Connichi is an annual, 3-day anime convention in Germany and one of the largest of its kind in the German-speaking world with over 24,000 visitors in 2013. [1] It is held by the German anime association Animexx e.V.
Connichi is an annual, 3-day anime convention in Germany and one of the largest of its kind in the German-speaking world with over 24,000 visitors in 2013. [1] It is held by the German anime association Animexx e.V.
Connichi was first held in 2002 in Ludwigshafen, counting 1,500 visitors. [2] Ever since, Connichi has been held every September in Kassel with visitor numbers having grown quickly beyond 12,000 in 2006. [3]
The Kongress Palais Kassel and parts of the adjacent Hotel Ramada host the majority of events. The concert hall, "Festsaal", offers seating for about 1,500 people. Additional events such as Japanese rock concerts and visual kei cosplay events are held at the nearby venue Nachthallen.
A park next to, and an area at the entrance of, the Kongress Palais, as well as the surrounding architecture offer cosplayers space and background for photo shooting. Food and drinks may be purchased at the Palais, as well as at shops and supermarkets in the vicinity a number of which have in recent years begun to open for extended hours even on Sunday during the Connichi weekend.
During the event, the Connichi ticket allows to use public transport within a certain tariff zone for free. [4]
Connichi offers a variety of attractions typical to anime conventions, such as shows and concerts, contests, video rooms, console games rooms, karaoke, vendors and exhibitors, and Bring'n'Buy flea markets; as well as workshops in Japanese language and culture such as how to wear a Kimono or how to draw manga-style. The latter are regularly held by Guests of Honour working in that area (see below for a list of guests).
Participation in any contest is free for every visitor but may be subject to prior registration or even submission of artistic material. While the actual range of contests may vary from Connichi to Connichi, the following contests are staple.
Cosplayers can participate in separate contests which allow either one or two persons at a time, or up to five persons at a time. Since 2004 Connichi also holds the preliminary contest for the World Cosplay Summit to determine the German finalists. [5] Besides the chance to participate in the WCS, the winner receives a flight ticket for the trip to Nagoya, Japan.
A cup of instant ramen noodles, usually sponsored by Nissin Foods, is freshly prepared, quickly cooled to prevent scalding, and to be eaten in the shortest time possible. Current record (2010) is 8.7 s. [6]
In several categories, winners are determined whose videos will be shown.
Further staple contests include a console games competition, tournaments in Go, TCG and CMG, a hard Anime quiz, as well as Karaoke and Dōjinshi contests. [7] Usually, the winners are announced and rewarded at the closing ceremony.
Connichi Guests of Honour come from a wide range of characters notable for their contributions to Japanese pop culture both in Germany and internationally, such as manga and anime artists, voice actors, as well as singers, idols and bands. Notably, Hiroyuki Yamaga has been enjoying attending every Connichi since 2003.
Apart from Japanese artists that go on stage, Connichi hosts a variety of amateur performers showing plays and musicals, singing and/or doing standup comedy with anime-related themes.
The workshops vary from event to event. The following workshops are staple to Connichi.
Various scenes from anime are dubbed by visitors. The result is presented at the closing ceremony.
Visitors can get familiar with the game of Go or improve their skills.
Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise is a 1987 Japanese animated science fiction film written and directed by Hiroyuki Yamaga, co-produced by Hiroaki Inoue and Hiroyuki Sueyoshi, and planned by Toshio Okada and Shigeru Watanabe. Ryuichi Sakamoto, later to share the Academy Award for the soundtrack to The Last Emperor, served as music director. The film's story takes place on an alternate world where a disengaged young man, Shirotsugh, inspired by an idealistic woman named Riquinni, volunteers to become the first astronaut, a decision that draws them into both public and personal conflict. The film was the debut work of anime studio Gainax, whose later television and movie series Neon Genesis Evangelion would achieve international recognition, and was the first anime produced by toy and game manufacturer Bandai, eventually to become one of Japan's top anime video companies.
FLCL is an original video animation (OVA) anime series created and directed by Kazuya Tsurumaki, written by Yōji Enokido, and produced by the FLCL Production Committee, which consisted of Gainax, Production I.G, and King Records. FLCL is a story following Naota Nandaba, a twelve-year-old boy whose suburban life is disturbed by the arrival of the mysterious Haruko Haruhara. The six-episode series was released in Japan from April 2000 to March 2001 alongside a manga and novel adaptation.
