Articles
Musings direct from our members
Anime Central 2025 – Across the Board
We’re a few days from Anime Central, Chicago’s biggest anime convention fondly known as ACen. So we asked AnimeChicago teammates what they were most excited to see and attend. Plan your weekend along with us so you don’t miss out on your favorite panels, events, and industry talks! Download Guidebook to draft your schedule. What’s…
2024 Annual Report: A Year of Connection
18 years later, and AnimeChicago not only keeps the lights on – we’re strengthening our social ties daily. Tough times call for resilient communities. Our focus is uniting Chicagoans through all things Japanese pop culture but we can aim higher than that. That’s why we stepped up against social isolation, connected people with kindness, and…
A Small Taste of Craft Beer in Japan – Part 2
You can find part one of this craft beer adventure here. Osaka had showed me that Japan’s beer scene is not to be ignored, but my brief time in that city was not enough to capture even a glimpse into the overall craft beer culture of the country. Lucky for me, our trip had just…
Kyodai Hero: An Ultraman Introduction for New Viewers
We’ll continue the exploration of the monsters (in my prior article on Daikaiju Eiga), heroes, and robots that make up the cult classics referenced in many anime and tokusatsu series by diving into the kyodai hero genre. Kyodai (giant) Hero genre is the natural evolution of the idea: Who fights the giant monsters? In other…
Rare Manga Reviews: Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms
Today marks the first ever review of a manga on my new series for AnimeChicago “rare manga reviews” which aims to take a look at a harder to find or overlooked manga and draw attention to why it should be sought out and read. A lot of what I like to read tends to feel…
Cowboy Bebop
Fast guns, spaceships, fly girls, and the jazziest soundtrack you’ve ever heard! Yep, Cowboy Bebop is an absolute anime classic. If you haven’t seen it, I’m sure you’ve heard of it, and if you haven’t heard of it, welp, you’re definitely in for a treat! Cowboy Bebop is the high-speed adventure of Spike & Jet, bounty…
15 Minutes of Koukiatsu Boy
Part 1: Game Boy Boy Recently, I had the opportunity to go to Japan. It was an awesome, whirlwind trip, packed full of memorable experiences. Among the many high points of my vacation was my visit to Akihabara. Like every good weeb, I’ve wanted to visit Japan since forever, and I’ve wanted to visit Akihabara…
An Anime for DJs: Tonkatsu DJ Agetaro
If there ever was an anime specifically for DJs it’s Tonkatsu DJ Agetaro. Any mixmaster or DMC scratch DJ will feel this show to its core. It’s a ridiculous and raucous ride through a typical DJ’s career and life, and it does capture a lot of the soul and clichés that may not be apparent…
Daikaiju Eiga 101: An Introduction to Early Godzilla and Toho Sci-fi
Disclaimer: The following films are difficult to find and may be out of print. So you’ve watched a bunch of new anime and wonder, “why do they keep referencing these older super robot shows?” Or you’ve heard about Godzilla movies as well as shows like Super Sentai and don’t know where to start. Finally you…
Journey to Japan: Addressing the Challenges and Joys of Group Travel
AnimeChicago hit a huge milestone this year – we visited Japan! Nine members signed on for a 10-day excursion in early May, right before the chaos of Anime Central. As the lead organizer with prior travel experience, I did tons of research, hostel booking, AirBnb reviewing, and managing of expectations. Here are three challenges and…
A Small Taste of Craft Beer in Japan – Part 1
Ten days in Japan isn’t a lot of time, especially if you and your group are travelling to 3 different cities over that time span. You keep a tight schedule if you want to see most of what you hoped to see. Luckily, our group had meticulously planned our trip in the weeks leading up…
Passion, Professionalism, and Community: What I’ve Learned from AnimeChicago
When I found AnimeChicago on Meetup.com and clicked “Join,” I was nervous. Before getting involved with AnimeChicago, I had been trying to distance myself from anime fandom. After majoring in East Asian studies in college and studying abroad in Japan, I landed a shiny new adult job that promised to allow me to use my…
Tokyo’s Subways from a CTA Regular
I’ve been riding CTA trains for over 10 years. To some, that makes me an experienced traveler and to others a mere rookie, but I believe I have experienced most of, if not all of, the wonderful rainbow of situations that pop up on an L train: randomly going express, long unexplained stops, doors that…
Divin’ N Vibin’: Tokyo Ghoul
Over the past several years, the anime community has received many new young fans, and has regained a good number of old ones. Being that I am of the latter, I can relate to many of you who came back, looked around and thought, wow, things have changed since I left. So many new anime…
Dark Lord Day: The Best Non-Anime Convention
Spring is finally here in Chicago, though some days might not feel like it, and with the change in season comes the beginning of an exciting time for any anime fan: convention season. Anime Central, the “big one” of conventions for the Chicagoland area, so to speak, is only a few weeks away, and judging…
Presenters, Guests transform “Not Our Final Form,” AnimeChicago’s second Symposium
The finicky mix of winter and spring weather on April 2nd, 2016 did not keep 70 attendees from AnimeChicago’s second symposium. Hosted at the Japan Information Center in the heart of Michigan Avenue’s fantastic stores, both AnimeChicago members and non-members alike enjoyed discussions all focusing on transformation in anime, manga, and culture. The event’s presenters…