An anime and manga convention (often called just anime convention ) is a fan convention with a primary focus on anime , manga and Japanese culture . Anime conventions are commonly multi-day events hosted at convention centers , hotels or college campuses. They feature a wide variety of activities and panels, with a larger number of attendees participating in cosplay than most other types of fan conventions. Anime conventions are also used as a vehicle for industry, in which studios, distributors, and publishers represent their anime related releases. They also take place in multiple different countries, such as Japan , South Korea , China , India , Indonesia , the United States , Canada , Brazil , Australia , New Zealand , the United Kingdom , Ireland , France , Germany , Italy , Spain and Finland .
19-518: Yuricon was an anime convention geared toward fans of yuri anime and manga. The first Yuricon event was held in 2003 in Newark, New Jersey with about 200 attending, although Yuricon has existed as an online entity since 2000. The event was organized by Yuricon, LLC., which continues to run Yuri-focused events of its own, collaborates with other organizations to hold unique events, and hosts contests. In 2000, Erica Friedman founded Yuricon on Usenet with
38-628: A blog titled Okazu since 2002, which she describes as the "world's oldest and most comprehensive blog" which focuses on lesbian themes in Japanese comics, cartoons, and other media. Yuricon also describes Okazu as their "official" blog. In 2022 essays written for Okazu, including those detailing the history of Yuricon and ALC Publishing, were published alongside Friedman's other works within By Your Side: The First 100 Years of Yuri Anime and Manga . Anime convention Anime conventions have
57-596: A few hundred people, anime conventions have exploded in popularity. AnimeCon which was held in San Jose, California in 1991 is notable for being the first convention to break the 1,000 attendance mark. It was also the first convention to receive support from American and Japanese production studios. Anime Expo which has been held in California since 1992 is the largest anime convention outside of Japan. Anime conventions in other locations, such as Europe began to take off in
76-708: A guest panelist at AnimeNEXT in Atlantic City, NJ. The following year, Yuricon joined forces with PacSet to launch a guided trip across Japan "dedicated to the Yuri genre of Japanese animation and manga," which would take place in September of that year. The same year, Erica Friedman appeared at the Toronto Comic Arts Festival to celebrate 100 years of Yuri, while speaking at various other events that year. In May 2020, Yuricon hosted an online panel about yuri. Yuricon has
95-624: A long and varied worldwide history. The original Comiket , mostly based on fan published manga called dōjinshi , started in 1975 with around 700 people in Tokyo . In recent years, Comiket has attracted over a half million people. Conventions in Japan are heavily sponsored by studios or publishing companies and are used as platforms for new releases. In addition to Japan, convention officials at venues such as AnimeJapan have been trying to reach out to overseas manga otaku. Anime conventions started showing up in
114-567: A major or specific task such as how to draw manga , make computer animation, or how to become a voice actor. Another event at most anime conventions include screenings of actual anime shows that can last through the day. Anime conventions can also include contests. Contests can focus around costumes (or cosplay ), art works (drawn, sculpted, painted), anime-related music videos, video games, dice games, card games, and many other activities. In some cases, tangible prizes have been offered as winnings in these contests. An Exhibit Hall or Dealers' Room
133-596: A publishing arm, ALC Publishing, the only all-yuri publisher in the world. Publications include translations from the Japanese—such as Rica 'tte Kanji!? and WORKS —as well as the original English-language anthology series Yuri Monogatari . Friedman has run guest lectures about yuri at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign , MIT , Kanagawa University , International Christian University , and University of Michigan, Ann Arbor . Additionally, Friedman has run
152-567: A small one-day event, named Yurisai, to recreate the feel of the Tokyo event from 2005. During this time period, Yuricon hosted several panels, cosplay events, anime music video contests, and other competitions, while Yuricon maintained a library of yuri manga for attendees to read. Some years later, in 2011, Yuricon moved to a new website. The same year, the Kyoto International Manga Museum added works published by ALC Publishing,
