General

As part of Anime Central Online, we’ve opened our merchandise store through the end of May! All orders placed will be processed in waves after the store closes on May 31st, 2021. All items are shipped USPS. No international shipping. We will ship orders as soon as possible. General orders may take up to 30 days to ship due to high volumes and the availability of our volunteer staff. We are all volunteers and enjoy putting together this amazing event…

Team ACen foodies, it’s time to come out to support and celebrate our local Japanese cuisine during our Anime Central Restaurant Rally!  Throughout ACen Online 2021 weekend you can catch cool demos of your favorite or soon-to-be favorite Japanese cuisine local to the Chicago area. Plot your course below and order up a special treat: Bokuchan’s Japanese Curry House Website – Facebook – Instagram Join us during ACen 2021 Online to learn to make Japanese Curry with Bokuchan’s Japanese Curry House! Bokuchan’s…

The Midwest Animation Promotion Society (MAPS) would like to share some information about our annual scholarship program: Each year MAPS awards $9000 in four scholarships to students in our community who appreciate our mission to help them follow their passions! A first prize of $3000 and a second prize of $1500 are available for full time college students majoring in each of the following studies: The Rider Scholarship for Japanese Language, Literature and Asian Studies and the M.A.P.S. scholarship for Illustration and…

Dear Anime Central Community, We want to thank you for your continued patience with us while we have been monitoring the spread of the coronavirus and what that means for the event and your safety. It is with heavy hearts that we have decided to cancel Anime Central 2021. Like many of you, we held on to hope that this would not be the case this May and that it would be safe to return and see all of our…

Each year MAPS awards $9000 in four scholarships to students in our community who appreciate our mission to help them follow their passions! A first prize of $3000 and a second prize of $1500 are available for full time college students majoring in each of the following studies: The Rider Scholarship for Japanese Language, Literature and Asian Studies and the M.A.P.S. scholarship for Illustration and Animation. 2020 Scholarships Recipients The Midwest Animation Promotion Society has awarded the 2020 scholarships to…

OTAQUEST announces partnership with Anime Central and additional programming for OTAQUEST CONNECT Tokyo, Japan (July 21, 2020) – OTAQUEST is excited to announce their partnership with the Midwest Animation Promotion Society (M.A.P.S.) for their upcoming online convention event, OTAQUEST CONNECT. In addition, OTAQUEST is proud to reveal OTAQUEST // PLUGGED IN, an online musical event taking place during OTAQUEST CONNECT on Saturday August 15th, alongside an additional concert program on Sunday August 16th. OTAQUEST CONNECT Powered by Anime Central will…

The Midwest Animation Promotion Society (MAPS) would like to share some information about our annual scholarship program: Each year MAPS awards $9000 in four scholarships to students in our community who appreciate our mission to help them follow their passions! A first prize of $3000 and a second prize of $1500 are available for full time college students majoring in each of the following studies: The Rider Scholarship for Japanese Language, Literature and Asian Studies and the M.A.P.S. scholarship for Illustration and…

We’ve all experienced many changes in the way we go about our days during this world pandemic. Mostly we feel the effects of physical distancing and how that informs our day to day life, our changed interactions with people, and the events we look forward to all year round. When we got together as a team, we began to talk about how we can support our community and handle those feelings of disconnection and loss. There’s a group of our…

As you know, and to the disappointment of all, Anime Central 2020 has been cancelled. However, the ACen spirit is still fighting and the opportunity to share your costume lives on! We are pleased to offer a Cosplay Collage to showcase the costumes our community has been planning. Even while practicing social distancing, let’s come virtually together to celebrate our creativity and craftsmanship! The Costume Events staff (Masquerade, Gatherings, Hall Cosplay) is hereby requesting a 7-10 second video of you…