Our story since 2006…
1,985
Members
454
Meetups
186
Articles
20+
Talks
As a registered nonprofit in Illinois, we’re committed to bringing new and exciting anime experiences to all Chicagoans.
November 2006
🚀 Launched AnimeChicago.com
This whole endeavor started as a simple news website to make Chicago’s anime communities more visible and connected.


May 2012
👋 Started a Club
Maintaining a website for six years was a passion project, and we needed more help. After asking around for potential authors and editors, there were enough people saying they wanted to join a club. So we started one.
January 2014
Joined Meetup
The stars aligned when AnimeChicago had a large enough team and we wanted to grow bigger. We joined Meetup to reach more anime fans who valued in-person meetups and socializing on the regular.



April 2014
Formed Nonprofit
After eight years of personally funding the organization’s bills, we decided to incorporate and truly bring our mission of educating Chicagoland on Japanese pop culture to a bigger stage.
May 2016
🇯🇵 Explored Japan
A group of us planned our first long-distance trip! We absorbed all the cuisine, entertainment, nature, and history that Japan had to offer over the course of 10 days.



November 2016
10 Years and Counting!
It’s been a wild ride! AnimeChicago has faced many challenges in the previous decade, but each one has made us evolved and grown stronger.
October 2017
A Thousand Members
Our humble little club hit 1,000 members and we couldn’t be prouder.

Want to add to our story?
We’re open to collaborative pitches, big and small.