Normally, I'd just say "whoop-de-doo" and delete this press release from my inbox. But something about this has been nagging me in the back of my mind since it was sent earlier today.

Anime Expo is a very different convention than Otakon or many others -- it's one of the few business-run anime conventions, right up there with New York Anime Fest. Meaning that while the event is geared towards fans, there's a profit to be made and a business to be run, and so they need to have a certain mindset in their leadership.

It's not necessarily a bad thing. Cons can be run more efficiently, bigger talent can be acquired, and things can go off without a hitch if you've got the right people working there. So I guess that's why SPJA is pulling in someone who's worked for the NBC Universal family, including their Universal Studios Japan operation -- a big attraction for all the cool Kansai kids.

I have a feeling that after this past year's AX, which certainly didn't seem like their reported 44,000 people, the upper brass needed to keep things moving in an upward direction. Talking with Dale and others, it feels like anime cons are going to hit a bit of a recession in these next few years, as they'll gear themselves more towards fan-oriented measures, and put lesser importance on the guests.

We'll see how things turn out, especially under Mr. Lattanzio's watchful eye.

Back during our trials at Anime Expo, Dale and I picked up the complete collection of Gungrave that FUNimation had just released, and we'd like to give it away to you! The contest is still going on, and so here's a little reminder about it!

From Trigun creator Yasuhiro Nightow, Gungrave is the story of a man who returns from beyond the grave to seek revenge. You know how it goes. This series is a far cry from /Trigun/, as it's all about gratuitious violence as done by Madhouse -- the people behind Black Lagoon, the first season of Gunslinger Girl, and Death Note.

So how can you get this title? It's pretty simple, actually: leave a comment about zombies. That's essentially what the main character is, after all, except he's wielding his coffin, along with a couple of pistols. The 300th commenter will get this box shipped to him!

Someone managed to leak a few shots of the trailer for Imagi's upcoming Gatchaman movie that was playing on the floor of Anime Expo. I stopped to watch it while I was there, and while I felt the visuals were very "last gen," at least in terms of the CG itself, I can't wait for the movie to come out. I absolutely adored G-Force, as it was known in America, and Tatsunoko vs Capcom managed to tug on my nostalgia a bit when they threw in a character from the series. As a result, I they could have rendered the entire film with a PSOne and I still would watch it. I'd probably complain, but I'd still watch it. 

They haven't posted the full trailer online yet, but there is a higher quality teaser clip I found floating around the net, so click the jump to watch that if you want. There isn't a noisy con happening in the background of the teaser, but you're limited to 10 seconds of footage, if that. I wonder anyone else as excited about this as I am?

Dale, Tim, Ace0fClub5 and I all sat down at the Focus "maid" cafe to relax after finishing up with the con, and sat down to discuss the events of what went on, our thoughts on the whole thing, and any little stories we had to tell. The download link is here. Sorry, iTunes fans, you'll have to manually import this one!

Japanator will be returning with a podcast, but for now, we've just got these little group discussions going on during the cons. We'll have another one after Otakon is over, I'm sure, so stay tuned for that. The future Japanator podcast will be leaner, and probably come out once a month or so, depending on how we can get our schedules together. We're really looking forward to putting ourselves back out there, we just want to make sure things turn out well.

So, while we're on the topic of podcasts, do any of you have suggestions for what to call our next talk podcast? We're all ears!

For as many awesome and interesting booths that were there at Anime Expo, there were a few that made us stop in our tracks, scratch our heads, and wonder why the hell they're even there. So, I present to you these strange and bizarre booths, with the hope that I'll find a new batch of them while at Otakon. But, I think some of these are unique to that California state of mind.

Before we get into it, I'd like to invite you all to leave some of the oddest booths and con experiences you've had down in the comments below. We'd like to hear those memorable moments straight from you about how you almost got run down at one con, or how you shanked a Gundam at another.

Now, onto the sideshow of AX!

