Guides
Deep dives into helpful knowledge
Gift Shopping: Selecting perfect presents for anime fans
So, there’s a special anime fan in your life. Great! Now, what do you get them for the holidays? That question is not so great. With endless series, movies, and games out there that that special someone may or may not be into, finding the right gift can be no simple task. Before we dive…
Screen Time: The Watching Habits of Anime Fans
Eyes Peeled As diverse as the genres are that embody the anime landscape, so too are the viewing patterns of anime fans as they engage with the medium. Although technology and availability has shaped and ultimately eased the pathways to viewing anime works, the overall habits of those fans remain roughly the same. While some…
Developing Tastes: The Evolution of an Anime Fan (Part 3)
Over the past few weeks, I’ve been going through the ever-changing tastes of an anime fan. Part 2, released last week, covered the majority of anime fans. In that article, I talked about how the majority of anime fans are Level 1s and 2s – those who build their tastes around genres, subgenres, and ultimately…
Developing Tastes: The Evolution of an Anime Fan (Part 2)
Finding your anime tastes is quite the journey for any fan. Last week, I discussed the very beginnings of an anime fan. I looked at how their tastes are shaped mostly by outside influences and only know one thing: that anime is different than other mediums, which they prefer over those mediums. I gave this…
Developing Tastes: The Evolution of an Anime Fan (Part 1)
Finding your tastes in anime is an evolutionary process that develops over the course of many years and is the culmination of everything you’ve watched, the opinions of the people around you, and the general cultural zeitgeist. As an anime fan for almost 20 years, I’ve gone through this process and I’ve seen others make…
What to do at ACen? AnimeChicago Members Pick Their Favorites
Anime Central (better known as ACen) is little over a week away, so I decided to gauge people’s excitement. I talked with some AnimeChicago members at a recent mixer about their favorite things to do at Chicago’s premier anime convention. One member, Sean, was looking forward to all the merch lining the many tables of…
What Kind of Anime Personality Are You?
If there is a greater window into the Japanese psyche than anime, I have yet to find it. Anime has always been about people and worlds. It includes vastly different kinds of people, all of them distinctly Japanese. Throughout my journey of watching anime, I’ve seen different kinds of characters emerge, and their patterns of…
Hey You! Stream that Anime! A Guide to Legal Streaming Services
How we used to watch anime There’s never been a better time to watch anime than right now. Fans of the 70s and 80s had to “know a guy” with VHS copies and fan scripts to get their fix. Imagine if you had to glance offscreen for your subtitle. Yes, it’s that bad. DVD volumes…
Con Food Strategy Guide
With convention season getting into top gear, we at AnimeChicago would like to offer some advice on one of the biggest hangups that many con-goers overlook – food. As such, we’ve provided a handy strategy guide to ease your worries and streamline your choices. The Baller Strategy: Enjoy all the fine dining and expensive food…
A Brief History of Anime and Manga: From Zen Cartoons to Sailor Moon
As caveat, we will be exploring anime and manga from a Western perspective and this small summary is by no means a complete history of either medium. Early History: Woodblock Prints and The Japan Punch As a traditionally pictorial-centric country, as evidenced by the use of images in early Edo period (1600-1868) scrolls and Zen cartoons…
What are AnimeChicago’s Favorite Anime?
When you first join the AnimeChicago Meetup page, one of the questions you answer is, quite simply, “What is your favorite anime?” That’s a topic everyone loves to talk about at our mixers and various other social events. However, we never took a look at your responses in earnest, until now. What did you all…
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…
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…
Do’s and Don’ts of Learning to Read Japanese
Reading is probably the hardest part of learning Japanese, so I thought I’d share some strategies that helped me improve my reading while I was in Japan. This is directed at people who are taking Japanese classes. I don’t have any experience with self-study from scratch so I can’t offer much advice there. If I…
How to Keep Warm, Japanese-Style
The seasons are finally starting to change in Chicago, and warmer weather is on its way. But as those of us who have lived here a while know, we haven’t seen the last of cold weather. Hopefully now that we’ve hit 60 degrees we at least won’t see the negatives again for another year, but…
Writing the Unwritten Rules
In light of the upcoming convention season, AnimeChicago has been speaking more about the safety and comfort of our members at club-sanctioned events. Here’s one of a series of articles on this topic. Content warning for excessive talk on sexual harassment. In the last decade that I’ve been running AnimeChicago and visiting conventions, I’ve heard…
Alternative Manga Panel Guide
“…in terms of popularity and sales, manga in America can be divided into Naruto and everything else. Aren’t most comics “alternative” to most of America? So what the hell. For the purposes of this post, the manga under discussion are Awesome Manga, all the titles that are too smart, too weird and/or too old for…
Convention Safety
After hearing reports about the man who brutally held his ex-girlfriend he met at a con captive for two months, and news earlier this year about the convicted sex offender who coerced an underage girl he met at a con, I’d like to stress convention safety. Anime conventions are some of the most fun places…
Good Anime Stores in Chicago?
The short answer is “no.” You can view our directory of local retailers which may appeal to anime fans, but they do not meet our criteria for an all-encompassing anime store. The continual frustrating question is “why not?” A true anime store needs to meet a few criteria to succeed in Chicago: 1) Be accessible…
Dance Machines
Whether you’ve played a few rounds at a friends house or play regularly at an arcade, there’s nothing worse than dance game pads you can’t trust. Most experienced players devote hours on a dedicated cabinet and you might want to take the leap. For new players and new residents, here’s a primer on what to look for…
Anime Central Primer
Whether you’re a seasoned con-goer or just a one-day attendee from last year, many of have already experienced the convention in some form and can offer a some tips for the uninitiated. Of course, there are quality convention survival guides out there, but here’s a few recommendations to get to know this convention specifically: Hotel…
The Anime Dabbler
I can still remember the day my childhood friend called me on the telephone during the summer before my sophomore year of high school and said, “I’m really into this show. It’s called Sailor Moon.” She seemed embarrassed, so I assured her I’d check it out for the sake of camaraderie. And check it out…
Gift Shopping: Valentine’s Day
Ahhh…otaku in love! What a delightful experience of having two souls with infatuations of giant robots and traveling samurai to share their love with one another. For some of you, this may be the first time you have ever had a significant other to dote on. Questions may begin racing through your head as the…