Samiksha Jaiswal (Editor)

Anime Punch!

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Status
  
Active

Country
  
United States

Attendance
  
1,600 in 2011

Location(s)
  
Columbus, Ohio

Inaugurated
  
2005

Venue
  
Sheraton Columbus Hotel at Capitol Square

Anime Punch is a Columbus, Ohio-based organization that hosts a number of events for fans of Japanese animation in the Central Ohio area. Originally hosting an annual anime convention, Anime Punch has since branched out into hosting weekly social events, monthly lectures, and other regular events, in addition to three annual anime conventions.

Contents

History

Anime Punch! began as an offshoot of Animate!, The Ohio State University's anime club. The first event hosted was a small anime convention held in the Ohio Union on the OSU campus in early 2005 titled simply "Anime Punch". Following that event they held a larger, apocalypse-themed convention called Armageddicon, which was held at a Doubletree Hotel in the Spring of 2006. That year they also began hosting an entirely outdoor anime convention called "Fieldcon". In 2007 it was formally decided that Armageddicon would become an "anime only" convention, meaning that programming and guests would be entirely centered on Japanese animation with no time paid to anime fans tangential interests (such as gaming or Jpop).

Until 2009, Armageddicon was run as an event hosted by the Ohio State University anime club. 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. In 2011 Anime Punch formed a partnership with The Ohio State University Urban Arts Space, and began hosting monthly lectures. That same year they partnered with the campus bar "Ruby Tuesday Live" (no relation to the restaurant chain) to host a weekly theme night for area fans titled "Nerd Night". In 2012 Anime Punch experimented with hosting its second major convention line, "Revoluticon", which in stark opposition to Armageddicon focuses entirely on anime fans non-anime interests. Anime Punch has since partnered with other local groups and venues to host a wide variety of events, including film showings, concerts, video game events, and dances.

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 Japan. 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.

Signature events

Anime Punch! has several signature events that have become a sort of tradition.

  • Your Favorite Anime Sucks - 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 Central.
  • Evangelion Post-Modern Puppet Show - Initially a humorous recreation of various scenes from Neon Genesis Evangelion 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 Hamlet, and The World Is Not Enough
  • Collective Gaming Room - A room where single games such as Oregon Trail 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 cosplay 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 Damacy, 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 only the 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.

    • Revoluticon

    Revoluticon was introduced for a debut in 2012 as a new line of events hosted by Anime Punch!. Whereas Armageddicon is entirely focused on anime with limited to no non-anime content, Revoluticon was billed as the anti-armageddicon. It is still aimed at anime fans, but only their tangential interests, with zero anime content. Covered subject matter includes video games, fantasy, science fiction, western animation, comic books, traditional Japanese culture, Japanese modern/pop culture, and cosplay.

    Signature Events

  • The Variety Hour - A variety show featuring skits from the staff, guests, and even general attendees.
  • The Legend of Zelda: Triforce Challenge - A physically demanding game show that challenges contestants to perform many of the feats the hero Link of the popular Legend of Zelda franchise must perform. Such feats include swordsmanship, puzzle solving, and fishing.
  • Assassins Creed LARP - A complex live action role playing game wherein any participating attendees and staff are subject to "attack" from hidden assassins at any time or place throughout the duration of the convention.
  • Wario Ware - A series of short mini-games that attendees must decipher and perform in very short amounts of time.

    • Fieldcon

    Fieldcon is another line of conventions that since 2006 has been 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 Wilds takes it far from most people, and even cellphone reception. Attendance is small, and events are informal.

    Signature Events

  • Building the Tent - The common shelter tent is constructed every year by the first time attendees amidst ridicule by the previous years attendees.
  • Roasting the Boar - Beginning in 2011 a pig is roasted on a spit as an homage to Lord of the Flies.
  • Brewing the Stew - All the attendees bring a contribution for the stew, which is cooked for 24 hours before serving.
  • Sword Football - A variant of football that utilizes swords.
  • Battle Royale - Based on the novel/manga/movie, in this event attendees are led deep into the woods and randomly assigned a mock-weapon. The game narrows the playing field over the course of an hour, during which time the attendees must use their weapons to "kill" each other. At the end of the hour, any remaining competitors have a final showdown in a constrained area.
  • Assault on the Mech - The attendees take up weapons and ceremonially lead a charge at the last remaining part of Big Muskie, the world's largest "walking" machine.

    • Fishcon

    Fishcon is the second "Adventure Con" hosted by Anime Punch! Like Fieldcon, it takes place entirely outdoors, and the day is built around fishing. Unlike Fieldcon where the outdoor events are anime themed, Fishcon's anime content is derived through conversation. It is a requirement of the event that the only conversations permitted while on the lake are discussions of anime, and the convention provides a list of recommended shows and conversation topics ahead of time. To date, the attendance and interest in this has been almost (and predictably) non-existent.

    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 University 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.

    Monthly Anime Adventure

    The Monthly Anime Adventure is a series of talks, discussions and multimedia events all centered on Japanese animation. The meetings are intended to be as entertaining as they are informative. They are designed with the aim of providing enriching content to both seasoned otaku and to casual fans of animation. The Monthly Anime Adventure is part of Anime Punch's ongoing commitment to bring college-level discussion of anime to anime fans and the central Ohio area.

    G.A.P.S. Colosseum

    G.A.P.S. (Gaming Anime Punch Style) Colosseum an interactive event wherein gamers can their skills to the test in a head-to-head, tournament-style video game competition. Ranging from fighting games to shooters, these competition are arranged to be more casual than more professional tournaments and have the intention of bringing together gamers both socially, and to converse about the different themes, genres and art behind the games. This event is also aimed as an outreach to inner city youths by fostering a fun, safe, and friendly environment for teenagers to participate in group activities.

    Nerd Night

    Nerd Night is a weekly social event for central Ohio fans of anime, science fiction, comic books, and other special interests who are 18 and older. It is hosted at the campus bar Ruby Tuesday Live, and features film screenings, interactive gaming events, and live performances from nerdcore musicians. The first Nerd Night was held on November 14, 2011, and it has continued weekly every Monday since.

    Operation VG

    Operation is a series of video game tournaments and free play sessions hosted at a campus area bar. It is held in partnership with Daredevil Dogs and hosted at the Village Idiot bar in the South Campus area.

    Maiden Japan

    Maiden Japan is an EDM dance night held at Cafe Bourbon St. in Columbus, Ohio. It features a rotating selection of DJ's with sets themed around Japanese pop music, anime music, and traditional Japanese music.

    References

    Anime Punch! Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA