Continuing from the post I made in 2015, here are more reasons why you should not support Anime Matsuri. In case, you needed a refresher course: Anime Matsuri is an anime convention in Houston, TX owned and operated by President Deneice Phan Leigh and Director John Leigh. Running Anime Matsuri is Deneice and John’s full-time job and main source of income. The entirety of Anime Matsuri is built solely around them as individuals. Every business decision is ultimately made by John and Deneice. It is physically impossible to remove them from their positions since they are the sole owners. Staff members of Anime Matsuri have no say in the convention’s financial decisions since every department is micromanaged by John and Deneice. Since everything is micromanaged by John and Deneice, staff members are virtually useless and replaceable at any moment once they decide they have no use for you. Deneice and John will just find another thirsty weeaboo off the street to work for them. Deneice and John are liars, thieves, scammers, and manipulators to industry guests and even their own fans and “friends.” On top of that, there’s the sexual harassment, too, but I’m sure you’ve heard of that.

Shortly after I published my initial post and Chokelate had written her account, John retaliated with a blog post called “A Man in a Woman’s World Pt. 1” hosted on blog.com. John did not own a blog, so he went out of his way to make one just to write his non-apology. I want to emphasize that I was only an attendee of the con and Chokelate was an official guest of the con and that neither of our accounts should be forgotten. John wrote that he considered me a friend, but if he was really my friend, he would not have manipulated my other friends (at the time) to kick me out of my own community because I disagreed with the community turning into an AM adspace. I was backstabbed by people I trusted. Then he had the gall to try bribing me into silence by offering me a staff position. The nerve of some people. I wish someone had warned me back then, so that’s why I’m warning others now.

#onlyatAM Behind the Scenes: The Tale of Buttcape

The "E" of LACE: Exploitation. While LACE is a whole different can of worms, the formation of the acronym reminded me of unfortunate events that happened over 6 months ago. I call it John Trauma. Like seriously, sometimes he shows up in my nightmares. Every time I see a bald head in the distance, I get shivers down my spine. I've been planning on posting this for months, but every time I looked at it, it made me mad, so I never finished it. But certain events popped up and motivated me to complete it, so here we go.

Anime Matsuri (AM) is an anime and Japanese culture convention based in Houston, TX that attracts a lot of lolita attention because of the amount of high profile guests they invite. I had a pretty okay experience with Anime Matsuri until they did some stupid things to me. I am writing out my experience in order to put the truth out there. I am not looking for pity or sympathy, but warning whoever decides to become involved with them. I stayed silent for various reasons, but now I can finally move on.