ACEN is truly 72 hours of constant convention activities!

Wait… 72 hours? Clearly you mean just 3 days, right? RIGHT?!?!

No. ACEN lasts 3 full days, but no matter what hour of the day it is, there are activities happening, events being held, and people looking to enjoy more and more of the convention. You can go to the 24-hour gaming area, karaoke at 3 am, see a panel at 6 pm, grab a board game at midnight, and play with your friends (or meet new friends). You can even join the dance parties happening from 10 pm to 4 am each night, too! There are anime TV shows being played all day and night at the Hyatt meeting rooms. If you are like me, you could go to watch anime you love or find a new anime to fall in love with, and that can be at any time of the day or night.

ACEN has activities going on throughout every hour of the 3-day weekend. But in the next part, I will break down each of the areas and activities that really stick out for this convention. The things that you REALLY want to read and see pictures of are in the upcoming section.

What is there to do at ACEN?

Like most conventions, ACEN has the normal areas like vendors, artist alley, panel areas, signing booths, cosplayers walking around, and a few food spots for a quick snack or light meal. But this is what every convention has, and therefore, is not what this section will cover. This section is all about showing the side of ACEN that makes it different from other conventions.

• Anime Shows. So while the name of the convention is Anime Central, one thing that stands out about this convention is that they actually show various movies and tv shows that attendees can walk in, sit down in a darkened meeting room set up like a movie theater, and watch season after season of their favorite anime or new anime that they have never heard of before. Best part is that there is no extra cost to these viewings either, it is completely free! (And there are usually no commercials either.)

  
  

• The Dance Parties. That is right, there are dance parties at this convention, and some amazing DJs from across the world come to jam out all night! There are two or three different dances that happen at the convention, including rave-like all-night dance parties, to the more elegant formal dress-up dances, to the famous Soap Bubble dance, which has a collage of DJs and offers nonstop fun into the early morning hours!

• Japanese Culture. This would seem like a no-brainer, but there is so much more that is available to explore when it comes to this convention compared to other conventions. Things like Yoga, Japanese school yard and board games, popular Japanese trends, the art and history of Japan, and even events where attendees can learn the Japanese language (written and spoken)!

  
  

• Board Game Library. The local business, Everything Games, is a new addition to the convention scene and brings a full library of board games, card games, and demos to this convention in hopes of allowing attendees a place to unwind with friends, away from the hustle and bustle of the rest of the convention. They were located in a lower area of the Hyatt, and you can read more about them in the ACEN Exhibitor Spotlight article!

  
  

• 24-hour Video Game Area. Other conventions do have gaming areas, but ACEN really brought their A-Game, because not only were there about 50 of the newest game systems with pre-downloaded games on them, but there were also various arcade games, as well as game systems ranging all the way back to the original NES system! Yes, you could sit down and play a round of Double Dragons, then move on to Super Smash Brothers on N64, to then shift to Ninja Gaiden on the original PlayStation, then fast forward to a round of the original Halo with your buddies, then close out your time in this area with a few rounds of Fortnite or Call of Duty on a computer or console of your choice! Again, this was all free to play for the convention attendees. This gaming area also included sanctioned tournaments and a variety of friendly competitions that went on all day and night. In the center of the room was also a stage where attendees were able to play Rock Band with their friends and other fans, to just rock out until they could rock no more!

And while this is just a top 5 list of the activities that happened at ACEN, remember, these are in addition to the normal panels, vendor and artist alley, and cosplay contests that other conventions have too.

The Wrap Up

There are plenty of anime conventions to go to throughout the year, and all over the country, but if you are looking for a single one to really dive into the culture of anime, then Anime Central is the place for you. The tickets are fairly cheap compared to other conventions of similar types, and the price is well worth it when you realize that you can show up at any time between 6 pm on Thursday until Sunday at 6 pm and be able to find things to do and people to hang out with and never feel like an outsider. If you are a veteran in the anime world or a novice, never having seen an anime in your life, this convention will welcome you with open arms!

This convention is an absolute must-attend for anyone and everyone!