Linus Lam's Coverage of AnimeExpo2000

Panels! Panels! Panels! More panels than you can shake a stick at and then some! AX2000 offered a huge four-day weekend variety of panels galore featuring many esteemed Guests of Honor, noted fans, and industry representatives from as far as Japan all heading healthy discussions on various exciting anime and manga-related topics ranging from new shows, fan activities, industry follow-ups, historical perspectives, and other forms of fan entertainment lasting well into the night. Packed full of attendees, every single panel or activity offered something to learn from, whether you were into the discussion subject or not, as shown below with a brief description of each session.

AnimeExpo2000
Friday Panels Gallery 1


Moderated by SPJA CEO Mike Tatsugawa, the Building Bridges panel focused on how American entertainment companies like WB and Paramount are reaching out to Japan in an attempt to find more content, how Japanese companies like AIC/Studio Hard are changing their business models to try to accommodate the U.S. market, and how the hybrid companies like Bandai Entertainment are thriving in the middle.	Karaoke Preliminary Rounds started up with a bang! With Pikachu and Phil Yee as glorious guest judges on a five-judge panel, contestants mightily sang their best to compete for some pretty cool prizes donated by numerous domestic anime companies.

Ms. Takada Akemi's focus panel delved into her illustrious history of working on such anime shows as Kimagure Orange Road, Creami Mami, and Fancy Lala, and gave some enlightening information on exciting projects she will be working on.

Karaoke broke into few wickedly exciting sessions including a song heartedly improvised by a few notable anime industry executives. The Karaoke Competition judges dutifully continued to take notes...

Part 1 of the Game Show featured a modified version of Jeopardy and other popular televised game shows all rolled up into one whopping extravaganza. First contestants up: Anh, Rick, and Brian, competing for some cool prizes.