Anime Punch!
Encyclopedia
Anime Punch! is an organization that began as an offshoot of Animate!, The Ohio State University
's anime club
. After a small initial event held in the Ohio Union
on the OSU campus in early 2005, initial plans were made to hold the larger, apocalypse-themed Armageddicon. Anime Punch as an organization manages a number of sub-events. In 2009 Anime Punch restructured itself from an informal organization into Anime Punch LLC, with the stated purpose of hosting events that were educational, entertaining, and enriching to the general fan-culture of Japanese Animation.
. Notably, Armageddicon also features a high density of educational, cultural and scholarly panels and workshops. During the 2008 convention, Anime Punch! Armageddicon became the first anime convention to adopt radio-frequency identification (RFID) in order to collect data about dealers' room entrances and panel attendance.
takes it far from most people, and even cellphone reception. Attendance is small, and events are informal.
Urban Arts Space. The program is designed to expose anime art and works and fandom to the Columbus art community, create a place for positive creative outlet for youths in the downtown Columbus area, and to prompt discussion and debate within the central Ohio anime community outside the noisy and cluttered atmosphere of anime conventions.
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University, commonly referred to as Ohio State, is a public research university located in Columbus, Ohio. It was originally founded in 1870 as a land-grant university and is currently the third largest university campus in the United States...
's anime club
Anime club
An anime club is an organization that meets to discuss, show, and promote anime in a local community setting and can also focus on broadening Japanese cultural understanding. Anime clubs are increasingly found at universities and high schools. Organizers may also utilize public meeting spaces such...
. After a small initial event held in the Ohio Union
Ohio Union
The Ohio Union is a student activity center at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. The Ohio Union serves as one of two student activity centers at Ohio State; Drake Union is the other student activity center. The Ohio Union provides facilities for student activities, organizations and...
on the OSU campus in early 2005, initial plans were made to hold the larger, apocalypse-themed Armageddicon. Anime Punch as an organization manages a number of sub-events. In 2009 Anime Punch restructured itself from an informal organization into Anime Punch LLC, with the stated purpose of hosting events that were educational, entertaining, and enriching to the general fan-culture of Japanese Animation.
Armageddicon
The main event of Anime Punch!, Armageddicon claims to focus exclusively on anime, eschewing the recent trend of conventions to attempt to cover anything and everything remotely related to JapanJapan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. Notably, Armageddicon also features a high density of educational, cultural and scholarly panels and workshops. During the 2008 convention, Anime Punch! Armageddicon became the first anime convention to adopt radio-frequency identification (RFID) in order to collect data about dealers' room entrances and panel attendance.
Event history
| Dates | Location | Atten. | Guests |
|---|
Signature events
Anime Punch! has several signature events that have become a sort of tradition.- Your Favorite Anime Sucks - Abbreviated "YAnSucks," this event involves the audience supplying titles of their favorite shows for the hosts to "burn." This event travels and is frequently featured at Anime CentralAnime CentralAnime Central is an anime convention that is held yearly in Rosemont, Illinois, United States. It is one of the fastest growing anime conventions in the U.S. and has ranked as the 3rd largest North American anime convention since 2010. The convention is like many other anime conventions; it runs...
. - Evangelion Post-Modern Puppet Show - Initially a humorous recreation of various scenes from Neon Genesis EvangelionNeon Genesis Evangelion franchiseThe franchise is an umbrella of Japanese media properties generally owned by the anime studio Gainax. It has grossed over 150 billion yen since 1995. The central works of the franchise feature an apocalyptic mecha action story which revolves around the efforts by the paramilitary organization...
in the form of a puppet show, it has since moved on to take the puppet Evangelion characters into different stories. Such features have included HamletHamletThe Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
, and The World Is Not EnoughThe World Is Not EnoughThe World Is Not Enough is the nineteenth spy film in the James Bond film series, and the third to star Pierce Brosnan as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. The film was directed by Michael Apted, with the original story and screenplay written by Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and Bruce Feirstein. It... - Collective Gaming Room - A room where single games such as Oregon TrailThe Oregon Trail (computer game)The Oregon Trail is a computer game originally developed by Don Rawitsch, Bill Heinemann, and Paul Dillenberger in 1971 and produced by the Minnesota Educational Computing Consortium in 1974. The original game was designed to teach school children about the realities of 19th century pioneer life...
are intended to be played as a group, with one person controlling and the rest shouting directions and suggestions. - Model Building/ Figure Trading Jam Session - A gathering intended for people that like building models and those who collect trading figures and gashapon.
- Swimsuit Cosplay - Much as the name implies, swimsuit cosplayCosplay, short for "costume play", is a type of performance art in which participants don costumes and accessories to represent a specific character or idea. Characters are often drawn from popular fiction in Japan, but recent trends have included American cartoons and science fiction...
concerns either a swimsuit seen in anime or a swimwear interpretation of a character's normal costume. - Anime Trial - an event where a "trial" and subsequent "execution" are held for the anime character most hated by fans.
- Roll a Katamari - Similar to the concept of the popular video game, Katamari DamacyKatamari DamacyKatamari Damacy is a third-person puzzle-action video game that is published and developed by Namco for the PlayStation 2 video game console. It was first released in Japan, and then later in South Korea and North America...
, this event starts as a ball of duct tape, and accumulates many objects that people tape to it, including garbage, tacos, magazines, and even other people. - Hentai Olympics - Described on the website with the ominous words "What happens at the Hentai Olympics, stays at the Hentai Olympics."
- Pop-art Gallery - Beginning in 2011, the convention will feature an anime-inspired pop-art gallery presenting works from local artists.
Fieldcon
Fieldcon is another line of conventions hosted by Anime Punch! It takes place entirely outdoors without access to electricity, running water, or the internet. Its remote location in the AEP ReCreation Lands near The WildsThe Wilds
The Wilds is a private, non-profit wildlife conservation center located in Muskingum County, Ohio. It is situated on 9,154 acres of reclaimed coal mine land and is home to over 25 non-native and hundreds of native species...
takes it far from most people, and even cellphone reception. Attendance is small, and events are informal.
Event history
| Dates | Location | Atten. | Guests |
|---|
Urban Arts Outreach
Along with hosting larger, annual events aimed at anime fans, Anime Punch in 2011 began hosting a series of lectures on Japanese Animation at The Ohio State UniversityOhio State University
The Ohio State University, commonly referred to as Ohio State, is a public research university located in Columbus, Ohio. It was originally founded in 1870 as a land-grant university and is currently the third largest university campus in the United States...
Urban Arts Space. The program is designed to expose anime art and works and fandom to the Columbus art community, create a place for positive creative outlet for youths in the downtown Columbus area, and to prompt discussion and debate within the central Ohio anime community outside the noisy and cluttered atmosphere of anime conventions.