Apr 28 2009
Animazement 2009 - A North Carolina Anime Convention
Animazement is an anime convention happening in Raleigh, North Carolina on May 22 - 24, 2009 at the Raleigh Convention Center. This Memorial Day weekend con is sure to excite east coast anime fans, as it has some guests all the way from Japan and a ton of great activities planned.
This is a moderately sized con in terms of attendance (it had about 5,300 people attend in 2008), so you should plan to get there early if you haven’t already bought tickets and need to get them at the door! The main hotel (the Marriott) is already sold out, but there is an overflow hotel with rooms still available. You can read more about the hotel options at Animazement’s website.
Because this convention is quickly approaching, online pre-registration is no longer available. Weekend and Single day registration will be available at the door, but it is CASH ONLY. Ticket prices are as follows: Friday Only - $30; Saturday Only - $35; Sunday Only -$20; Adult Weekend Pass - $50, Child (6-12 years old) Weekend Pass - $30; Children Under the Age of 6 - FREE.
Animazement 2009 has a great guest list lined up. It currently includes: Yusuke Igarashi, Jun Shishido, Noriko Hidaka, Tomokazu Seki, Koichi Tsunoda, Masao Maruyama, Keiko Han, Ryuusei Nakao, Yasuo Yamaguchi, Maya Yamao, Spike Spencer, Toshifumi Yoshida, Trish Ledoux, Scott Houle, Cristina Vee, Kyle Hebert, Kara Edwards, Caitlin Glass, and musical guests Uchuu Sentai NOIZ.
I’m sure you noticed a lot of those guests are actually Japanese. Unlike a lot of smaller anime conventions, Animazement has the size and reputation to actually bring over guests from Japan. This is a great opportunity for anime fans that haven’t had a chance to meet some of the original voice actors, producers, and directors of their favorite shows.
As for events, there are plenty planned! Animazement 2009 will feature a concert with Uchuu Sentai NOIZ, a dealer room, video rooms, an artist alley, panel discussions, autograph sessions with guests, two cosplay contests, an amv contest, Japanese Jeopardy, an art room contest and video game tournaments.
As always, if you attend Animazement 2009, be sure to come back here and post links to your photos, videos, and convention reports! Want to write an exclusive convention report for this blog? E-mail me to find out how! Be sure to check out other upcoming conventions to find one near you!
