The year flew by, and before I knew it, it was time for Animazement 2004. The con's seventh year, and my seventh year in attendance, while only my second as press. Arriving at the Sheraton early on Friday, I continued my tradition of spending the first hour or two just wandering about and enjoying the convention's relaxed ambience. The artist's alley was lined with up and coming talents showcasing their craft, the dealer's room sparser than previous years - yet more varied than usual, and everywhere you'd look, people smiling and laughing, some cosplaying, and some not. While con attendance has been increasing yearly, the casual and comfortable atmosphere that makes Animazement such a joy to attend remained wonderfully intact. And with the variety of panels held every year, there's something for everyone to enjoy, from aspiring self-publishers, martial artists, and Japanese culture fanatics to those into cosplay, gothic lolita, and so much more.

After initially taking in the sights and sounds of the con early that first afternoon, I spent some time in the company of friends from school, and was unfortunately unable to conduct the planned interviews with the American guests in attendance (Scott Houle, Mary Evans, Nicole B. Gibson, Charles Dee Rice, and Crystal Waters). Due to some scheduling conflicts, the planned interview session fell through. They were at Animazement promoting the forthcoming release of Miami Guns by AN Entertainment. Scott Houle and his new studio, Phoenix Post Sound, had produced Miami Guns' dub with these fresh faces on the anime scene. That evening, I spent more time with my friends, caught a few video room showings, took an art break, and after Karaoke, was able to catch most of Anime Hell, the yearly clip show event exposing attending otaku to the most bizzare, hilarious, twisted, and extreme things they could find.

I returned to Animazement early in the afternoon on Saturday just in time to attend the amusing AnimeNation panel, wherein I collected news that's been reported and enjoyed the trivia. Having not had as much time on Friday, I spent more time puttering about the dealer's room, enjoying the sights and sounds of it, from all the colorful fans flooding the room to the fantastic synthpop at independent record label A Different Drum(adifferentdrum.com)'s table filling the air. I took time out to attend fan band Bad Andy's hour-long performance as they blasted us with modern rock takes on classic 8-bit NES video game themes, spent some more time in a video room, and met with friends, before heading off to the back-to-back interview sessions with this year's guests from Japan. I had the pleasure and honor of meeting with and interviewing several returning guests from previous years: Akira Kamiya, Yasuo Yamaguchi, and Koichi Tsunoda. After that, I met with Yuu Watase, who had been at Animazement a few times in the past, and this year's guest of honor, Chika Sakamoto. Through the aid of a translator, I was able to ask quite a few questions, and came away from the experience not only more confident in my abilities as an anime industry journalist, but feeling truly honored to have been able to once again meet and converse with so many fascinating industy figures from Japan. I spent the rest of the evening with friends while Cosplay was going on, and spent a few hours after that at the traditional dance, watching as otaku got their groove on to trance music under the swirling lights. There's new memories to be made every year at Animazement.

Sunday morning came far too quickly, as I returned to Animazement with a slightly heavier heart, as it was almost over already. I spent time with my friends, and watched as the fans trickled out of the hotel, before saying goodbye to Animazement for 2004. As always, the weekend felt like it went by far too quickly, but I truly enjoyed myself and am very much looking foward to attending again next year.

On the behalf of everyone at Anime Dream, I'd like to once again extend my thanks to all the guests who took the time out to meet with the press, to the translator who helped us interview the guests from Japan, and to all the other staff for doing their best to make the everything possible. You guys are awesome, and help make so many fans' dreams come true. Animazement continues to be a fantastic con, and it couldn't exist without all of you, so we thank you again, for another job wonderfully done.

Please check out this year's Animazement interviews here.