From MegaCon 2011: Anime Classics Everyone Should See

At MegaCon 2011 on Sunday, Corey "Waldo" Waldusky and myself hosted a panel called "Anime Classics Everyone Should See." The idea was to get newer anime fans off the beaten path and expose them to new things.

We feel that by highlight the some of the best and most unique of anime over the past few decades, fans at conventions would be more passionate about anime.

We told the audience that we would have the list of anime to check out posted up here, and here it is! Bolded items are anime we've watched in our Propeller Anime Club meetings!


Easing out of Shonen Battles and High School Comedies
Berserk
Jojo's Bizarre Adventure
Great Teacher Onizuka

Action-Packed and Easily Accessible
Cowboy Bebop
Black Lagoon

Classic Hayao Miyazaki
Castle of Cagliostro
Porco Rosso
Princess Mononoke

Isao Takahata
Grave of the Fireflies
Only Yesterday

Classic Gainax
Royal Space Force: Wings of Honneamise
Gunbuster
Neon Genesis Evangelion

Classic Production I.G.
Patlabor
Patlabor 2
FLCL
Ghost in the Shell

Leiji Matsumoto
Captain Harlock
Arcadia of my Youth

Katsuhiro Otomo
AKIRA

Yoshiaki Kawajiri
Wicked City
Ninja Scroll

Satoshi Kon
Perfect Blue
Millenium Actress
Paprika

Moderen Masterpieces
Baccano!
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
Summer Wars

We closed off with the trailer to REDLINE, which we hope will be awesome! It will be shown at the Florida Film Festival on April 15th and April 16th!

Some of the items not in bold we plan to view at our club meetings in the future. You are  welcome to attend our meetings if you want to see them!

A Big Thanks To All The Fans For MegaCon 2011!

MegaCon this past weekend was a big deal for many fans, and Propeller Anime Club was proud to be a part of the convention! Our members hosted many panels that covered Neon Genesis Evangelion, Rumiko Takahashi's works, Pokemon, MANIME, Axis Powers Hetalia and much more!

Not only that, but we also hosted events that included Super Anime Trivia, Anime Debate Tournament, the Quickdraw! Contest, Ninja Olympics and the convention-ending Karaoke Party!

We had a lot of fun at those events and we hope you did as well, whether you participated or watched!

We took many photos and filmed many events and we plan to get those up for you all to check out as soon as we can! We'll announce our contest winners this week too!

If you like what we did at MegaCon and want to get involved with us, we do hold meetings in Winter Park twice a month to watch lots of anime.

As a matter of fact, we'll be having a meeting this Sunday, April 3rd at 1:00PM at the Full Sail University campus. Room to be announced tomorrow! (You don't have to be student or staff to attend meetings.)

We'll be starting three series(Durarara!!, Record of Lodoss War, and Gunbuster) and finishing up the meeting with Hayao Miyazaki's classic debut film as a director, Castle of Cagliostro! We'll also be talking MegaCon and planning when we shall see REDLINE at the Florida Film Festival in April!

Other than that, I personally would like to thank my awesome crew for making this MegaCon run so well! That would be George T, Carlos R, Zak W, Steven G, Jessica R, Noah R, Emilio C, Jean-Louis, Fuzzy, Bhrohammer, Tara, Goggins, Scott W, Shawn W, Russbus, and Waldo for putting in a tremendous amount of work this weekend!

But that is not all!

Anime Sushi, we love you guys and enjoy working with you all very much! Thanks for taking such big chances on us! And congrats on many successful big events!

We'd also like to thank MegaCon staff for supplying us with badges and wristbands so we can do what we can to best: put on a great show.

FUNimation, we're glad to team up with you guys again. Thank you for coming down to Florida and making the fans happy!

And lastly, I would like to thank Anime World Order and Anime Spot for putting on some cool events during the weekend! Check them out, guys!

Once again, we thank all you for the support you have given us as a club this past weekend! We hope to see you again soon!

Kent Ward
Propeller Anime Club

Check Out Our Anime Festival Orlando 11 Events!

