AnimeUSA report, Friends, figurines, and excitement

I will post my report here a little later. I'm a bit drained from the con, but it was an awesome time. I think one of our fellow forum members was there too. Feel free to post anything in here if you were at AnimeUSA.

I'll go ahead and post this much of my report:

Dealer room haul

Da Capo poster
AIR TV 2006 calendar
Negima TV 2006 calendar
Clannad pencilboard
AIR TV pencilboard
Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha pencilboard
2 Negima pencilboards
Kanon TV Gashapon figurine set (complete set)
To Heart 2 Gashapon figurine set (complete set)
AIR TV figurine set (for some reason no Minagi Tohono)
Shuffle Figurines (Asa, Kaede, Nerine, Sia)
Ai Yori Aoshi game - Hirameki International
Yumeria - Vol. 2

Autographs

Hilary Haag - DNAngel Vol. 2 cover for Riku Harada, Sister Princess box, postcard book, and Vol. 2 DVD cover for Karen
Monica Rial - Maburaho Vol. 4 for Shiino Akai
Caitlin Glass - Spiral box and Vol. 2 DVD cover for Hiyono
Chris Patton - Mythical Det. Loki Ragnarok box for Narugami/Thor
Vic Mignogna - DNAngel box and Vol. 1 for Dark
Greg Ayres - Negima entire cast poster for Negi Springfield
??????

I'll have more of my report later.

AnimeUSA report

Friday - Nov. 18, 2005

One thing that I've really enjoyed for each con that I've been to is meeting up with friends. I've made some friends through the con circuit, and it's fun every time just to sit and talk with them. Met up with one of them and hung out in the lounge to wait for the initial rush into the dealers' room to subside.

Dealer's room was expanded a little bit this year. Merchandise for more recent shows is starting to make their way into the inventory of merchants. Scored figurines for To Heart 2, AIR, Kanon, and Shuffle. Lots of other good stuff too, though I know I won't be very happy when I see my credit card bill. And I had just recovered from my spending at Otakon from August.

Sat down for Monica Rial's panel. I did get to ask a question about Negima. I'll just say that she'll be in the series, but as far as which character(s), the VA cast list cannot be revealed yet. ADR Director will be Colleen Clinkenbeard.

Sat down for the Chrono Crusade panel with my friends. As the panel name says, it was mostly about that show. Hosting the panel were Hilary Haag and Greg Ayres. At the end, the discussion did shift to Negima. I was able to ask one of your guys' questions. In case you're wondering, he will not be using a Welsh accent. For those of you that have listened to his previous work, the pitch that he uses for Negi Springfield will be a very high register than what you are used to. They are currently recording Vol. 1 as we speak, and it's quite intense in terms of recording for it. And from what I understand, he's pretty knowledgeable about the series and is really enjoying Negi Springfield. He describes Negi as a mini-version of Kosuke from the series Spiral. Got to meet Hilary Haag and get a picture with her. Very nice girl.

For those that frequent the con circuits, definitely watch the Full Metal Fantasy short movie produced by the English VA for Edward Elric himself, Vic Mignogna. A very well created live action short that's a tribute to the series, and could possibly make it's way as an extra in a future DVD release, pending approval by Aniplex. Currently only viewable at cons.

Did get to meet Caitlin Glass who is very nice and got my picture with her. The night wrapped up with the Late Night VA panel and chatting with friends and a few of the guests in the lounge for awhile.

Saturday - Nov. 19, 2005

Arrived at the hotel at 10 am with coffee and laptop in hand. Sat down for the Fansubbing Workshop. Got some advice, tips, and background info about the fansub process and some recommendations. Panel was run by members of Anime-Empire and Solar-Fansubs. A lot of good info about what being part of a fansub group is, especially when it comes to reputation, what constitutes a good quality sub, and recommended programs for certain steps in the fansubbing process. Unfortunately, had to leave early to make the ADV Panel.

ADV Films panel was run by David Williams. General question and answer session with goodies such as manga, DVDs, and DVD thinpak boxsets to give out for those who asked questions. No new licenses at this time. Lots of interesting questions, including the possibility of anime distribution similar to video downloads from iTunes for TV eps. Also, the ever lingering question of the HD-DVD format. Not much to note on that format at this time. Sales are still doing well overall for ADV Films. The trend that seems to be showing is that sales are spread out over most of their current properties as opposed to a select few series performing extremely well over others. Did get to ask two questions. First one being: "What are some of the new series on DVD that we can look forward to in 2006?" and the second pertaining to the Jiggle Counter for which they finally got the trademark. I think it took a few years, and it just happened to show up from the US Patent Office one day at the ADV offices in Houston.

Titles to look forward to in 2006 from ADV Films include Macross, UFO Ultramaiden Valkyrie (UFO Princess Valkyrie), and Diamond Daydream (Kita E - Diamond Dust Drops). Scored a Mezzo - Danger Service Agency thinpak boxset for asking a question. Yay!

Next up was Chris Patton's panel. A variety of questions about his various characters that he has voiced. He actually did have one burning question for us, which was about Full Metal Panic: The Second Raid, if Sousuke ends up with Chidori Kaname, since he hasn't seen it yet. Although not licensed yet, you can be sure that ADV will be working hard to bring more FMP goodness to the US.

After the panel, took my friends from the AoD forums out of the hotel to go have lunch. After that, time for the dealer's room again. At one point, I realized I needed a rest at home for a few hours, since I only had like 3-4 hours of sleep the night before. Came back around 7:00 pm. Was going to sit down for Greg Ayres panel, but arrived a little too late and the room was filled to capactiy, so I decided to hit the video rooms and the con suite to grab something to drink.

