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AnimeFEST Author's Notes 2004 It was hard for this site to leave AnimeFEST in mid-show, but the real world of work beckoned. Unfortunately, the author of this site didn't plan things far enough in advance to be able to spend more than two days at the Dallas convention. This site continued its tradition of waiting until the last minute to plan a Labor Day convention trip. It wasn't until 12 hours before the first flight south that the author finished his travel bookings, because funds didn't come together until late. US Airways and United Airlines had a code-sharing arrangement that offered a cut-rate walk-up fare; without that bargain, the author would have spent the entire weekend at home watching race cars. The big shortcoming of this writer's last-minute planning was that he had to miss the costume contest, held on Sunday to take advantage of the holiday weekend's extra day. The guys who run the real-world job would not have understood a late request to take a couple of days off. One of the high points of this site's short trip to AnimeFEST was the Saturday night Max concert. From what we saw, Max must stand for Maximum Effort, because that's what the quartet gave on stage. Hard work has a beauty of its own, and that's made the group's four young women doubly beautiful. You can't appreciate the effort they make on stage, singing and dancing, until you see them in person. A video room at AnimeFEST spent the weekend showing Japanese music videos that featured groups such as MAX. The performers' energy is obvious, but the fast-cutting style in those videos don't let you know how hard the performers work. Max's members sing and dance with an exertion that matches any athlete's performance. The gymnasts in the Athens games worked hard, but they didn't have to sing at the same time, and their routines lasted only a fraction of the amount of time that Max's songs lasted. In the middle of the show, the performers paused for a few minutes to chat with the crowd, and while that helped them reach the audience, it also was the equivalent of a time out in a basketball game. Max's fun and energy delighted the audience, and was a great example of why the light and peppy J-pop girl style appeals to so many American fans. Thanks to Avex to adding Max to their stable of stars that have been sent to perform in the U.S. - and for letting this site take pictures so we could share some of the experience with our visitors. Even the images posted here give only a small hint of what the concert was like. It took a lot from Max to outshine the convention's other big guests, actors Steve Blum and Beau Billingslea. While Blum had made a quiet stop at Anime Expo, AnimeFEST marked was the first appearance of the Cowboy Bebop pair as featured guests at an anime convention. Fans noted that Billingslea, who showed up a day earlier than Blum, seemed to get the most enjoyment from the convention experience. It took little prompting to get Billingslea to lapse into his Jet Black persona, and he had some great observations about how actors create a character. Blum, while he didn't shrink from the task, was a little quieter than his Bebop co-star. The Dallas convention came close to being an all-dub-actor show. The acting contingent, from California, ADV Films and Funimation, made up most of the guest list. There were several web comic creators who had a well-attended panel, but the actors drew more attention. Friday at AnimeFEST was quiet with few fans on hand. Combine the prominence of high school football in Texas (the Dallas Morning News ran a story on the area's multi-million dollar high school football stadiums) with the fact that Friday was a school day, and you had an easygoing start to the convention. Saturday was very different; so many fans crowded into the hotel that there was a registration line which stretched almost as long as a basketball court for most of the morning. AnimeFEST found a fresh home on the West End of downtown Dallas, in the Hyatt hotel next door to Reunion Arena and right under the Reunion Tower that many want to be the modern symbol of Dallas. (Texas Stadium is the real symbol for the city, of course). The convention used the hotel's lower floor for most of its activities, and held its big Saturday night concert in an upstairs ballroom that was right next to a room that held a wedding and reception. Yes, the wedding fans rubbed shoulders with anime fans in the hotel's hallways. While the Hyatt was a good spot for the convention, this writer wonders if the hotel is going to want the event to return. We spotted plenty of hotel security people patrolling the guest room floors, and a couple of cases we saw those security men accompanied by big, tough-looking Dallas police officers. The security guys mentioned they were being kept busy, and we know of one room party that was moved because of one complaint or another. However, we didn't see any behavior out of line with the usual behavior, unconventional but not dangerous, that you'll get from anime convention fans. This writer had to check out of his room and head to the airport at 4 a.m. for his flight home. When he walked out of the lobby to wait for the shuttle ride, there was actor Greg Ayres and a couple of fans, who obviously had been partying all night. They weren't alone, and we can only imagine how many many people were in shape for the Sunday panels and autograph sessions. AnimeFEST Main Page