In December 2001 another new Convention was organized by part of the former staff of the AnimaniA magazine that had formed a new magazine called Mangaszene. Bônenkai is a end of year celebration in Japan and it was nice idea to have another convention in winter to not have Animagic (which is held in summer) as a direct competition. The first Bônenkai was held in a youth club in Karlsruhe, Germany, December 8th till 9th in 2001.

It was ann exciting Convention for me because I went with two friends that I met at an Animexx meetup. There were no parents and we even booked a hotel and drove with a taxi. My friends father had an own company and she was always like 'it's fine. We'll just put it onto the bill for the company.' Ooookay~

The community was much smaller back then and you started to notice people from other conventions who left an impression, may it because of a cosplay, a stage performance or something else.

I didn't wear a cosplay and neither did my two friends. The convention wasn't that big and I mainly remember the big hall with dealers on the side and a stage in front. I think I bought a small bootleg Final Fantasy calender and some small stuff.

I remember there was a Joey Cosplayer (we were big into Digimon at that time) and just marveld at everything.

Strangely, the only other memory I have from this con is that we watched the South Park movie at the hotel we stayed at.

Since I don't have photos on my own, I scanned the convention report from MangaSzene issue 7 (2001/01).

You get a glimpse into the chaotic energy of early conventions. Very different from today where even fanartists are expected to have a profesional booth, business cards and have their portfolio curated online.