I know we ran a list at the end of the first day, and I meant to keep that up but with so many things going on, we ended up being pressed for time. Not to mention the fact that I waited until the last day to do the majority of my shopping-- that is, if you don't count the field trip we made to Book Off on Saturday afternoon. Still I had my eyes set on an item which I absolutely had to obtain, and obtained it I did. So here we are with the final list, and this time we kept the food out of it.

It looks like Brad and I were the biggest spenders, and while I thought he'd probably end his spree after the first day, he kept going. I wasn't quite able to top his expenses, but I might I might have if you added in the hotel parking. Still, in terms of goods, I think Brad had us all topped.

Check out the itemized list after the jump and be amazed by how deep our pockets were.

Well, it's been a trip. Literally. Flying all the way across the country to see Dale and Tim once again, to hang out with Gia and Deb and other journalists, and to meet our wonderful photographer and reader Ace0fClub5 for the first time. I got to eat some great food, and see some not-so-great food spilled on Dale. For me, my first time at Anime Expo was a blast, even if the con itself wasn't that great.

And so, it's about time to close up shop on our galleries for Anime Expo. Fear not, this last one has some good parts to it, like the Hard Gay cosplayer, some funny tidbits we noticed throughout the con, and a Power Ranger with a neck deformity -- or at least that's what we guessed it was.

I hope you enjoyed our coverage of Anime Expo -- we sure had a lot of fun covering it. Fear not, for our con coverage will return in no time with Otakon coming in just over a week. The team will be gathered, and ready to fight off the homeless in Baltimore.

Japanese producer Tsunku attended a panel at Anime Expo last weekend where he talked a bit about his musical career and the groups he produces for, with a focus on the all-girl group Morning Musume. The event turned into a question and answer session, and we brought you a few highlights from that.

One attendee told Tsunku that he would like to become an idol producer someday so that he too "could be around cute girls all day." When the attendee asked Tsunku for advice for an aspiring songwriter and producer, Tsunku gave it to him straight:

"You have to understand that even though you are surrounded by cute girls, if you can't keep your cool, you can't produce good songs."

On the possibility of recruiting new members for Morning Musume in the United States, Tsunku didn't sound as enthusiastic. He reminds of a demanding and physical schedule, and asks if the American girls could handle this. Even with this, when he asked the audience if there were any aspiring MM members, the room thundered with applause. He quickly moved onto another topic.

Tsunku also produced the music for the Nintendo DS rhythm game Rhythm Heaven. While speaking on it, he picked on the Japanese public for their lack of rhythm: "I educated the Japanese public about rhythm with that game."

He then proceeded to make fun of American gamers by doing a funny dance while tapping at an air DS, admitting that we have much more rhythm than our Japanese counterparts. 

What an exhausting week. Now that the con fatigue is starting to wear off, it feels great to just sit back and see all the crazy stuff we did. There wasn't a lot going on in terms of what got announced but one thing really caught my eye last week. That is, of course, Sengoku Basara got licensed! With that bit of news being on the heel of our debate, I can't help but think the must be a newtype or something. I mean how else could I have picked such a perfect topic.

Anyways, last weeks results are in and it was another landslide. This time it was in favor of the gun toting, wannabe pirate--that's right wannabe, you heard me--Masamune Date. Somehow he managed to beat out a legend like Yukimura, who went down fighting like a man. Who am I kidding though, Date is a badass. Guns up!

Masamune Date - 19 votes

Yukimura Sanada - 7 votes

Hit the jump for the our next debate!

Okay, I'm feeling a little better. I've rested up a bit since my last post and while I think I could probably do another day of Con, I doubt an entire event is still in me this week. Thankfully I won't have to worry about that until sometime next week when we're invading Baltimore for Otakon. Until then, I'm going to try and stay away from Japanese food and yogurt in hopes of losing some weight before the onsalught of food that's sure to accompany me on that trip. I suppose it wouldn't hurt my wallet either, considering I dropped so much cash on food and toys. Mostly toys, but more about that later.

As for the pictures, this is probably going to be our final offering of cosplay photos from the event, though I can imagine that there are a few pictures floating around that might still make their way onto the site. Please keep checking back because we hope to have more to offer as we get ready for Otakon and SDCC in the upcoming weeks. Thanks again for the photos, Ace!