Animexx is a German voluntary association (Eingetragener Verein) for promotion of Japanese popular culture, in particular anime and manga. It was founded on 30 January 2000 in Munich [1] when two other groups, 1. Sailor-Moon-Online-Fanclub and Animangai, merged. On 5 May 2008 Animexx became a member of Verband Deutsch-Japanischer Gesellschaften, a group of organizations and people interested the relations between Japan and Germany.[2]
As of February 2010, the site claims to have over 126,000 members[3]. Its site includes discussion forums, fanart galleries, and areas for publishing fanfiction and doujinshis. In association with Egmont Manga & Anime, and online magazine AnimePro, they republish some doujinshi in anthologies. According to German magazine Spiegel Online, it is the largest web portal for Manga Artists in Germany.[4]
There are over 10,000 dojinshi available on the site, which are quality controlled and checked for "legal acceptibility". Real-person slash is not permitted, and there is a "complete ban" on shotacon and lolicon. Schwarzer Turm, a small publisher that specialises in publishing German work, uses Animexx to find new artists to publish, and they publish manga anthologies together.[5]
In May 2002, the group also began organizing the Connichi fan convention, as well four other smaller conventions: Hanami in Ludwigshafen, YukiCon in Zuffenhausen, J-Con in Merzig and Animuc in Fürstenfeldbruck.