171-556: A traditional museum or gallery. Artwork of all kind is put on display for inspection, and in some cases for purchase/auction bidding, by the viewer. Entry is usually only restricted by space available & registration with the convention. The artist can choose to be present to display, discuss, or take commission in a variation of the art show known as the Artists' Alley. Artists may also include crafts, drawn art, self-published books or video, fanzines, and more. AnimeJapan AnimeJapan
190-668: Is a Japanese anime consumer show held annually at the Tokyo Big Sight exhibition center in Tokyo since March 2014. It was created from the merger of the Tokyo International Anime Fair with the Anime Contents Expo . It is organized by the AnimeJapan Executive Committee with support from The Association of Japanese Animations and The Association of Manga Publishers. The 2020 AnimeJapan event
209-430: Is also popular at anime conventions. Publishing companies, distributors, and other proprietors often arrive to exhibit and/or sell their newest products to fans. Wares can include graphic novels, manga, anime media, action figures , apparel or pre-made costumes, music CDs, software, decorations, toys, art books, specialty foods, and many more. There are also art shows at anime conventions. The shows are similar to those at
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#1733114252866228-661: The COVID-19 pandemic. Anime conventions typically feature a guest list as part of their makeup. A guest can be an industry figure, some notable examples include director Hiroyuki Kanbe, author Tsukasa Fushimi , and Kazuma Miki from Ascii Media Works . In 2013 they screened for the first time the final three episodes from the second season of Oreimo . Guests can also include artists and performers, some notable examples of these include Kazuki Takahashi , creator of Yu-Gi-Oh! . An anime convention represents an opportunity to interact with such individuals that may not be possible outside
247-723: The Mid-1990s. Japan Expo in Paris is the largest convention in Europe. AUKcon was a one-day anime convention held in London, England in 1994, and was chaired by Helen McCarthy . Salón del Manga de Barcelona , first held in Barcelona , Spain in 1995 is also one of the largest European conventions. Anime conventions later spread to Australia in the late 1990s with Manifest , first held in 1998. Many anime conventions were cancelled or postponed during
266-527: The United States in the early 1980s. Project A-Kon first started in 1990, and is considered to be the first anime convention in the country, but this is disputed. It is also claimed that YamatoCon, a convention "devoted to Japanese animation" was first held in 1983 in Dallas Texas. Since then, multiple anime conventions have appeared in numerous states. Since the first anime convention which brought in
285-536: The domain of Yuricon and ALC publishing stopped publishing new material. In later years, the webpage of the Yuricon website as a whole was improved, while the group's founder, Erica Friedman, asked for donations to ensure that Yuricon and Okazu are "on the cutting edge of Yuri Culture." Later, the new-and-improved Yuricon store would be opened and the page listing yuri essays would be improved. Then, in May 2018, Friedman appeared at
304-531: The event. Anime conventions often have panels , which are open ended discussions involving some pre-determined topic, usually related in at least some way to anime . Panels usually come in two segments, the host puts on a presentation or does an interview with a guest, and then the fans are asked to give questions. The topic scope for panels is varied and can include things from manga to upcoming announcements by an industry. There are also workshops that are like panels but are more geared towards instructions through
323-542: The name of "Anilesbocon" but this was changed to Yuricon in 2003 in an effort to better "celebrate Yuri in anime and manga." In 2003, the organization had a "three-day anime and manga convention" in Newark, New Jersey. Two years later, Yuricon hosted an event in Tokyo and co-sponsored Onna!, together with the Shoujo Arts Society, which focused on women's roles in animation and comics. Two years after that, in 2007, Yuricon ran
342-411: The publishing arm of Yuricon, into its permanent collection. Also that year, Renbooks, an Italian publisher announced that an Italian edition of Rica 'tte Kanji!? would be published. The following year, ALC Publishing announced a partnership with JManga to publish POOR POOR LIPS! , Kimi no Tamenara Shineru , and three other yuri comic titles. The next year, Okazu, then just a blog of Friedman, joined
361-478: Was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the event the following year took place online. The event returned to Tokyo Big Sight in 2022. In 2023, the event re-adopted a split format for the first time since 2019, in which the first two days of the show are open to the public (deemed "Public Days") and the final two are "Business Days" limited toward those in the anime industry. The AnimeJapan Executive Committee
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