Next up was Caitlin Glass's panel. Decent sized panel and fun. Did get to ask one question pertaining to Spiral, which she really enjoyed working on. She did reveal that she is voicing two characters in Negima, but was not allowed to tell us who at this time.

Had a couple hours of free time. Time to grab food this time. Sat down with my fellow AoD friends and ordered some pizza for dinner. Talked about each of our favorite series and the con experiences we've had in general. While waiting for our pizza, one of the guys had a portable DVD player and we watched Count Duckula. That takes me back to those old Nickelodeon cartoons including Dangermouse.

Late Night VA panel #2. This time it included Caitlin Glass, Chris Patton, Greg Ayres, and David Wiliams. 18 and older only were allowed into this, so I sure you can imagine what stories and such came out of this session.

Stepped into the video game room and played a little DDR. One guy had a computer setup outside of the game room, running videos of time records for various games. On my way out the door of the hotel to retire for the night, ran into one of my friends and one of the guest again.

Sunday - Nov. 20, 2005

Arrived at 10:00 am for Hilary Haag's panel. This was a nice panel to sit down at, since a lot of people attending were of the older crowd, and the conversation had a more of a casual interview feel to it. A nice change a pace compared to the usual screams of fans that fill the room at certain times. Had a chance to get my DNAngel DVD signed by her. Again, she is a really nice person. You can really tell that she's someone who really enjoys using her voice to bring out a lot of definition to the variety of personalities with her wide range of characters.

All VA panel had various questions from the audiences, and it went by really fast. Time for the autograph session. A little bit different from last year, since last year, the autographs came before the all VAs panel. Long lines this year. Hit the dealer's room one last time since the line wasn't going to move for awhile. Saw a Kanon artbook that I've had a hard time finding, but too slow as someone else bought it before I did.

Back to the autograph session line. Probably took a good hour to hour and a half to get through the line. Smart idea by them was to have a few of the guests walk along the line and stop for each person that wanted autographs. That way, people wouldn't have to wait to get all the way up to the front and wait for each group to finish going through all of the guests. Good for the VAs too so that some of them could finish faster.

Autographs:
Hilary Haag - Sister Princess box, DVD Vol. 2, and postcard book for Karen
Monica Rial - Maburaho Vol. 4 for Shiino Akai and ??????
Vic Mignogna - DNAngel Box and Vol. 1 for Dark
Caitlin Glass - Spiral Box, Vol. 2 DVD for Hiyono, and ??????
Greg Ayres - Negima cast poster for Negi Springfield
Chris Patton - Mythical Det. Loki Ragnarok Box for Narugami/Thor

I had brought along my Kamo-kun plushie and a few of the pactio cards to show to some of the VAs that are voicing characters in Negima. They requested some info about the "pactio cards" and the Kamo-kun plushie. Could we possibly see the "pactio cards" in the US release? From the looks of how excited they were, I'm pretty sure they're looking to push the idea to Funimation. Hey, if they can get a bunch of merchandise out of Fruits Basket, why not for Negima, right?

Ended up leaving at 4:30 p.m. That makes 4 conventions for me. Next one up: Katsucon 2006 in DC coming up in Feb.

Pics I will have in the next post

Wow sounds like you had a blast. Looks like you got a decent haul from the dealers room, too.

Lots of Pencilboards and figurines, my kinda stuff.

And let us know how the ai yori aoshi game is...

And if you help get the pactio's to domestically release, then everyone here owes EVEN MORE to you than we all already do. Either way, GJ!!!

I want pictures!!!

Finally got my pictures uploaded:

Dealers' room hauls:

Figurines - Shuffle, To Heart 2, Kanon, AIR
Posters, pencilboards and other cool stuff
Autographs from the VAs

Note: I can't show the Negima poster yet that I had autographed. Sorry.

Cosplay pics:
Gundam SEED ZAFT cosplayers
FFX-2 - Yuna
Naruto - Sakura
Spiral - Hiyono
Full Metal Alchemist - Edward Elric
DiGiCharat - Dejiko
Ah My Goddess! - Belldandy and Keiichi

Pictures w/ the guests:
My picture w/ Vic Mignogna (Edward Elric - FMA, Dark - DNAngel)
Picture w/ Hilary Haag (Teletha Testarossa - Full Metal Panic, Riku Harada - DNAngel, Karinka - Steel Angel Kurumi, Karen - Sister Princess)
Picture w/ Caitlin Glass (Hiyono - Spiral, Winry Rockabell - FMA, Takane - Burst Angel)

Miscellaneous pictures:
Chris Patton at his panel
Hilary Haag at her panel
Another picture at her panel
Vic Mignogna at the Full Metal Fantasy showing
Another pic at the showing
Late night w/ the VAs - Friday
Late night w/ the VAs - another pic
All VA guest panel on Sunday
Pic w/ friends from the AoD forums
Chrono Crusade panel w/ Hilary Haag and Greg Ayres
Chrono Crusade panel - Pic 2
Chrono Crusade panel - Pic 3
Chrono Crusade panel - Pic 4

Ehh~~? Por qué?

I love the pics aqua.

Hey, do you think you could post a few sample pics from inside the Negima calendar?

Ehh~~? Por qué?

Let's just say it'll give away something that's not supposed to be public yet.

No problem. There are some unique and very nice pictures inside of the Negima calendar

Ehh~~? Por qué?

Let's just say it'll give away something that's not supposed to be public yet.

Figured :/

I'm going to need you to tell me what it is in a PM... uhh... so I know... err... to delete it... if I... see it... on the boards? >_> That doesn't sound that convincing, does it?

[Jealous]There's something wrong with camera though [/Jealous] j/k I love the pics and ... HOLY CRAP! u got so many figures!!!