Anime convention
Colorful costumes at the comic and games fair “JenaCo”
Visitors to the comic and games fair “JenaCon” in the Volkshaus in Jena. Photo
© Bodo Schackow/dpa
A small meeting of like-minded people in Jena has now become a real trade fair.
Fans of Japanese pop culture are in on Saturday Jena came together at “JenaCo”. Illustrators, authors, dealers, voice actors for Japanese animated films and cosplayers dressed as series characters came to the Volkshaus for this purpose. “With the new venue we are somewhat limited in size: we are expecting 4,000 visitors,” said organizer Jeanette Schlenzig.
The concert stage in the Volkshaus is put to good use. “Show groups can use it to show their demonstrations of specific anime.” A musician also plays the soundtrack to the popular video game “Genshin Impact” live on the piano.
It is the twelfth edition of the fair. “The whole thing developed from a meeting for 30 or 40 people,” says Schlenzig. At that time there was no comparable convention for anime and manga in Thuringia. That has now changed somewhat with the comic park in Erfurt. JenaCo still continued to grow, says Schlenzig.