If there is one thing that has become abundantly clear after years of attending pop culture conventions, it’s that the number of those attending has become almost nigh untenable. Or, perhaps, organisers have simply become bad at controlling the high volume of people eager to spend money inside the hallowed halls of fandom. Whatever the case, I no longer share the same enthusiasm I did years ago (though if you were to ask bleachpanda, they’d probably say it was the almost forty minutes it took just to get in the ICC for the Sydney Manga and Anime Show (or, as it’s more commonly known, SMASH!)).

While I am usually the instigator behind taking the two of us to nerd conventions like Supanova (or those with a more Western pop culture bent), my friend bleachpanda is what many would describe as a weeb. SMASH!, being a celebration of manga and anime, has a lot more merchandise and art that cater to their tastes rather than mine. Be they omamori charms, playing cards with Demon Slayer or One Piece characters, as well as fan art featuring classic anime like Inuyasha, Sailor Moon or Ranma 1/2.

The day started early for the two of us. Bleachpanda and I met up at Town Hall before making our way down to Darling Harbour. As it almost always the case, i arrived early and had to wait for them to make an appearance. Thankfully, i was able to pick up a hot chocolate to keep me warm in the shadow of the Queen Victoria statue before relocating to outside the actual Sydney Town Hall. Why, I hear you ask, dear reader? To avoid someone who decided it was a good idea to hock up phlegm in public and then harass a tourist.

It wasn’t long before we managed to insert ourselves into the lengthy queue for SMASH! One that winded from the entrance of the ICC down to the harbour before doubling back around Tumbalong Park and across a pedestrian bridge. Unfortunately, as we got closer to the end, a couple cut the line. And though I did want to tap them on the shoulder and tell them where the end of the line was, I’d initially thought they’d accidentally stumbled into it as curious bystanders.

The rage I felt when I saw they had a ticket for SMASH!? Almost incandescent.

By then, however, it was too late. So, off we trotted to be sorted into a myriad of lines to have our tickets checked before being handed a lanyard so we could enter exhibition halls.

First on the list? The newly designated Level 4 with a limited number of exhibitors and the lion’s share of Artist Alley. Bleachpanda and I wandered the aisles, looking over the merchandise on display. While there were still plenty of prints, enamel pins and charms dominated the market. The two of us picked up a few that caught our eye before moving on.

Yet, unlike previous years, there did not seem to be any one anime that ruled them all. Unlike previous years, nothing truly dominated. No Attack on Titan. No Demon Slayer. No Spy x Family. Not even Genshin Impact could retain its hold on the very saturated market. Instead, what stood out to me were the callbacks to old favourites like Naruto, One Piece, Pokemon and Sailor Moon sprinkled in with some of what made a significant impact on the public conscious such as Kpop Demon Hunters, Hazbin Hotel, Helluva Boss and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (a game which I bought upon release but have yet to play because I am SO GODDAMN BEHIND! At time of writing, I’ve been trying to make my way through Dragon’s Dogma 2. Not to mention the hundreds of hours of other games I also have from 2024. Why were there so many open-world games? Why were so many of them role-playing? Why were they both? Readers, if there is one thing I’ll ask of you, it’s simply to pray for my sanity).

When we had finally taken a tour of the Artist Alley on Level 4, bleachpanda and I headed out of the ICC to find some sustenance to fuel the second half of our day.

Knowing the Food Hall in Darling Square would be packed with people, bleachpanda and I opted for a fairly safe option: that of a nearby Italian restaurant Uliveto. Despite the hour, we managed to secure a seat inside and made our order – though I did have to flag the waitress down a few times to confirm if the seasonal lava cake was available before it promptly appeared BEFORE the mains – of salmon and scallops risotto, and lamb ragu parpardelle.

Once we had refuelled, it was back into the heaving mass of humanity to start the second leg of our day. Perhaps because SMASH! was split between two floors, the exhibition hall on the first floor did not seem as tedious. We breezed through the lower Artist Alley and even caught up with an ex-colleague of mine who had attended the event with her partner.

I do fear I may have been a little distracted and dismissive. For that I do apologise (yes, I know you read this though it’s a 50/50 chance you’ll deep dive into THIS particular post).

Together we scoured the first few aisles of the first floor before my ex-colleague decided to call a break after being on her feet for most of the day. Bleachpanda and I finished off the rest of Artist Alley, rounding off the day when I stopped by an Australian artist who created her own brand of tarot cards based off Critical Role characters (and is a friend of a friend).

To bleachpanda‘s surprise, I also then spent a veritable fortune to purchase 15 Final Fantasy themed Magic the Gathering cards. In hindsight, perhaps I should have kept them all but there were two people I was to meet the next day at an extended bachelor party that I’d give five packs each (keeping the last five for myself).

As we scoured the last of the exhibitor stalls, we looked at all that was on display but steered clear from any other major purchases. By 4:30 PM, the two of us had called it a day and slowly trudged back to Town Hall for the train ride back home. But not without a stop by Kinokuniya so I could look through the variety of books on display.

Could we have stayed a little longer? Perhaps. There were a few things I wanted to buy but chose not to.

That said, it was announced there would be a chibi SMASH! in November at its old stomping ground at Rosehill Racecourse. Whether or not bleachpanda and I attend is still up in the air. But if we do, I know I’d be wanting to pick up a few more prints and maybe a few funky socks.

As I told bleachpanda, I’ve had FAR too many white socks over the course of my 13 years of primary and secondary education. While I’ve had a string of various different socks, I’m always on the lookout for more. Especially thick ones I can wear during winter where almost every extremity of mine is all but frozen.

I’m a cold person, bleachpanda. Deal with it!

However, I DO want to point out that the attempt to crowd control artist alley once again by blocking off entrance from one side of a huge aisle was a TERRIBLE idea because it prevents the more efficient way of actually looking at all the stalls. WORSE, it was ever ONE aisle. The rest of the aisles going up to Q on the alphabet were NOT managed. AT. ALL.

Please stop.

Especially since you’ve also SPLIT Artist Alley to TWO floors (and hence, splitting the amount of people who would be perusing Artist Alley anyways).

But I digress.

Now, of course, there’s only PAX remaining (unless of course bleachpanda and I choose to go to chibi SMASH!).