Hiroyuki Imaishi is a Japanese key animator, animation director and a co-founder of Studio Trigger. His style is marked by fast and frantic animation combined with elaborate storyboarding and punchy direction. Prior to founding Trigger, he was an animator and director at Gainax. His most well-known works include Gurren Lagann (2007), Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt (2010), Kill la Kill (2013), Promare (2019), and Cyberpunk: Edgerunners (2022).
Gunbuster, known in Japan as Top o Nerae!, is a Japanese OVA anime series produced by Bandai Visual, Victor, and Gainax and released from 1988 to 1989. It was the directorial debut of Hideaki Anno, best known as the creator and director of Neon Genesis Evangelion. The title is a combination of the titles of classic tennis manga and anime Aim for the Ace! and hit action drama film Top Gun, whose plot inspired Gunbuster's. To celebrate Gainax's 20th anniversary in 2004, a sequel to Gunbuster, Diebuster, was released as an OVA. The sequel features new characters and mecha, but retains the format and many of the concepts of the original series.
Haruko Momoi is a Japanese singer, songwriter and voice actress. She also produces an all-female pop group called Afilia Saga. She was born in Tokyo, Japan and is affectionately referred to as Halko by her fans, a nickname she gave herself which is inspired by HAL 9000, the computer in the film 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Toshio Okada is an anime producer, author, and lecturer. He is a co-founder and former president of the production company Gainax. He is portrayed by actor Gaku Hamada in the 2014 TV Drama Aoi Honō based on the autobiographical manga by his fellow Kazuhiko Shimamoto. He is representative director of Otaking Inc. and Cloud City Inc., as well as the founder of FREEex Inc. He also served as a part-time lecturer at the University of Tokyo's college of art and sciences and as a visiting scholar at Osaka University of Arts' character creative arts department.
Takami Akai is an illustrator, game creator, character designer and animator born on November 21, 1961, in Yonago, Tottori Prefecture, Japan.
Osaka University of Arts is a private arts university located in Kanan, Minamikawachi District, Osaka Prefecture, Japan. The university was founded in 1945 as Hirano English Cram School, changing its name to Osaka School of the Fine Arts in 1957, and then to Naniwa University of the Arts in 1964. The university adopted the current name in 1966.
Gurren Lagann, known in Japan as Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, is a Japanese mecha anime television series animated by Gainax and co-produced by Aniplex and Konami. It ran for 27 episodes on TV Tokyo between April and September 2007. It was directed by Hiroyuki Imaishi and written by veteran playwright Kazuki Nakashima. Gurren Lagann takes place in a fictional future where the Spiral King, Lordgenome, rules Earth and forces mankind to live in isolated subterranean villages. The plot focuses on two teenagers, Simon and Kamina, who live in a subterranean village and wish to go to the surface. Using a mecha known as Lagann, they reach the surface and start fighting alongside other humans against Lordgenome's forces before fighting the forces of their true enemy.
Hiroyuki Yamaga is a Japanese anime director and producer, and a founding member of the animation studio Gainax. He is best known for directing the film Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise (1987) at age 24, directing Mahoromatic (2001), Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi (2002), and an episode of Gurren Lagann (2007). Yamaga also wrote the screenplay for Gundam 0080 (1989).
The Daicon III and IV Opening Animations are two 8 mm film anime short films that were produced for the 1981 Daicon III and 1983 Daicon IV Nihon SF Taikai conventions. They were produced by a group of amateur animators known as Daicon Film, who would later go on to form the animation studio Gainax. The films are known for their unusually high production values for amateur works and for including numerous references to otaku culture, as well as its unauthorized appropriations of the Playboy Bunny costume. Usage of the songs "Runaway" by Bill Conti as well as "Twilight" and "Hold On Tight" by English rock band Electric Light Orchestra were also unauthorized.
Gainax Co., Ltd. is a Japanese anime studio famous for productions such as Neon Genesis Evangelion, Royal Space Force, Gunbuster, Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water, Kare Kano, FLCL, Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi, and Gurren Lagann, which have garnered critical acclaim and commercial success. Evangelion has reportedly grossed over ¥150 billion, or approximately US$1.2 billion. In a discussion at the 2006 Tekkoshocon, Matt Greenfield claimed that Evangelion had grossed over US$2 billion; Takeda reiterated in 2002 that "It sold record numbers of laserdiscs in Japan, and the DVD is still selling well today", as well as for their association with award-winning anime director and studio co-founder Hideaki Anno. The company is headquartered in Koganei, Tokyo.
