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Labor Day weekend brought more than just
cookouts to Dallas, Texas... It was also the weekend for AnimeFEST's annual
convention, and yours truly took a little road-trip to witness the event.
And, boy! Did we have a ball! Here's the highlights of one Anime-filled
weekend.
A Little Background
AnimeFEST
is a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing Japanimation fans
together. Based in Dallas, Texas, they host one huge annual convention as
well as smaller gatherings throughout the year. Dealers from all over the
country display at the event and you can also find some top-notch guest speakers
to check out.
Guests for
the 2004 convention included Steve Blum (Spike from Cowboy Bebop and Big O's
Roger Smith), Beau Billingslea (Jet Black in Cowboy Bebop) and Mike McFarland (Goemon
in Lupin III) to name just a few. Max was
the J-Pop guest of honor and, as you can see there was plenty of cosplay to be had as well.
Also featured this year was a LAN party room, a gaming room and contests for fan
fic and fan videos.
Inside the Convention
Hosted at the beautiful Hyatt Regency at
Reunion in Downtown Dallas, the convention opened with floor to ceiling Anime.
House of Anime was on hand, with tons of anime
goodies for your buying pleasure. Along with J Pop House, they carry apparel, posters, toys
and pics as well as a host of other anime must-haves. Visit them at
http://www.jpophouse.com and
http://www.houseofanime.com.
Black Dog
Enterprises from Lubbock, TX was in the house with plenty of DVD's and manga
(not to mention a ton of other Anime
goodies) to satisfy your needs.
Asylum Anime
was there too, offering a must-have collection of cels, manga and posters to choose from as well
as some excellent action figures.
Check out the Trigun and Gungrave posters...
SquirrelWorks.com and Anime Owns You were also
on hand, with tons of great anime goodies. Anime Owns You has just moved
to a new store on Camp Bowie in Fort Worth. You can also check out their
new website at www.animeownsyou.com -
it will be up and running on September 10th. We also stopped by the A-Kon
booth (psst.. they've already got their 2005 con in the works - check them out
at www.a-kon.com) and Oni-Kon (www.oni-con.com).
A.V.D. (Advanced Visual Designs) made a repeat
appearance at the Fest with their extraordinary models. They do custom
work in addition to the great stuff you see here. Give them a call at
(254) 729-3132 or email at avdesigns@yahoo.com.
TransGraphics, Inc. was there with their custom
designed T-shirts - visit
www.transgraphicsinc.com for your special orders.
This little Otaku is mine - he makes the trip
to AnimeFEST! with me every year!
Knighthawk Armoury (www.latex-weaponry.com)
makes the coolest cosplay gear around. Check out these medieval weapons -
they're foam! According to the owner, Greg Cox, they'll last around five
years, even with steady bludgeoning. Prices range from around $25 for a
dagger to $110 for the really elaborate swords. That cool axe you see in
the middle is $65.
We also saw Anime Pavilion (www.animepavilion.com)
and Planet Anime (www.planetanime.com), both with some amazing anime
collectibles. Manga, videos and great action figures just went on and on.
 
Rita and Mary with Magic of Collecting brought
their wares too and had some great DBZ and Spawn goodies.
With our own bag of anime finds safely tucked
away, it was time to head home. But wow -- what a great time!!
Thanks AnimeFEST!! See you again in 2005!
(By the way, these great pics were
taken by Rick, my partner in crime, who makes our annual visits complete!)
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