This Friday is the beginning of Anime Festival Orlando 11, taking place at the Wyndham Orlando Resort on International Drive and Sand Lake Blvd. It's essentially a weekend-long party for anime fans and other geeks and it's action-packed with lots of awesome events!

A whole lot of our club members are involved in the running of the Skies of Orlandia game taking place during the weekend. You can gain XP to level up by going to convention events, doing PVP, games of skill, scavenger hunts, and more! As you level up, you can help out one of four factions(and switch between them during the weekend) to victory at closing ceremonies! More details can be found here.

We are very excited to work on AFO's biggest event, but that's not all! We have a lot of awesome panels as well!

Here is our panel schedule:

Friday

1:00PM - Otaku Survival Guide
2:30PM - How To Play Skies Of Orlandia
3:00PM - Fuzzy's Convention 101
11:30AM - Robotech: The Legacy Continues
9:00PM - True Blue: A Sonic Panel
10:30PM - Kingdom Hearts: Deep Dive

Saturday

12:30PM - How To Make Anime Cool Again
2:00PM - How To Play Skies Of Orlandia
10:00PM - It's MANIME! The Manly Anime Panel!
12:00AM - Rebirth Of Evangelion

Sunday

9:30AM - Guns N Roses: The World Of Baccano!
3:30PM - How Did You Do? Skies Of Orlandia Wrap Up

That's lot of awesome stuff! We hope to see you at our events! Have tons of fun at AFO 11!

Propeller Anime Club to announce first batch of events for Anime Festival Orlando XI!

Calling out all local fans of Japanese Anime!

Propeller Anime Club, one of the strongest growing clubs in Florida focused on the interest and promotion of Japanese Anime, will be hosting a solid lineup of events at this year's Anime Festival Orlando! In its eleventh year, Anime Festival Orlando is Florida's favorite anime convention!

How could that be, you ask? AFO services the local anime community by bringing in well known and interesting industry guests to meet and talk with fans, by hosting fun and interactive game-shows all weekend, by showing some of the best of both new and classic anime in their theater seating viewing rooms, and by having a solid schedule of exciting events throughout the entire convention. That's just the tip of the iceberg! Anime fans do not rest and neither does AFO!

Anime Festival Orlando takes place August 5th through 8th at the Wyndham Orlando Resort on International Drive and Sand Lake Road. If you have not registered to get a pass at AFO, you can do so right now.

We at the Propeller Anime Club will be hosting many events and we'll be involved in the ongoing battle in Skies of Orlandia, an interactive convention experience that attendees of AFO can participate in at any time during he convention. PAC's involvement in the Skies of Orlandia game will be discussed at a later time. For now, we have three awesome events that we'd like to officially announce!


Otaku Survival Guide

Think you’re an Otaku? Don’t know what one really is? Or maybe you’re looking for ways to live in this crazy world as one? Whatever your questions may be, come and find out all the information for your American Otaku lifestyle, and get tips on further delving into your obsession. More...

 
It's MANIME! The Manly Anime Panel!

Grow some hair on your chest and learn what is to be a true man! This one is for fans of series such as Fist of the North Star, Berserk, and other testosterone-filled classics! Both old and new anime of manly proportions shall be covered and you will even learn the gospel that is the Twelve Laws of True Man!  More...

Rebirth of Evangelion

Neon Genesis Evangelion: A mile-stone in anime history, and still one of the greatest anime of all time. Want to know more about it, or maybe you’ve never even heard of it? Whatever your depth into the world of Eva may be, come in and learn all about the original series all the way to the rebuilds. More...


We'll have more events to announce over time! All of which will deal with topics in anime, videogames, or Japanese culture. Our panels are always fun, informative, and entertaining. Those are the essential qualities that the members of the Propeller Anime Club strive to accomplish with their events!

We look forward to seeing you at our events at Anime Festival Orlando XI!

Recap of yesterday's meeting! 5/9/10 edition!

We had a super fun time yesterday as guns were blazing in everything we watched at the meeting!

