Something had to be up when they told us there wasn't going to be any photography or video/audio recording allowed. Photography and video are one thing, but even audio recording? Well, that was a foreshadowing of what was to come. That, and the boxes upon boxes of stuff sitting off in the corner. Plus the fact that there were 10-15 Bandai Entertainment staff members in the room meant that something was going to happen that'd require a lot of manpower.

Once we were done watching the trailers for .hack//GU, the fanservice began. Bandai Entertainment asked us how we wanted the Hayate the Combat Butler audio tracks, they handed out free shirt after free shirt, making sure everyone in the audience got one, and then brought out Yuri Lowenthal to show off some goods. Namely, the dubbed version's special edition box and the accompanying core drill.

Bandai Entertainment has gone the extra mile in the past with the Suzumiya Haruhi and Lucky Star box sets, giving fans all the goods they would ever want (or not want, in the case of the sailor fuku t-shirts) -- going above and beyond the lockers with magnets or amps with guitar picks that FUNimation has done. So, to announce these things to a panel room of about 125 people, and the ensuing roar that followed from the die-hard Gurren Lagann fans, was priceless.

After that, they proceeded to show bloopers from Eureka Seven, The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi, Lucky Star, Gurren Lagann, and Ghost Slayers Ayashi. Pretty much all of these bloopers had people laughing rather hard. Even if they hadn't seen the show. I can only speak for myself, but I have the feeling that others experienced the same thing -- sitting there and watching clips of anime that I had not yet watched. a little spark of interest started burning in me. I now had a desire to watch Eureka Seven. Even though I missed out on winning a box set, I'd still love to go and buy the show now, just to see what it's like. Damn you, Bandai.

And then they bring out JAM Project. Having the room shouting, "JAM JAM JAM [it in]" and then bringing out JAM Project to a group of 125 people, all of whom get to see JAM Project a lot closer than they ever had before. And then came the moment when it dawned on me just how effective of an ad move this panel was: They passed out the Lucky Star sailor fuku T-shirts, and got everyone (save for one person) to wear the shirt, including the members of JAM Project.

So you have this room full of people, all wearing Lucky Star T-shirts, and listening to a JAM Project cover of "Motteke Sailor Fuku!" By the time everyone has left the panel room, they've been bombarded with images of a half dozen Bandai Entertainment shows, seen a major Japanese band, and left in extremely high spirits. Oh, and you've also let out 125 people onto the con floor wearing a rather recognizable item of clothing. By the next day, word of mouth spread the news of the event throughout the con, as most of the people I asked had heard of the event through a friend or asked someone why they were wearing the sailor fuku.

Why did they go so far with this? "We just wanted to try something different. We always do our industry panels at every convention where we go through our trailers, promote our shows, and do a Q&A. We wanted to mix it up a bit and present ourselves in a different way," said Rob Napton, director of marketing for Bandai Entertainment.

"We had never done a night panel before. A couple of us from Bandai went to one of Geneon's last year, just as attendees. It was really fun. We liked the atmosphere, and it had a different vibe from the industry panels during the day." Compared to the lackluster FUNimation panel, Bandai gave its fans a reason to like the company above and beyond the shows that they licensed -- they showed a genuine interest in the fans' wants and desires.

The panel was a huge success, save for the R2 DVD player not working. Does this mean it's going to be the mainstay for Bandai Entertainment's panels? "It's case-by-case. We don't want to do it every time, because it'll lose its uniqueness. Otakon specifically has a nice nighttime atmosphere. I wouldn't be surprised if it happened again in the future." The case-by-case aspect mainly had to do with the guests who were there and their relationship to the shows that Bandai Entertainment had licensed. Certainly JAM Project and Yuri Lowenthal couldn't follow Bandai around to all of their events, nor can Bandai-related guests be at every show.

The fans' came to the booth the next day, raving about the panel. That, and a little boost from sales certainly gave Bandai reason to do this panel again. For those of us who travel to 16 cons a year, and start to hear the same thing over and over again, panels like these certainly take the edge off the bitter jadedness of con fatigue. This is what makes an industry panel worthwhile, and I hope to see a few more of these pop up at more cons.