I’ve been going to AnimeNEXT for about 9 years now, and decided to skip it for the first time last year. Just my luck, the staff decided the one year without Evan was the perfect time to invite all the coolest guests, including the folks from my favorite anime studio, Trigger. This year I’ve rectified the mistake, and I’ll be back in the Garden State for another weekend of what are sure to be excellent panels and even excellent-er people, including those same Trigger staff members (plus some extras, like superstar animator Sushio).
How do I know those panels will be excellent? Because AnimeNEXT is chock full of awesome bloggers and other friends of Ani-Gamers, including Mike Toole, Charles Dunbar, the Reverse Thieves Al & Kate, Carl from Ogiue Maniax, Vinnie Averello, PatzPrime, Erica Friedman, and many more.
We’re contributing too, for what it’s worth. BOTH Ink and I are running some of our own panels, and David will be around to take part in our convention coverage.
Here’s the full list of panels from Ink and me:
- Anime Openings Through the Decades (Friday, 11:45am, Panel 1) – Does what it says on the tin. I’m helping out Hazukari on this one.
- The Rise of CG Anime (Friday, 3:30pm, Panel 3) – A fairly comprehensive history of computer graphics in anime. I start in 1968. Take THAT, Golgo!
- Poetry in Anime: The Power of Words in a Visual Medium (Friday, 4:15pm, Panel 5) – Ink’s expanded poetry panel. Seriously, he was born to do this panel. Go see it.
- Crunchyroll Industry Panel (Saturday, 1:45pm, Panel 4) – CRUNCHYROLL DOT COM IS A GOOD WEBSITE. I’m flying solo here, so no brand managers.
- A Video History Anime (Saturday, 6:15pm, Panel 3) – 100+ years of history in 90 minutes. No big deal. It’s all video clips (no slides), which is pretty cool.
- Panel Lightning Round (Saturday, 9:30pm, Panel 5) – 10-minute “mini-panels” from a bunch of awesome panelists, including: Charles Dunbar, Patz, George Horvath, Hazukari, Vinnie, and Ink. Topics include live-action anime adaptations, principles for evaluating animation, and ridiculous monsters of Japan. I’m the MC in addition to running one mini-panel of my own.
If you see us around, feel free to come up and say hi!