NEWS

• The head of Anime Spot, UCF's anime club, contacted me about the two clubs doing a hangout together in during their Summer term. Our club has a agreed and I have notified their leader! I'll get back to you on that!
• Panels for AFO that have been approved are starting to be posted on their website, including the Rebirth of Evangelion panel that our guys do so well!
• The Guin Saga has been licensed by Sentai Filmworks! Here's hoping for an awesome BluRay release!
• We talked a little bit about Bang Zoom! Entertainment's president Eric Sherman declaring "anime is going to die" and that their studio would stop dubbing anime in 2011 if DVD and BluRay sales did not pick up.
• Since then, he appeared on ANN's podcast and clarified what he meant. Basically, if sales don't improve, companies won't have money to pay for dub production and cease altogether.
• He also said that Bandai Entertainment(one of BZ's customers) is depending heavily on the success of the future Haruhi Suzumiya releases and "one other title." 
• Bandai Entertainment responded saying that things are currently going fine, but if sales don't pick up then no more dubs.

 Say what you will about dubs, you can't argue that they bring in new anime fans. Without dubs, the fandom can't grow. It's as simple as that. We'll see how Bandai Entertainment's future goes.

And now for what we watched!

• In Baccano! we learn of Ladd Russo's backstory as he proceeds to violently smash someone's face in... with his fists.
• In a flashback, Isaac and Miria meet Ennis as she hits them with a car. That makes 88 times that Isaac has put Miria in danger! That's still less than 100!
• Creepy kid Czelaw plans to use Ladd for something and the Rail Tracer makes its first appearance at the end of our showing!
• In Gungrave, we learn that Brandon Heat planned to be reanimated if something were to happen with Harry. Meanwhile, Big Daddy confronts Harry MacDowell and is killed.
• 13 years later, everyone is obviously older and experimenting with other forms of body transformations. "Bloody" Harry finds out Maria is alive with a daughter and wants them both killed.
• Maria dies but her daughter Mika survives to meet Brandon Heat(now known as "Beyond the Grave") and Dr. Tokioka. Next episodes should be action-packed.
• We started Cyborg 009, which seems to suffer from a bad sound mix. The sound effect track is very low so explosions sound like thuds. Tsk tsk.
• Had to remind people about the rules of our democratic choosing of this series. We shall continue it though.
• We started and finished Gunsmith Cats! Like everything we showed at the meeting, there was a lot of shooting. 
• Someone remarked that Gunsmith Cats is what they would show people when they wondered what anime was. Good choice!

Next club meeting will be on Sunday, May 23rd! It will be in the evening since Full Sail's Open House will going on that day. A Sonic the Hedgehog OVA will be our feature showing. It's not Sonic X, in case you were wondering!

Volunteering at Anime Festival Orlando!

Anime Festival Orlando, Florida's BEST anime convention, will be taking place from August 5-8 of this year. For those of you on Full Sail scheduling, that is the first weekend of your August term. AFO features more bang for your buck than any anime convention in the state with a growing list of fun and interesting industry guests, exciting events, and interactive contests and panels!

One of the major events of Anime Festival Orlando will be the Skies of Orlandia, a weekend long game that hundreds of players will enjoy during the convention. I can't give away any details publicly just yet, but it involves players gaining experience points, leveling up, teaming up for quests, and competing against each other in contests of skill. While they are doing this, they will be aligned to a faction that they will try to help win. These factions will be lead by characters that will perform on stage during several main events.

The Propeller Anime Club has been responsible for running the game Swords of Orlandia at the past two years of AFO. It has been a fun time for both us and the convention attendees. Once again, we shall be a big part in operating the game this year. However, the scope and popularity of the game has grown and we will need more people than ever to help. Not only that, the main reason AFO is so successful every year is because of the quality help we get from volunteers!

So with that, if you are available during AFO weekend, then I ask of your help!

There are three ways you can help at AFO. In doing so, you will get a free weekend pass for the convention.

1. Skies of Orlandia - You will have to be in costume and you will have to interact with hundreds of people every day. There are four factions to represent. The outfits will resemble that of the late 1800s Victorian era with a steampunk flavor. How you get the costumes made is your responsibility. The game will run from that Friday afternoon through Sunday evening, but I will need help setting up on that Thursday throughout the day.
   
