The AnimagiC is a German annual anime convention and one of the largest of its kinds in the

German-speaking German ( ) is a West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Italian province of South Tyrol. It is a ...

world with currently about 12,000 visitors.

History

From the first event in the summer of 1999 through 2005 the AnimagiC took place in the Rhein-Mosel-Halle at

Koblenz Koblenz (; Moselle Franconian: ''Kowelenz''), spelled Coblenz before 1926, is a German city on the banks of the Rhine and the Moselle, a multi-nation tributary. Koblenz was established as a Roman military post by Drusus around 8 B.C. Its na ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

. Due to a growing number of visitors the event spread to a growing number of additional premises. By 2005 it additionally spanned the Kurfürstliches Schloss, two cinemas and a Koblenz discothèque named “Circus Maximus”. In 2006 the event was relocated to the Beethovenhalle in

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ru ...

as Koblenz no longer could provide sufficient capacity for the increasing number of visitors. Since 2017 the event takes place in the Rosengarten in

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (german: Universitätsstadt Mannheim), is the second-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg after the state capital of Stuttgart, and Germany's ...

Agenda

The agenda of the three-day-long event includes Japanese pop culture (Japanese rock music,

visual kei is a movement among Japanese musicians that is characterized by the use of varying levels of make-up, elaborate hair styles and flamboyant costumes, often, but not always, coupled with androgynous aesthetics, similar to Western glam rock. Som ...

cosplay Cosplay, a portmanteau of "costume play", is an activity and performance art in which participants called cosplayers wear costumes and fashion accessories to represent a specific character. Cosplayers often interact to create a subcultur ...

), video rooms, a cinema program, a traders room, bring and buy stands, show acts, Japanese guests,

role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within ...

s, drawing courses, concerts, and much more. The guests of honor who attend the event every year include well-known people (graphic artists, directors, etc.) from different animation studios, Japanese manga artists and singers. Among the most renowned guests was Tadashi Ozawa (free animator for Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, The Castle in the Sky, Akira und Record of Lodoss War) who from 2000 to 2006 held drawing workshops for selected visitors.

Scale

The total number of visitors of the three-day event currently is around 12,000. Contrary to widespread assertions AnimagiC is not the largest anime convention in Europe; this record is held by the

Japan Expo Japan Expo is a convention on Japanese popular culture - the largest of its kind in the world - taking place in Paris, France, although it has branched out into a partnership festival - Kultima - and expanded to include some European and US pop c ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

that annually takes place at the beginning of July and attracts over 230,000 visitors followed by the Salón del Manga de Barcelona in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

, that annually takes place at the end of October or beginning of November and counts over 112,000 visitors.

References

External links

Official homepage

Images of the AnimagiC 2009
website of the daily newspaper ''Kölnische Rundschau'', Köln

Website of the town of Bonn
AnimagiC 2009
, article of boersenblatt.net {{Anime conventions in Europe Anime conventions in Germany 1999 establishments in Germany Events in Mannheim