I just wanted to give everyone a heads up that I will be attending Anime Fan Fest this year. It is a brand new convention taking the space of the Garden State Exhibit Center now that AnimeNext has moved to Atlantic City. I’m very excited to see what the new convention in the area has to offer.

Kate is not attending because she is gearing up for her trip to Japan. I will try to visit artist alley and do some of the other things Kate normally does as part of her coverage. I did not submit any panels so I could have a little more time to explore the convention since she will not be there to fill in some of the holes I might otherwise leave in a con report.

As the title of the post implies it is sort of hard to miss how much Otaku USA Magazine is behind the inaugural Anime Fan Fest. They have their logo visible almost everywhere. Thankfully Otaku USA is quality publication so I’m not to worried but I felt it was worth pointing out.

If nothing else it means that the convention can hit the ground running in a way that most first conventions could not. It is not that they have started out trying to be the next Otakon like Big Apple Anime Fest or New York Anime Festival but the convention already has the feel of a mid-sized convention that has been established  for a few years. Anime Fan Fest does not have any Japanese industry professionals on the roster but they have some high-profile American voice actors, industry professionals, as well notable writers and panelists as guests despite being a first year con.

If you going to Anime Fan Fest feel free to say hello and maybe we can meet up over twitter. Other than that I hope to see some of you there!

Friday
3:30pm – 4:30pm THE ANIME ASSEMBLY LINE
5:00pm – 6:00pm COMIC & MANGA PRODUCTION WORKSHOP
6:00pm- 7:00pm HISTORY OF JAPAN: EVERYTHING’S OK, I GUESS
7:30pm – 8:30pm ANIME NOSTALGIA BOMB – TIME MACHINES ARE REAL!
9:30pm – 10:30pm LIVE FROM JAPAN, IT’S OTAKU USA

Saturday 
12:00pm – 1:00pm ANIME LITERARY CLASSICS
1:00pm – 2:00pm THE FIRST ANIME
3:00pm – 4:00pm THE CLASS OF 1986
5:00pm – 6:00pm BOOTLEG ANIME FROM SOUTH KOREA
8:00pm – 9:00pm LIVING, STUDYING AND WORKING IN JAPAN 101
9:00pm – 10:00pm THE LIFE AND TIMES OF SHIGERU MIZUKI

Sunday
11:30am – 12:30pm 70S ANIME FUNTIME!
1:00pm- 2:00pm THE BEST AND WORST MANGA OF 2016
2:30pm – 3:30pm ANIME MYTHOLOGY STRIKES BACK
4:00pm – 5:00pm ANIME BLINDED ME WITH SCIENCE!