The Vile One's Dungeon: Anime Expo 2008 - Day 4
Posted by Jeffrey Harris on 07.10.2008
The con wrap-up!
Sorry it took me a while with this update folks.
Anyway, the final day of the convention was more of a half-day, being the last day as well as a Sunday, and with the closing ceremonies. But the good news is that the Anime Expo continues it growth with an even bigger attendance after '07 which was a record breaking year for AX. The other good news is that AX will return to the Los Angeles Convention Center in 2009. Hopefully the organizational issues and what not from this year will be worked out. So this day, I spent a lot of my time in the exhibit hall doing some last minute shopping for the folks. But a couple panels did catch my eye:
Voice Actor Panel
This unfortunately turned out to be another David Hayter panel even though he had already done like a million over the weekend as well as constant autograph signings. Poor Mr. Hayter was sweating big time since he was running all over the huge convention center. For a voice actor panel, the con staff could've you know booked the hundred other or however many voice actors that were already in attendance at the convention. They were hardly in short supply. Hayter still was nice enough to answer everyone's question, which though by this one were starting to get a little redundant.
Director Panel
Masamitsu Hidaka
Masahiro Ando
Credit to the above pics goes to Anime Expo's official website.
This panel featured anime directors Masahiro Ando and Masamitsu Hidaka talking about their work in the anime industry. Hidaka, who I previously interviewed at the Anime Expo press junket, is the director of the new Studio Gonzo series, Linebarrell which previewed at the con over the weekend, but I unfortunately missed. Ando-san who is a long-time veteran animator and storyboard artist for the anime industry makes his directorial debut for the new anime feature, Sword of The Stranger, which also previewed at the con and is an upcoming US release for Bandai Entertainment. Hidaka and Ando talked about their directing process, their favorite female anime characters that they'd like to date (Winry from Fullmetal Alchemist for Ando), and as well as how they take criticism and handle their staffs. As far as American comic books and super heroes, Ando says he's a big fan of the darker characters such as Batman and Hellboy. While Hidaka is a big fan of the X-men.
That's it for AX this year. My coverage is not through though since I'll still have a couple interviews I'll be posting. Regretfully some things got cancelled. And due to scheduling I had to miss a couple big events and industry panels, but with only one person some things are going to fall through. Hopefully everyone enjoyed the coverage, and the anime invasion of 411mania will continue.
