What was Anime Expo like in the early 90s?

[@michaelcortez1531]

AnimeCon '91 was where it all began, still have my badge and program book. Such memories!

[@profatomo]

I went to the very first Anime con at the Red Lion Hotel in San Jose and still have the original flyer. Very bummed that both Katsuhiro Otomo and Leiji Matsumoto had to cancel, but the rest of the convention was a blast; standing in line, getting sketches from Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, Johji Manabe, Kenichi Sonoda, Haruhiko Mikimoto and Hideki Anno (yes, that Anno!). Those were very good times with good friends when anime was still small, intimate and special.

[@skyhound2889]

That's awesome.

[@Eijianthony]

The sketch that Sonoda did for that one fan was legendary. That whole piece of the entire cast from Bubblegum Crisis.

[@CaseNumber00]

I would very much like to see those sketches. I had the opportunity to get a sketch of Asuka by Sadamoto at AX 2019 while he was promoting Great Pretender. He, and others werent doing autographs then someone figured out to bring their merchandise they will sign it. I had to call my friend in line to rush and get a Eva Sadamoto artbook I saw earlier.

[@vanrb8529]

One of my goals before getting married was going to Anime Expo, I went with my fiancé in 2012, one year before our wedding, he didn’t like anime back then, but the fact he made the trip from Mexico to the convention, helped me with my cosplay, convinced me 10000% again, that he was the guy for me, when we came back his perception on anime changed and now we enjoy anime together :) thank you everyone for your work to make this possible

[@cutewhitemage7298]

It's my dream to one day find that special someone I can enjoy anime & Anime Expo with. I'm glad you found that person!

[@yukithesnowman314]

Been curious about the early days of American anime cons and found this. Really enjoy this history lesson.

[@Eijianthony]

I went from 1992-2000. In the early years it was the same fan faces every year and the guests were so accessible. I think it was 1996 or 1997 when I realized it was changing as I was told I would have to enter a lottery for a chance to meet the guests. I have sketches from Haruhiko Mikimoto, Nobuteru Yuki, Buichi Terasawa, Hiroyuki Kitazumi, Makoto Kobayashi, And many others. Those days at the Red Lion Hotel in San Jose are very memorable to me.

[@rickscottisanasshole.5658]

I was there as well! Very fun convention. I remember getting to watch the end of "Secret of blue water" there.

[@phothewin6019]

Great panel that would've been awesome to attend in person. Glad they're uploading it on KZbin. Respect to the OG, veteran anime fans out there 👍

[@djgizmoe]

I was there for both AnimeCon '91 and AnimeExpo '92. Thanks for the upload. Fantastic memories.

[@RipCurl808]

I was at AnimeCon 91! my first convention

[@rikafuu]

I'm blessed that I was there starting in the mid-to-late 90s, as my 10+ years of volunteering at AX built the foundation for me to actually be paid as an interpreter/handler and gave me lifelong friends though most have already parted ways with AX/SPJA as i have. I don't think I'll ever get as nervous as that day in AX2002 when I realized just how many people were attending the Watsuki focus panel I was interpreting for (iirc it filled LP1 and two simulcast rooms for like 2k+ ppl, which was like 1/6 of ALL attendees that year) Strangely enough, I also miss all the jabs Mike Tatsugawa gave me for attending/graduating from his rival university lol And I loved Books Nippan - I bought all my Cowboy Bebop LD's from their shop in Downtown LA!! (and I used them when I translated the series way back when, even)

[@profatomo]

After seeing this panel, I am so touched with warm feelings of those wonderful days of being a hungry, first gen anime fan, collecting cels, artbooks and promo posters, buying tapes, getting sketches from artists and meeting some of the best friends one could ever have. It makes me immensely sad to see some of those anime veterans no longer with us, especially one of my closest friends, Donald Yee (ex president of the LA CFO), who was one of the early Robotech fan artists. I was friendly with Carl Macek and he allowed me one day to enter his Streamline office to buy Akira Cels. I walked in and it was stacks of wall to wall Akira cels! I attended most of those anime cons and helped put together one of the early GOH parties in our hotel room. Anime Con, Anime America and Anime Expo...those were the best days of my life. Today's anime fans will never know how exciting it was in the early days.

[@Rheinhard]

I ended up running the masquerade despite flying in from out-of-state, simply because no one else on staff wanted to do it, and I wanted a venue where I'd be able to rant on stage in front of an audience in my spiffy new villain costume as the evil Lord Gargoyle of NeoAtlantis, from "Nadia of the Mysterious Seas"... you know, that thing that Hideaki Anno worked on before Evangelion!

[@Fireflyorange]

thats awesome

[@Tinaturtle]

I went to ax every year from 2000 to 2019 and was a volunteer from 2016-2019. I love hearing about the beginning of the Con

[@TRex-NP]

I went to AX from 1994 to 2002. Fun times.

[@NebuzaTrackz]

Great Panel I'm not to young I'm 35 going 36 but I will always love the entire Anime Otaku Culture this really inspired me to keep my Documenting of this culture I myself have been watching Anime since 1997 keep up the good work fellow Otaku

[@Alucard400]

OMG. I used to go to Books Nippan so much during the late 90s. Just right around the corner on Wilshire or 7th St. in downtown.

[@roketpad]

Thank you for sharing this. It brought back so many positive memories for me, but of just after this. It kind of explains to me what I experienced, and what I was part of from a distance. Nice to see old friends still happy. -- HunterD / Roba-chin

[@darkfire170]

wow I was 1-2 years old in 1991

[@zechmerquise5281]

I used to go to the one in Chicago in the 2000s

[@Eijianthony]

Ty for this. It was very nostalgic for me like those steps in KOR.

[@vincently1995]

31 Years of Anime Expo (1991-2022)

[@Figuremakr]

whoa!

[@AcevedoVideoStore]

40:06 Would that be Steve Bennett?

[@c3ns0rb4r4]

I could really use a glass of water

[@yukithesnowman314]

Hate to double post but I KNOW dude who gambled his college funds on AX is HELLA happy his gambit paid off.

[@CaloyKoy]

Is this the same panel that aired during AXLite 2021?

[@animeexpo]

It is the same panel with added photos and updated closed captioning for a better viewing experience!

[@toshifumiyoshida4240]

It was so fun participating in the panel. I've been calling it the Napton Cut of the panel. ^_^

[@tronoankirayoshikage7331]

EARLY SQUAD!