Last weekend, NCSU students attended Animazement, an anime convention where patrons could experience everything anime.

Animazment debuted 12 years ago when a small group of NCSU students discovered a shared love for anime and formed a club called the Triangle Area Anime Society (TAAS).  

TAAS first put together 30-hour weekend festivals, but soon afterward, TAAS members began volunteering at a convention in Virginia.   The experience gained from this convention led the club to seek the formation of a local convention in Raleigh.

“The purpose of Animazement was to promote and provide education about Japanese culture and language with an emphasis on Japanese Animation,” Educational Growth Across Oceans Inc., which sponsors the event, declares in its mission statement. “The founders of Animazement had the goal of providing similar types of entertainment, but adding an educational perspective to help fans understand Anime on a new level.   This was a new concept that no other convention offered at the time.”  

The first Animazement took place in 1998 at the North Raleigh Hilton.   As attendance for the convention grew, Animazement moved to the Sheraton Imperial Hotel and Convention Center. Then in 2008, Animazement relocated to its current home at the Raleigh Convention Center.

Animazement started at 6 a.m. Thursday and continued until 6 p.m. on Sunday.   For many, it was quite an experience.

“It’s pretty neat,” Akeem Robinson, a senior in chemical engineering, said. “It’s my first time here at Animazement.   I think it’s pretty well organized and I am having a good time thus far.”

John Petitte, a senior in chemical engineering, said he attended Animazement with the intention of comparing it to other conventions.

“I’m really here to see what it [Animazement] has to offer compared to Dragon*Con or Comic-Con,” Petitte said. “It’s much better than what I expected.”

Convention organizers entertained fans with several guest panels featuring some of the most influential names in anime and Japanese culture.   The list ranged from artists like Yusuke Igarashi, producers like the President of Studio Madhouse Masao Maruyama, and voice actors like Spike Spencer.  

“This is just a better chance to lean about Japan,” said Allison Waight, a senior in international studies.  

Animazement also featured a dealer’s room so people could explore different vendors that offered a wide array of anime, manga, model kits, video games, and other assorted memorabilia.  

“I’m probably going to buy shirts of my favorite anime shows,” Petitte said.

Along with the dealer’s room, an art gallery was featured at Animazement.   At the art gallery, local anime fans could display and sell their anime artwork.   This year’s convention was the second time Nicholas Fair, a sophomore in industrial design, had a table where he sold his sketch art.  

“I expect to sell $200 to $300 worth of merchandise,” Fair said. “Thus far I think the turnout has been pretty good compared to last year’s.”

Page Goodwin, a sophomore in graphic design, sold jewelry and sketch art the art gallery.   She too said she expected to make about $200 off her art, or around the same amount she totaled last year.

Animazement offered a small menu of snacks for people to enjoy.  

“Compared to other conventions, the food is the cheapest I’ve seen,” Sarah Dashow, a junior in

English, said.

One of the more interactive events at the convention was the Cosplay Chess.   Cosplay Chess is an event where people dress up as their favorite anime character, take on their personality, and then act as though they were giant chess pieces in front of the stage.   Two chess masters called out the movements and the Cosplay characters would then re-enact the moves on the stage. This year’s winner was Chris Ross, a.k.a. ‘Kaji.’   Kaji has been a resident of Chapel Hill since 2001 and this was the third time he earned the honor of chess master at Animazement

The most enticing event of the convent was the Cosplay.   Cosplay is short for costume roleplay and it involves people dressing up as their favorite anime character and then acting as that character would.   The entire convention floor was lined with hundreds of people, all waiting for the Cosplay auditorium to open its doors.

“I’m excited about Cosplay, that’s always fun to see,” Kaityln Winnike, a junior in mechanical engineering, said.

There were so many people wanting to be a part of Cosplay that the event managers had to stop a number of people from entering the auditorium because it had reached its maximum capacity.   

  As the night drew to a close, conference goers began crowding the hall that the rave would be held in.   All of the sudden, when the event was suppose to start at 10:30 p.m., an event manger came out and told the crowd to disperse because the event was being postponed.   An hour later, the rave started up.   Dancing   with glowsticks commenced and lasted until 3 a.m.  

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