AM² (Which is pronounced: "A" "M" "Squared") was a three-day

anime convention 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 cam ...

held annually in the summer at the

Anaheim Convention Center The Anaheim Convention Center is a major convention center in Anaheim, California, and is the largest exhibition facility on the West Coast of the United States. It is located across from the Disneyland Resort on Katella Avenue. The original co ...

Anaheim, California Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, United States, part of the Greater Los Angeles area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orang ...

Programming

The content provided by AM² covers a range typical to anime conventions along with a few less traditional additions. Examples of this content include concerts, Masquerade (costume/talent show), various smaller

cosplay Cosplay, a blend word of "costume play", is an activity and performance art in which participants called cosplayers wear costumes and Fashion accessory, fashion accessories to represent a specific Character (arts), character. Cosplayers often i ...

events, an AMV contest, an exhibits area/dealer room, an "Artist Alley", GoH and fan panels, workshops, video screenings, tabletop gaming,

console gaming A video game console is an electronic device that outputs a video signal or image to display a video game that can typically be played with a game controller. These may be home consoles, which are generally placed in a permanent location connect ...

, a

karaoke is a type of interactive entertainment system usually offered in nightclubs and bars, where people sing along to pre-recorded accompaniment using a microphone. Its musical content is an instrumental rendition of a well-known popular song. I ...

, an

arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated video, pinball, electro-mechanical, redemption, etc., game ** Arcade video game, a coin-operated video game ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade video game's hardware ** Arcad ...

, and late night dance. Some examples of less common events include a Summer Festival,

maid café are a subcategory of cosplay restaurants found predominantly in Japan and Taiwan. In these cafés, waitresses, dressed in maid costumes, act as servants, and treat customers as masters (and mistresses) as if they were in a private home, rather ...

, and the hosting of a preliminary round of the

World Cosplay Summit is an annual international cosplay event, which promotes global interaction through Japanese popular culture, Japanese pop culture. It developed from a cosplay exhibition held at the Aichi Expo in 2005. The WCS incorporated in 2012, by which ti ...

History

In April 2010,

Japanese Pop J-pop (often stylized in all caps; an abbreviated form of "Japanese popular music"), natively known simply as , is the name for a form of popular music that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the 1990s. Modern J-pop has its roots in trad ...

idol Idol or Idols may refer to: Religion and philosophy * Cult image, a human-made object that is venerated or worshipped for the deity, spirit or daemon that it embodies or represents * Murti, a devotional image of a deity or saint used during puja ...

Erina Mano is a Japanese idol singer and actress formerly associated with Hello! Project. She joined in 2006 as a member of Hello Pro Egg, as a trainee. In 2007, she became a member of the Hello! Project futsal team Gatas Brilhantes H.P. and its musical ...

was announced as a guest at

Anime Expo Anime Expo, abbreviated AX, is an American anime convention held in Los Angeles, California and organized by the non-profit Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation (SPJA). The convention is traditionally held annually on the first we ...

for the world release of her acting debut ''Kaidan Shin Mimibukuro Kaiki''. When AX cancelled this appearance, an alternative event was created at the nearby

Club Nokia Club Nokia was a mobile internet digital distribution portal, operated by Nokia to provide special offers, paid-for ringtones, picture messages and game content directly to members. Following resistance from its mobile operator customers, Nokia pa ...

. The premiere was organized by a former PR and marketing contractor who had been terminated from Anime Expo. Additionally, several other people joined the organization who had also left Anime Expo for various reasons. In addition to Mano-chan's appearance, several other attractions were added. The expanded 1-day event was named Club 2 the Max in reference to the choice of venue. Some of the added attractions included a Maid Cafe, a charity concert & music video shoot by

X Japan is a Japanese Rock music, rock band from Chiba Prefecture, Chiba, formed in 1982 by drummer and pianist Yoshiki (musician), Yoshiki and lead vocalist Toshi (musician), Toshi. Starting as a predominantly power metal, power/speed metal band with ...

, and autograph session with Power Rangers stars. Club 2 the Max (aka MAX) was deemed largely successful by its sponsors, who decided to further fund it as an annual convention. MAX announced a name change in November 2010, choosing to be called AM². The first AM² was held on July 1–3, 2011, the same weekend as Anime Expo 2011 in one of Anime Expo's former locations, the Anaheim Convention Center. This occurred after a hacker modified the convention website stating that convention was cancelled. The convention returned to the venue in 2012 on June 15–17. It was initially announced that the convention for 2013 was indefinitely postponed to an unknown later date. No additional announcements were ever made and the official website was eventually abandoned.

Event History

Notes

*In response to the

2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami On 11 March 2011, at 14:46:24 Japan Standard Time, JST (05:46:24 UTC), a 9.0–9.1 Submarine earthquake, undersea megathrust earthquake occurred in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region. It lasted approx ...

, AM² sponsored a charity art auction at Meltdown Comics in

West Hollywood, California West Hollywood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Incorporated in 1984, it is home to the Sunset Strip. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. Census, its population was 35,757. History Most historical writing ...

. The event raised just under $7,500 on behalf of the Japan NGO Earthquake Relief and Recovery Fund. *AM² Passports included additional benefits including discounts.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Am2 Conventions in California Culture of Anaheim, California Defunct anime conventions Recurring events established in 2010