Trigger, Inc., also known as Studio Trigger, is a Japanese animation studio founded by former Gainax employees Hiroyuki Imaishi and Masahiko Ōtsuka in 2011. It has produced anime works including Kill la Kill (2013), Little Witch Academia, Promare (2019), BNA: Brand New Animal (2020), and Cyberpunk: Edgerunners (2022), as well as the animated continuations of Gridman The Hyper Agent, SSSS.Gridman (2018), SSSS.Dynazenon (2021), and Gridman Universe (2023)
Aoi Honō is a Japanese coming-of-age manga series written and illustrated by Kazuhiko Shimamoto. It was serialized in Shogakukan's seinen manga magazine Weekly Young Sunday from March 2007 to July 2008, when the magazine ceased its publication; a chapter was published in YS Special in October 2008, before being transferred to Shogakukan's then-brand-new shōnen manga magazine Monthly Shōnen Sunday in May 2009. Aoi Honō is a fictionalized account of Shimamoto's time as a student at the Osaka University of Arts, which he attended alongside Hideaki Anno, Hiroyuki Yamaga, and Takami Akai.
Uru in Blue, also known as Blue Uru, is an unproduced Japanese animated science fiction film project by Gainax intended as a sequel to their 1987 film Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise. Aoki Uru was originally planned to be directed by Hideaki Anno and scripted by Hiroyuki Yamaga, with Yoshiyuki Sadamoto serving as its chief animation director and character designer. During 1992–93, the Aoki Uru creative team produced a complete storyboard, a partial script, and a large collection of designs and pre-production art for the film; however, the project had been initiated without a secured budget, and its development occurred within a period of personal, financial, and managerial crises at Gainax that contributed to the indefinite suspension of work on Aoki Uru in July 1993.
Shouji Saeki is a Japanese director, storyboard artist, writer, and animator known for directing and writing several series for studios Gainax and Shaft.
For the debut work of anime studio Gainax, the 1987 anime film Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise, director Hiroyuki Yamaga set a goal of "natural" dialogue, which he maintained was "a first in Japanese animation." The performers chosen to portray the lead characters, Leo Morimoto as Shirotsugh and Mitsuki Yayoi as Riquinni, were professional actors who nevertheless had little to no experience working in anime. At the same time, Gainax sought out and recruited as Royal Space Force's sound director the highly experienced Atsumi Tashiro of Group TAC, known for his work on the 1974 TV series Space Battleship Yamato. Tashiro accepted the staff position on Royal Space Force despite it being the first project he had undertaken outside his own company in over 20 years, seeing it as a chance to revitalize himself professionally, and the casting of Morimoto and Yayoi as an opportunity to depict genuine emotion and honest and fresh reactions, a spirit that Tashiro remarked he had forgotten within the world of anime.
Gainax's 1987 debut work Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise has been particularly noted for its design work; during a 2021 interview with the New York Times, science fiction author Ted Chiang, whose Nebula Award-winning "Story of Your Life" was the basis for the Denis Villeneuve movie Arrival, cited Royal Space Force as the single most impressive example of worldbuilding in book or film. Chiang remarked on details such as the film's distinct depiction of money, television, and newspapers: "I just really was impressed by the way that the animators for that film, they invented an entirely new physical culture for this movie. The movie is not about those things, but they really fleshed out this alternate world just as the backdrop for the story that they wanted to tell."
Gainax's proposal to make their debut anime work Royal Space Force was given interim approval in April of 1985 by lead financial backer Bandai after a presentation by planner Toshio Okada and director Hiroyuki Yamaga of a four-minute "pilot film" version at Bandai's Tokyo corporate headquarters, following which Yamaga returned to his hometown of Niigata to begin to write the screenplay, taking inspiration from both the city's urban geography and by observing its passing street traffic. A further real-world influence on the screenplay was a trip taken in August of that year by Yamaga and other film crew members to New York City, Washington, D.C., and the Space Coast of Florida to research postmodern architecture and aerospace history as well as witness a launch of the Space Shuttle Discovery.
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