Anime East
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| Anime East | |
|---|---|
| Location | New Brunswick, New Jersey |
| Years in existence | 1994 to 1995 |
Anime East was the second anime convention to be held on the east coast of the United States. The event took place in New Jersey, three months after the debut of Otakon in Pennsylvania, and three months before Katsucon in Virginia. The three events had similar roots, with the organizers of each event attending a Science Fiction convention in Long Island, I-CON, which hosted a track of programming dedicated to anime which was executed as a dry-run by the people responsible for Anime East. The programming at this event in part spurred the creation of Otakon and Katsucon. Prior to this, anime conventions had some success on the west coast, with A-kon and Anime Expo, but none on the east coast until 1994.
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[edit] History
[edit] Anime East 1994
Radium Dynamix was the name of the company responsible for the first Anime East held in New Brunswick, NJ at the Brunswick Hilton & Towers. The event was the first on the east coast to feature guests of honor from Japan. In attendance were MIQ, Koichi Ohata, and Monkey Punch.
[edit] Anime East 1995
MIQ returned to perform in 1995, and was joined by Character Designer Hiroyuki Kitazume, and Gainax founder Toshio Okada. The event had the largest attendance out of all anime conventions at the time, and the future looked bright.
[edit] New Jersey Area Anime Conventions after 1995
Despite encouraging successes in 1994 and 1995, Anime East ran into financial difficulties and did not continue past 1995. Otakon and Katsucon, the other two events that began in the same time frame, are still active today and among the largest events in the US. Shoujocon, an anime convention dedicated to shōjo anime and manga, was formed several years later and took place for a few years at the same venue as Anime East.