   As a member of the Skies of Orlandia staff, you will know the rules of the game and interact with players to help them accomplish aspects of the game and gain experience points and level up. If you are going to be a game character representing a faction, then you must guide your followers to victory. We will also need administrative help for keeping track of how the players are doing and which faction is winning.
   
   Taking a page out of the AFO volunteer playbook, I will need 13 hours of time from each volunteer. To be more specific: I would like 5 hours on Friday, 5 hours on Saturday, and 3 hours on Sunday. The SoO game room is closed on 9pm on Friday and Saturday and will close an hour before opening ceremonies is scheduled to begin. So you are guaranteed to be free on nights(which is when a lot of the best events happen anyways). You are to contact me if you want to volunteer to be on SoO game staff.
   
   
2. Volunteering - There is a lot of help the convention needs. Room setup, security, guest handling, videogame room, video rooms, badge check at doors for events, and helping attendees of the convention. You will be visible regardless of your job and will have to interact with thousands of people. It's not as bad as it sounds; the head of volunteering at AFO is an excellent leader and every volunteer I've talked to has enjoyed the experience.
   
   The learn more about volunteering and to sign up, there is a volunteer section on AFO's website that you should read.
   
   
3. Panelists - Anime Festival Orlando prides itself on having a schedule full of events. The general complaint about AFO is that there is too much to do at the convention and not enough time to do it all! To keep that tradition going, panel submissions are available until May 15th 2010. Entertaining and educating people on anime or something related to the Japanese culture is an important aspect to Anime Festival Orlando's programming.
   
   For this year, doing one panel will get you a weekend pass. It sounds easy but it takes solid effort and time to put together a great panel. Yeah sure, you could throw some bullshit together for an hour and get your free pass but all you end up doing is wasting the time of people who've decided to attend your event. You will not shame the Propeller Anime Club with half-assed panels! Luckily, our track record with panels is excellent and I intend to keep it that way.
   
   Several of us have already submitted panels and they have been approved. As you guys have submitted panels, I would like your panel titles and descriptions so I can put together promotional materials as we get closer to the convention. It will be like how we did it for MegaCon, but better!

That is it for now! Well almost. I will be setting up two meetings in the near future for those wanting more information about working the Skies of Orlandia game. The first one will be this Wednesday(4/28) at 8:15pm and on next Thursday(5/6) at 7:00pm. Both will start at in the lobby of building 3B at Full Sail University. From there, we will find an open room.

Last thing: If you decide to help out Anime Festival Orlando in any way, keep in mind that you are not only representing Anime Festival Orlando, you are also representing the Propeller Anime Club and the local anime community in general. Do your best to do as good of a job as you can at AFO!

An Epic MegaCon time!

Hey everyone, thanks for coming out to MegaCon and checking us out! We did awesome events such as the Ninja Olympics, the Quickdraw! Contest, and the Sunday afternoon Karaoke. We also hosted great panels such as "Anime is Already Dead?", "Rebirth of Evangelion", the "Panel about Everything!", "How to be a Pokemon Master", "It's MANIME! The Manly Anime panel", "Otaku Survival Guide", and "G.I.T.S. - Analysis of Ghost in the Shell".

If you stopped by any of these events, we hope you had lots of fun! We would also like to thank Anime Sushi for letting us host those events and giving us the opprotunity to shine!

Personally, I want to thank Noah, Waldo, Emilio, Jean Louis, Zak, Steven, Veronica, Liam, Tara, Kurt, Brent, AJ, and Roger for stepping up and kicking ass this past weekend! Not only did some host events, but everyone got involved with helping Anime Sushi out behind the scenes and they were more than willing to help out a new friend of ours at the FUNimation booth during MegaCon. I am truly proud of each and every one of you!

I would also like to thank the extended family of the Propeller Anime Club for their contributions during the weekend. Jess, Jared, Shawn, Fuzzy, John, Brandon, Victor, and Brotha Kyo: You guys did awesome and we truly appreciate working with you!

