Once again it's that time of year, and I'm throwing things into bags and furiously preparing to head out to Atlanta and its annual anime convention, which we like to call an Anime Weekend. Since 1995 this annual gathering of the anime tribes has been going on, to the consternation, bemusement, and enrichment of Atlanta's parents, commuters, and hospitality industry. I consider myself lucky to have been a part of it from the very beginning, back when the show was just a few hundred nerds suffering in one of the metro area's least luxurious motels.
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| AWA: the beginning |
In contrast, this year AWA happens in Building C of the Georgia World Congress Center, a state of the art facility custom built for large conventions, historical gatherings, and the occasional superhero movie battle. The convention happens November 19-22, 2026, and like myself, anime fans across the Southeast and the continent are preparing their budgets, their cosplays, and their event schedules even now, mere days away.
What will I be up to this year at AWA? Well, Friday at 1:30pm in Ball 1 I'll be looking at the career of one of manga's most influential creators, the man who gave us giant robots, magical girls, masked ninjas, and psychic world-destroying teenagers, Mitsuteru Yokoyama.
Then later Friday night, or Saturday morning if you prefer, I'll be in the main events room once again perpetuating a massive fraud on the people of Atlanta and anime fandom as a whole as I present ANIME HELL for what might be the thirtieth iteration of this inexplicably popular event that is so clearly described in convention media, and yet is the subject of so much false and deceptive slander. Hell is happening at midnight and is preceded by Neil Nadelman's crowd-pleasing Totally Lame Anime at 10pm!
Saturday morning at 11:15am we will take a trip back into Atlanta history with a look at what anime fandom was like before AWA was there. How did Atlanta anime fans gather their friends and their anime goods? What clubs did they form? Which conventions did they staff? Which meeting rooms were they disinvited from? It's all happening in 202-4 Premier Panels on Saturday.
Then on Sunday afternoon back in 202-4 we'll risk paper cuts and glue stick smears with an in-depth exploration of the anime fanzine. Where did it come from, why did it flower briefly, and where did it vanish to? Various printing technologies, distribution techniques, and typesetting methods will all be revealed in this eye-opening seminar, featuring actual vintage anime fanzines for your inspection.
Before you know it, AWA 2026 will be in the rear view mirror. Don't let this one pass you by, stick out your thumb and hitch a ride along with us as we speed down the anime weekend highway! Or, considering Atlanta traffic, crawl along the anime weekend interstate downtown connector. Whichever.
And yes, Let's Anime readers, I will have more actual Let's Anime articles coming your way in the new year, so stay tuned. In the mean time, stay informed with Mecha-May!
-Dave Merrill
