It's tempting to call this convention "Utena-Con," and here are the
reasons why. This is the first reason; Chiho Saito, the artist who drew
the Revolutionary Girl Utena manga. |
At the reception where all Animazement fans could get close to the
guests of honor, Saito was close to the second figure in the Utena saga;
Kunihiko Ikuhara, the director of the animated version of Utena. |
Actor Pamela Weidner, the English-language Miss China in Spirit of
Wonder and Skuld from Oh My Goddess, was on crutches. She had decided to
get surgery for a lingering knee problem and was still recovering at Animazement. |

This site's last view of actor Akira Kamiya came at Anime Expo in 1999,
where he demonstrated dubbing with a group of his students. Kamiya was
making his first appearance at the North Carolina convention, and planned
to sing as well as talk. |

We've already met editor and writer Nobuyuki Takahashi... |

...and here's another editor, Toshifumi Inagawa. He specializes in stories
on model kits, and comes to the U.S. a few days after the cable TV premiere
of Gundam Wing on the Cartoon Network. |