Animagic 2012 - Anime convention German-style

Written by Seb Reid on 08 Aug 2012

In the last weekend of July 2012, four brave adventurers from the UK Anime forums travelled hundreds of miles across the former war zones of western Europe with the promise of great treasure hiding in the Beethovenhalle of Bonn. The trove, called AnimagiC 2012, was rumoured to contain precious anime merchandise, cosplayers of every series and gender imaginable, 12,000 screaming anime fans, and guests beyond the adventurers wildest imaginations. The programme, covering the weekend of the 27th to 29th July 2012, although secret prior to the bitter end, promised to keep our adventurers entertained to the fullest extent!

Ok, so perhaps the above is a bit of an exaggeration and I doubt that either Dan Barnett, Martin Butler or myself could be described as adventurers. However, this was the first trip to a European convention by those of us at UK Anime and prior to our trip to Japan Expo in Paris in 2013, we all thought it would be worth a visit to our continental neighbours to see what experiences they have to offer at their anime conventions compared to our own. Besides, if all these plans failed, the German bierhause beckoned!

Within this rather lengthy article, Dan Barnett gives us a thorough run down of the events on offer at AnimagiC and his thoughts and feelings; Martin Butler gives us a review of the performances and the events hosted by the headlining act, Kalafina, and it is my duty to give a few thoughts on how the convention compares to what the United Kingdom has to offer, complete with a few morsels of advice to guide you on your way to Europe for your anime needs.

Alongside the article are a few images from the event taken by us, showing some of the finer examples of the German cosplay scene, the events and the excellent atmosphere presented to us by the Beethovenhalle in Bonn and the AnimagiC committee.

Enjoy!