Linus Lam's Coverage of Anime Central 2001

Anime Central continues to grow in attendance at a rate well beyond the hotel capacity and after announcing a new larger venue nearby the O'Hare International Airport, fans are definitely pleased with the outcome. But let's recap on the other things you may have missed during the weekend...

Anime Central 2001
Extra AC Activities and Sightings


Video game tournaments included popular titles like Soul Caliber, King of Fighters 2000, Capcom vs. SNK, Tekken Tag Tournament, Dance Dance Revolution, and Street Fighter III: Third Strike.

From late evening to well into the night, Karaoke kept the fans crawling in ready to let loose their remaining hours of energy through popular J-pop, J-rock, or anime songs.	6 Video Rooms ensured a video marathon of an expanded list of new anime titles and old standbys that new fans and hardcore marathon fanatics could enjoy.

Registration was way up this year, topping out at over 3200 registered attendees by the end of the weekend.	Once again, the hotel was kind enough to offer plenty of mouth-watering delights for the hungry fans, with plenty of salads, pizzas, cold drinks, sandwiches, fresh fruits, and much more.

With a large assortment of themed shirts, Merchandising made sure fans could keep up the Anime Central spirit with new artwork from Lain, PowerPuff girls, and Silent Mobius.	Anime Central 2001's Merchandising bunnies showing off the latest in baby-Ts for the drooling otakus!

The tent was once again used for major events like Guest Reception, Cosplay Reception, the wedding reception, and much more.	While Illinois certainly has constantly changing weather patterns, on a clear day, fans could sit back on the grassy knoll and enjoy the blue sky...

Stylish Program Book and badge in hand, eager anticipation for a wild and packed weekend was rewarded with an even more packed schedule of tons of events and panels to see.		Say goodbye to this great venue, it has served its purpose well with the growing attendance and Anime Central must move on to a bigger home... check it out at the Anime Central website!