After months of fundraising, volunteering and preparation, Manhattan High’s Anime Club achieved their annual goal of attending Kansas City’s  annual Naka-Kon Anime Convention.

During spring break, on March 16-18, Anime Club loaded their bus with students of various classes to travel to Overland Park, where they attended one of the very few anime conventions available in the midwest. These conventions often feature famous voice actors, artists, cosplayers, designers, and die-hard fans of various franchises.

“[Naka-Kon] has a lot of cosplayers come around as well as panels and shows and contests,” Evelyn Guo, vice president, said. “It was something for all Anime Club members who could afford to go.”

Anime Club has  had to participate in several fundraisers and other events in order to fufill their monetary needs while staying on budget. Their most popular fundraiser is their coffee sales. The club sells a range of coffee, tea and cookies produced by the Giving Bean brand.

Their fundraising efforts were not wasted when they discovered they had reached there goal. Upon their arrival, the club was immediately immersed in fun activities and anime culture.

“We arrived on Friday when the event first started,” Guo said. “We wanted to go to the dance party, but we ended up being too tired. We kinda just walked around a lot and there was this really big store… so there were a lot of posters and actually figurines there.”

A key component to the convention is The Dealer’s Room, an area of the convention where aspiring artists can sell their fan based artwork and crafts. When it comes to attracting guests to any kind of convention, The Dealer’s Room is of the utmost importance. It hosts many booths and tables for salespeople to display and sell their goods, such as posters, T-shirts, figurines, books and many other nifty trinkets for attendees to purchase. This showcase of talent often  is where professional artists get their start.

Unlike last year, the 2018 Naka-Kon convention offered a myriad of different experiences for the newcomers as well as those fans returning from years of fun times.

“I think veterans who were returning to Naka-kon were happy that it… wasn’t the same as last year, so it was unique,” Guo said. “At the same time, it was something similar, so it kind of felt nice and relaxing. For the newcomers… [their] eyes just sparkle with all the possibilities.”

The club plans to attend the convention again in the future, as the convention not only gives underclassman an opportunity to travel and experience something new and unique, but upperclassmen who have attended before can relive the experience while also seeing what has changed, such as panels, guests and attractions.