Anime Expo 2009 (6)
While Morning Musume can be considered to be the Japanese Menudo (in the sense that the group is more manufactured than the rest and the producer is generally the only person that has any lasting association with the ensemble group), it has hardly dampened the enthusiasm of their legions of un-named fans across the globe. Certainly they also have fans within the anime industry as Yasuhiro Nightow, of Trigun fame, felt honored to be on the same stage as them and confessed to having auditioned and failed. Even the Gundam 00 Guests of Honor, Seiji Mizushima, Yousuke Kuroda, and Yun Kouga, mused about wanting to go to the Morning Musume concert upon the completion of their ticketed autograph session.
After a quick introduction of Daisuke Ishiwatari, the original creator of Guilty Gear and composer for BlazBlue's music, and Toshimichi Mori, a producer for several of the past Guilty Gears and BlazBlue, the panel went straight into a Q&A with the fans and the two guests.
After our previous live blog of Nightow and Nishimura's Trigun Panel, we would like to present to you the full transcription of their panel at Anime Expo 2009. Please note that the transcription is based off of the translation done by an Anime Expo staff member and some liberties were taken.
This year marked the first ever AniMaid Café at Anime Expo (AX) 2009. The café began when a group of cosplayers put together an undisclosed private event back in March 2009 and some members of the Anime Expo staff were on hand to observe. After enjoying the event, they invited the group to hold a maid café at AX. "We trained immediately after AX officially announced the café, so we started training the maids for about a month. We trained every weekend, on Saturday" said Kchan, Head Maid of AniMaid Café.
Studio Gainax has made several visits to the United States in the last couple of years promoting their hit series Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. In 2008, they brought around 30 members of the series' production staff to FanimeCon in San Jose. Unfortunately, Director Hiroyuki Imaishi and Character Designer Atsushi Nishigori were both busy working on the Gurren Lagann movies and could not attend. This year though, both men were invited and appeared as Guests of Honor at Anime Expo 2009. The panel began with a quick formal introduction of the guests Hiroyuki Imaishi and Atsushi Nishigori. It was noted that it was their first American event and focus panel, so they decided to open the floor up for questions and answers. Note, we have excluded some of the more obscure questions from this article.
Welcome to The-O Network Online's Anime Expo 2009 Con Report! We have many exciting interviews and articles for you this year.
This was the second year that Anime Expo was held in the Los Angeles Convention Center and they were really starting to use it well, allocating different rooms and spaces to autograph sessions, combining Artist's Alley and Exhibit Hall, and holding events in West Hall. Of course, this meant that Nokia Theater had to be ditched, but the event felt tighter and closer as a result, rather than having convention goers march across the street for concerts and Masquerade.
The guests this year were mostly creators such as Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann's Hiroyuki Imaishi and Atsushi Nishigori and BlazBlue's Daisuke Ishiwatari and Toshimichi Mori. Fans of the creative end of the process certainly got their fill this year.