AUKcon

AUKcon was a one-day anime convention held in London, England, on 19 February 1994. It was organised and sponsored by ANIME UK Magazine and Sigma Publishing, with the support of the Sheffield Space Centre and various other dealers.

The Sheffield Space Centre also sponsored the successful ANIME DAY conventions from 1991-4.

The venue was the Conway Hall, Red Lion Square, London WC1, a short walk from Holborn Underground station. The registration charge was £10. Attendees came from all over the UK and some even made the trek from Italy, France, Holland and Belgium. Although one much later fan source (2001) records that 'nearly 300 people' attended the convention, the hall's fire limit of 500 was exceeded and the fire marshals attended onsite to confirm that everything was safe.

The guest of honour was Toren Smith, writer of the American DIRTY PAIR comic and founder of Studio Proteus. British distributors including Manga Entertainment, Crusader Video and Kiseki Films were also represented.

Lawrence Guiness of Manga announced that the company had acquired distribution rights for RANMA 1/2 and planned to start releasing it in 1994. Kiseki Films sold subtitled copies of RETURN OF THE OVERFIEND. Distribution company representatives also answered fans' questions, some of them controversial at the time, during onstage panels.

The convention was the first UK anime event to provide a fan room with free space for fanzines and fanclubs. It also ran a gaming programme and an art and model show, as well as anime screenings and talks.