Despite the odd rumor to the contrary I attended AnimeNEXT without Narutaki this year. (As a side note: Narutaki loves Gundam SEED and Roronoa Zoro. I’m not exactly sure where these odd rumors about her come from.) But I have enough friends and acquaintances at this point that I was not a solitary warrior like I was when I went to the Providence Anime Conference back in 2008. But sadly that means that without her there won’t be as much discussion about things like the dealer’s room and artist alley as she usually pays much more attention to that than I do. But there is still a good deal to talk about as every AnimeNEXT experience is different from the last.

Well I will start the with good. Panels were mostly top-notch this year. I went to some stinkers and some bizarre panels but overall the quality was pretty high this year. I have been to AnimeNEXT conventions were I often sat around just talking to the people I came with waiting for something to do. This year any break in my schedule was used for eating which is always a necessity but something that can be easy to forget. I also noted that most panels I went to were at least 75% full. I went to two that were more sparsely attended but they were always either early on Friday or early on Sunday which all in all are notorious death slots. In fact I saw a number of panels that had to turn people away. I am glad to see that panel attendance is up in general. It might be just partially a function of the increased attendance numbers but none the less it was highly encouraging. It is always nice to see anime fans who want to learn more about their hobby.

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It appears that I will be doing a solo run at AnimeNEXT this year. For everyone who wanted to see Narutaki at a NE convention they will just have to wait for Otakon. Until then I will be there with my reporters hat on taking in everything there is to see. I am a little disappointed there are no super keen Japanese anime guests but such is life. That usually just means that 2013 will have someone amazing. I did notice a good deal of abridged panels. That and Pokemon panels. Odd to see so many of them.

For the three people who care that also means that my Fate/Zero review will be delayed. Not EXACTLY sure when I will get that out but I will try to write it up sooner rather than later. No promises.

Until then here is my tentative schedule. As always this is subject to my fickle whims as well as my need for food and sleep.

Friday

1:00 – Spoilers! The Good, the Bad, and the WTF of Anime Endings
2:00 –  Martial Arts Fight Scenes 3: The Video Games Connection
3:00 – Professor Layton Bingo
4:30 – 15 Recommended Manga for Grownups
6:00 – Yokai Nation
7:00 – AMV Contest Screening
9:00 – Adaptations in Anime/Manga
10:00 – Science in Anime
11:00 – The Changing Faces of Manga
12:00 – Berserk Panel (Why Kentaro Miura Will Never Finish the Series) [Is this secretly an iDOLM@STER Panel?]

Saturday

10:00 – Legend of Korra Discussion Panel
11:00 – Obtain the Pass, Attend the Con, Visit the Homestuck Panel
2:00 – Cartoons of the 80s and 90s
4:30 – Satsuki Q & A
6:00 – Making Your Nerd Job a Reality
7:30 – Style and Substance: 50 Years of Anime Openings
9:00 – The Secret World of Arrietty
11:00 – Chipocrite Concert

Sunday
10:00 – Jojo’s Posing School
12:00 – Satsuki & Toshihiro Fukuoka
2:00 – Sinigami in Anime