Welcome to the Events section where you are flooded with opportunities to chat with Guests of Honor, bid on art, frequent the numerous panels and discussion groups, and party along with us at our Fifth Year Anniversary celebration!

Highlights of Anime Expo 96 included "The Item" AX96 opening animation courtesy of White Radish, $9,440 check from SPJA presented to City of Hope, signboard of Hikaru from Rayearth signed by the members of CLAMP bid on and won $1250 at SJPA Charity Art Auction, the inaugural AX daruma to signify the Japanese traditional bringing of luck, the big AX96 Fifth Year Anniversary Party including cake cutting ceremony and the "No Sleep 'Til Osaka" dance hosted by DJ Carl Horn, Nobuyuki Ohnishi's returning Art Exhibition, Pioneer's vastly improved and wildly popular Type II Ryoohki doll going for only $30 (what a deal!), the jaw-dropping AX96 "Mega-Poster" that had over 2,500 anime characters from over 240 popular anime and manga throughout the years, a deluge of AX staffer memories in the Program Book, the life-size Sharon Apple built by a team of AX staffers for Masquerade, a nice Hong Kong Action and Martial Arts video room, special AX Fifth Year Anniversary T-shirts "I Survived 5 Years of Anime Expo!", the cool time-lapse captures of the hotel and Exhibit Hall hall traffic, Anniversary Party cake cutting, and Con-Ops traffic during closing ceremonies, and of course, tons of parties throughout the night.

 
Presentation of the SPJA Charity check for $9,440 to the City of Hope.


Busy as ever, the rooms were always packed well with attendees coming to see their favorite Guests of Honor, fan panelists, or attend one of the many discussion and focus sessions provided by anime industry representatives.

The Anime Expo Fifth Year Anniversary Cake in all its glory.  Rather flat for the time, it's a wonder that 5 years later the AX Tenth Year would come back to celebrate with several cube cakes.


Let them eat cake!  Mike Tatsugawa and Honorary AX Chairman Mr. Ishiguro simultaneously cut the cake and it's time to party!


Honorary AX Chairman Mr. Ishiguro makes his magical mark for a successful year at AX96 at the Closing Ceremonies by drawing in the last eye on the AX daruma.

 Events and Panels for AX96 included: Viz: Dub Your Own Anime, Fan Fiction, AX96 Fifth Year Anniversary Party, Game Show, SakuraSoft Games, Midnight Madness, Allen Hastings and Lightwave, Software Sculptors, Neon Genesis Evangelion with AD Vision and Hideaki Anno, Name The Anime Trivia Show, Gundam fan panel, Macross fan panel, Magical Girls fan panel, Galaxy Express 999 and Viz, Crayon Shin-chan fan panel, Presto Studios Gundam panel, Manga Entertainment, AnimEigo, Bandai Entertainment, Anime Online, EX: The Online World of Anime and Manga, Video Games and Anime, Hentai and Doujinshi, Central Park Media, Viz Communications, and the SPJA Annual Public Meeting.

 

35mm Film and Video Premieres for AX96 included: Tenchi Muyou in Love, Patlabor 2, Katsuhiro Otomo's Memories, Ghost in the Shell, Roujin Z, Ponpoko, Whispers of the Heart, Escaflowne, Galaxy Express 999, Maho Tsukatai, Shamanic Princess, Tetsuwan Birdy, Gunsmith Cats, and Neon Genesis Evangelion.

 
The Wayback Machine: 1996 wasn't that far off and yet, anime fandom has come a long way in terms of what is readily available on television, at your local video store, or in your local anime club.  Wait, local anime club?  Many of the clubs you probably attend never existed a couple of years ago and when you really think about it, many of the founding members got together at an anime convention and the rest is history.  So every time you think about an anime convention, think about all the cool memories you had, the friends you made, the money you spent in Exhibit Hall (God forbid), and just keep coming back for some more good times!

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Photos courtesy of Josh Ritter, Mike Tatsugawa, Jeff Okamoto, and Usagichan Company.