One unfortunate consequence of being late with my pre-con posts is that I lose the luxury of (not) clever titles like “See you AnimeNEXT weekend!” As a longtime punster, this is enough to make me consider founding a convention called AnimeTHIS, just so I can rectify the conundrum by writing “See you AnimeTHIS weekend!” The gag would certainly never get old.
Anyway, now that I’ve blatantly disobeyed the inverted pyramid of journalism, on to the actual meat of the post. Ani-Gamers will, as usual, be at AnimeNEXT in Somerset, NJ, presenting our shenanigans to whichever fools decide to wander into our panel rooms. We’ll also be covering the convention, with both Ink and I attending panels and maybe asking a few questions of some of the guests. (Satoru Nakamura in particular looks interesting.) Other cool blogger folks in attendance include The Reverse Thieves (they’re actually staying with me for the weekend), Scott VonSchilling, and Ed Chavez, all of whom will be on panels throughout the weekend.
If you’re heading to the con for the weekend, make sure to attend “Satoshi Kon Tribute: Truth from Fiction” (Workshop 2) on Saturday at 11 AM and “Fandom & Criticism: The Art of Active Viewing” (Panel 4) on Saturday at noon. Yep, they’re back to back — two straight hours of more IN YOUR FACE ANI-GAMERS ACTION than ever before. Oh, and Hisui from the Reverse Thieves will be joining Ink and me for Fandom & Criticism. If you need to brush up on your discussion points, why not listen to Ani-Gamers Podcast #032, which is a recording of last year’s panel?
Our buddy DJ Ranma S from Anime Jam Session will also be running “Anime Incorrect,” an 18+ panel based loosely on Bill Maher’s late night show “Politically Incorrect” that will bring together four or five different members of the anime community — including yours truly and the aforementioned Mr. VonSchilling — to talk about topics of his choosing. Sounds fun to me! That’s 10 PM Friday night, so you’ll have to skip out on the second half of the must-see 18+ Anime Dating Game.
That’s about it. We don’t have our schedules prepared yet, but we might add them to this post later. Before then, however, feel free to let us know what you want us to cover in the comments section! Any questions you want us to ask the guests or staff?
