 Main Events:
The schedule this year was literally packed solid with so many performance events to pick
and choose from. Anime Music Videos are always the sure-fire crowd pleaser to start any convention off with and
numerous crowd-rousing and award-winning videos made it clear that this year's cream of the crop rocked the house.
Concerts are also another big draw with many seiyuu desiring to perform in the United States and this year's seiyuu
included Maaya Sakamoto (Escaflowne, FF Advent Children) and Kotoko (Please Teacher). Guests of Honor for
2005 included: voice actor Ryo Horikawa (Legend of Galactic Heroes, DragonBall Z), director Hiroyuki Kitakubo
(Black Magic M-66, Golden Boy), director and writer Osamu Kobayashi (Beck, Gungrave), singer and voice actress
Maaya Sakamoto (Escaflowne, FF Advent Children), singer Kotoko (Please Teacher), character designer Hiroshi
Ousaka (Full Metal Alchemist, MS Victory Gundam), character designer Miho Shimogasa (Sailor Moon SuperS,
Powerpuff Girls Z), artist Kazue Yamamoto (Castle Fantasia, Angel Feather), voice actor Tomokazu Seki (Fruits
Basket, Weiss Kreuz), character designer Akihiko Yamashita (Howl's Moving Castle, Giant Robo) and Special
Guests voice actor Crispin Freeman (Wolf's Rain, Ghost in the Shell Standalone Complex), voice actress Colleen
Clinkenbeard (Full Metal Alchemist, Samurai 7), and many more including voice actor Greg Ayres and a whole
crop of veterans from the very popular Read or Die anime series.
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Karaoke
Contest: Gotta sing! Gotta dance! Karaoke is always the surest way to entertain yourself or
your friends or just plain see if you've got mad skills to sing a great song. With contests and open-mic going on around the clock a full 24-hours per day,
Karaoke Lounge was definitely the place to be for the hardcore or casual singing enthusiasts.
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AX Idol:
AX Idol showed some very encouraging contenders for this year's voice talent competition in the realms of drama, singing, and overall capturing
the audience with great stage presence. Also featured was previous AX Idol and Karaoke winner Stephanie Yanez (shown above) who sang for the AX Idol opening and
closing ceremonies care of Geneon Entertainment.
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Additional
Main Events: Let's not forget the humungous support for anime fandom and industry AX continues to
strive for every year, that involving charity from the Art Auctions, sponsors, and personal donations from the Guests of
Honor. From the Guests of Honor Reception to autograph sessions, huge GoH panels and workshops, industry awards
and big concerts, it's pretty clear that the fans are getting more than what they pay for in a full 4-day weekend blast.
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