I think 2026 is the 30th Anime North? I don't know, I wasn't there in the beginning. Where I *will* be is at the show next weekend, doing a bunch of panels! Seems like every year I make a post here about what I'm up to, and I have no idea if it helps people find my panels or not. What I do know is that this is a handy guide for me in the future, when I want to remember exactly what I was up to at any particular Anime North.
Anime North is, of course, the annual Japanese anime convention in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Their first convention was back in 1997 and I managed to get some comments from some fans and staffers who were there at that first show, so I could write about it here.
In a field of fan comic-cons and expos that's been largely captured by the professional event management industry, Anime North is still run by volunteers, many of whom were there on day one, and who still spend weekends binge-watching Japanese cartoons. It makes for a convention that still has that fandom feel, full of happy, slightly overwhelmed staffers and attendees trying to make things work with a mix of experienced know-how and newbie enthusiasm, and that's what keeps me coming back. Well, that and the fact that they've allowed me to throw all kinds of panels and events up against the wall to see what sticks. What's going to stick this year?
Anime Hell returns Friday night for two hours of zany zingers and whacky whoppers, vicious video vagaries and kooky cinematic clunkers, all connected with Japan or Hell or Animation or all three, or neither.
Saturday from noon until 6, Anime North is letting us program a block of unlicensed or out-of-license classic Japanese animation, in defiance of common sense and various copyright agreements. If you need something to watch you might have never seen before and might never see again, this is where it's at!
Saturday at noon I'm hauling out some old fanzines and talking about how we used to have to fold and staple and mail all these episode guides and fan fiction epics by hand!
Saturday afternoon Neil Nadelman and myself take a doomer trip through the end of the world as portrayed in various live action Japanese films from the 60s 70s and 80s! Will this feature a special appearance by Mecha-May and Mew-Bot 5000?
Neil's back in the driver's seat for Saturday night's TOTALLY LAME ANIME, a big pile of the worst Japan ever committed to celluloid!
Followed at 10 by Jesse Betteridge's Anime Grindhouse, for all your late night trash cinema needs!
Be sure to catch Jesse at 10:30am Sunday morning as he shakes off the cobwebs and delivers a report on what happens when anime meets pachinko!
Sunday at noon I'll be highlighting the work of the man who brought us magical manga girls and giant super robots, masked ninjas and psychic schoolboys, Mitsuteru Yokoyama!
And we wrap Anime North up with a commentary-filled screening of the wild Toho sci-fi fantasy Latitude Zero, filled with super submarines, Hollywood royalty, monsters, laser beams, explosions, and Susumu "Ultraman" Korobe in a mustache. Like I said, wild!
And of course this is nowhere near even a fraction of what's happening at Anime North. Panels, workshops, raves, dances, interactive cafes, costume contests, the giant vendor's hall, video gaming, RPG gaming, Doll North, video screenings, and the Nominoichi swap meet event all are waiting for you May 22-24 2026! See you there!!
-Dave M
