The annual Sydney Manga and Anime Show, or SMASH, officially came to a close yesterday, after seeing a large turn out for fans of Japanese and Pop culture.
SMASH has been running since 2007, growing exponentially since its first run. This year, the convention was held at the ICC featuring international guests such as Rie Kugimiya, Junichiro Tamura and Joey Bizinger (aka The Anime Man).
While the guest list was star-studded as always, what was more impressive was the number of people in attendance, with an estimated over 20,000 people attending the event over the course of the weekend.
The rise of interest in Japanese culture in the West, in particular, the interest in anime and manga, has been steadily rising for years now.
With more people becoming fascinated by Japanese culture, events like SMASH have needed to become bigger each year to support the demand.
Starting off with only upwards of 1,000 attendants in 2007, and seeing 200,000 this year, it is evident that SMASH has successfully been able to help support and facilitate the dynamic growth of this community within Australia.
Anime, however, is more than just a style of Japanese animation; it is host to a culture and community across the world with millions of fans and celebrities who enjoy it as a form of entertainment.
Events like SMASH are successful due to their ability to turn an online community with little to no means of interaction into one where people can celebrate their favourite things with other people like them without any hesitation.
Hosting multiple different events and panels such as The Anime Man’s ‘Let’s fight Live’ and the ever-popular ‘Maid Café’, SMASH has a diverse range of attractions and events that have attracted a vast variety of different crowds with great success for years.
Whether you’re an anime fan, or someone who isn’t even interested, the dedication of people who support, run and attend this event is what makes it’s success commendable.
Volunteers, fans, and a tight-knit community allow such events to even occur the way that they do.
Here’s hoping that SMASH sees more success like this in the future.
