Anime Expo Report

What an adventure Anime Expo was last weekend. So many amazing things went down for ADV and Newtype USA it?s taken me almost a week to wrap by brain around it all.

I always enjoy going to conventions and this one was a definite blast. Not only did I get the chance to hang out with a lot of my friends from the industry (including the folks from our Tokyo office ? it?s always a treat to see them) but I got to meet a lot of great fans as well. That?s the best part.

The response to our Excel Saga t-shirt toss at the ADV booth was amazing. The rhythm of the bass drum banging from the second floor of the booth brought throngs of fans swarming our way. Everyone was really excited during the chants we were leading them in which made me even more enthusiastic. I ended up losing my voice after the first day which led to pinch-hitter Rob Miles filling in for me until my pipes healed (Big ups my man).

The anticipated debut of Newtype USA was also a rousing success. We handed out thousands of copies of our special collector?s edition ?Convention Teaser? issue much to the delight of the fans in attendance (Of course it might have been the Newtype USA

Divas we had at the booth that got everyone excited. They seemed to attract a lot of admirers.). The magazine has generated a lot of positive buzz in the past week as it seems to be the main topic of interest on a lot of web site message boards. Newtype USA will officially launch this fall so there?s still plenty of time to head over to the Newtype USA website and subscribe.

The Newtype USA panel was hosted by ADV?s President John Ledford and Newtype Japan Editor-in-Chief Takashi Watanabe. Watanabe-san talked about Newtype?s history (the original magazine is 18 years old!) while John talked a bit about what fans can look forward to in upcoming issues of Newtype USA. The panel attendees seemed to learn a lot from the panel and were especially excited to hear about the plans to package DVDs with most new issues.

John later joined Matt Greenfield and David Williams for the ADV panel. We announced a TON of cool new anime soundtracks plus several great new series planned for 2003 and beyond (Just wait until you see RahXephon ? it?s going to blow you away. And the rest of the titles we announced are pretty cool too.) The highlight for many of the fans in attendance was getting the chance to see a preview of upcoming DVDs for Excel Saga 2 and Dragon Half. I?m looking forward to seeing those too.

All in all it was a very fun and successful weekend for ADV and Newtype. Up next is Otakon in Baltimore at the end of the month. I won?t be attending but lots of ADV?s finest will be on hand to meet you. And I?ll be hitting the convention trail again in August for the San Diego Comic-con International. See you there!

Ken Wiatrek
ADV Marketing Guy

Posted on Saturday, July 13, 2002 (Archive on Tuesday, August 13, 2002)