AUKcon was a one-day
anime convention
An anime convention is an event or gathering with a primary focus on anime, manga and Japanese culture. Commonly, anime conventions are multi-day events hosted at convention centers, hotels or college campuses. They feature a wide variety of activ ...
held in
London, England
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major s ...
, on 19 February 1994.
The venue was the Conway Hall (
Red Lion Square
Red Lion Square is a small square in Holborn, London. The square was laid out in 1684 by Nicholas Barbon, taking its name from the Red Lion Inn. According to some sources, the bodies of three regicides—Oliver Cromwell, John Bradshaw and He ...
), and the registration charge was £10.
AUKCon was chaired by
Helen McCarthy
Helen McCarthy (born 27 February 1951) is the British author of such anime reference books as ''500 Manga Heroes and Villains'', ''Anime!'', ''The Anime Movie Guide'' and '' Hayao Miyazaki: Master of Japanese Animation''. She is the co-author o ...
.
During the convention, Lawrence Guinness of
Manga Video announced that the company had acquired distribution rights for ''
Ranma ½
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi. It was serialized in ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' from August 1987 to March 1996, with the chapters collected into 38 ''tankōbon'' volumes by Shogakukan. The s ...
'' and planned to start releasing it in 1994. Also announced included plans for the series
Bio Booster Armor Guyver
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yoshiki Takaya. The Guyver itself is a symbiosis, symbiotic techno-organic (or Biomechanical engineering, biomechanical) device that Human enhancement, enhances the capabilities of its h ...
.
One of the guests that attended was
Toren Smith
Toren V. Smith (April 12, 1960 – March 4, 2013) was a Canadian manga translator and founder of Studio Proteus.
Early life
Smith learned to read by the age of four, and by the age of 12 had won his first award for writing from the Calgary St ...
, writer of the American
Dirty Pair
is a series of Japanese light novels (the first one being a fix-up) written by Haruka Takachiho and illustrated by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko that was later adapted into anime and manga versions. The first stories that make up the first volume ...
comic and founder of
Studio Proteus.
The convention was the first UK
anime
is hand-drawn and computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening of ...
event to provide a fan room with free space for
fanzines and
fanclubs. It also ran a gaming programme and an art and model show, as well as anime screenings and talks.
See also
*
D-Con
d-CON is an American brand of rodent control products owned and distributed in the United States by the UK-based consumer goods company Reckitt. The d-CON product line includes traps and baits for use around the home for trapping and killing ra ...
*
Hyper Japan
HYPER JAPAN is the largest exhibition celebrating Japanese culture to be held in the UK. Organized by Cross Media Ltd., it was first held in London 2010 and since 2014 has taken place twice a year, in July and November. It takes place in Olympi ...
*
Tomo-Dachi
References
{{anime-stub
1994 in the United Kingdom
Defunct anime conventions
Conventions in the United Kingdom