We hope that those of you who found out about us at MegaCon will stay in touch! We are planning to have a meeting on March 28th. We need a lot of rest after MegaCon and some details will be coming soon. I believe that Anime Sushi will be holding a meeting on this Saturday, March 20th. Stay tuned to both of us as we wrap up a great convention and the memories that have come from it!

Once again, thank you all for coming!

Guide to MegaCon 2010: Anime Special Events

We showed you the Anime Main Events happening at MegaCon 2010, now present to you the Anime Event Track's Special Events! We have a great mix of events for you to check out that include fun discussions, serious presentations, and karaoke!

Special Events in room W224B

Friday, March 12th

Propeller Anime Potluck
12:00pm – 2:30pm in W224B
Hosted by Propeller Anime Club
propelleranimeclub.blogspot.com

A Megacon-style anime club meeting with the Propeller Anime Club, established in 2006! This will be a different take on the video room, where classic anime (predating Naruto and Inu Yasha) will be shown. Feel free to come in and socialize with the club while watching some great anime!

Anime is Already Dead?
2:30pm – 3:30pm in W224B
Hosted by Kent Ward
propelleranimeclub.blogspot.com

Anime in America boomed with tremendous popularity in the beginning of the last decade and by now the bubble has burst. What happened and who is to blame? What about anime has changed over the past ten years? Is there hope for the Japanese import? The founder of the Propeller Anime Club provides insight into this matter and how it will affect anime fandom in the future.

Sonic the Hedgehog: This is his life!
3:30pm – 4:30pm in W224B
Hosted by Brandon Bernard, John Merced, and Brotha Kyo

We’ve seen him grow in the many years of our childhood, from Sonic the Hedgehog, to Sonic Unleashed. We welcome you to join us in event that is of course, Sonic the Hedgehog. From laughter, to humorous disappointments, we will rejuvenate the young child in you once again.

The Panel about Everything!
4:30pm – 6:00pm in W224B
Hosted by Kent Ward, Larry Furry, and Jessica Roth

Everything you should hear about convention culture will be discussed! Convention survival, how to talk to girls, the dos and don’ts of anime conventions, and all the dark secrets of the anime community will be covered!

WOW Machinima
6:00pm – 7:00pm in W224B
Hosted by Jason Sadeghi
www.animesushi.com

Come see the best World of Warcraft Machinimas ever made! What’s a Machinima? It takes game footage and uses it to recreate funny and/or epic short films! This will be a great event for WOW fans all over!

Cosplay Beauty: From Set to Stage
7:00pm – 8:00pm in W224B
Hosted by Blikku and Yaya Han
www.blikku.com

This panel focuses on cosmetic selection and application methods for various skin tones in both stage and photography environments.  There will be make-up demonstration of methods which include themes such as Lolita, Gothic, Ganguro, Rave, etc.  Instructions will be included for achieving many looks in cosplay related to both genre and character-specific applications. People that are new to make-up can get their start here, while the make-up veterans can also join in and share their knowledge.

One Piece
8:00pm – 9:00pm in W224B
Hosted by Jessica Roth, John Merced, and Spooky Electric

Into One Piece?  This is the panel is for you!  Spend an hour with other devoted fans discussing everything from your favorite characters to the recent events in the manga.

All Things Resident Evil
9:00pm – 10:30pm in W224B
Hosted by Dee & Ann of The Summasault Crew
msvalentine.tk

For almost fifteen years, Resident Evil has thrilled and entertained fans and shows no signs of stopping. With a game recently released for the Wii and new content available for Resident Evil 5 this is a great time for new players and veterans alike. Come to a panel by fans for fans, where will we explore the recent additions to the series and take a look at the future of the games. Be sure to show up early to secure your raffle ticket and stick around after the panel to play both Darkside Chronicles and the new Resident Evil 5 DLC. Cosplay is always encouraged and welcomed!

Saturday, March 13th

How to be a Pokémon Master!
9:00am – 10:00am in W224B
Hosted by Steve Grinder, Zak Wilson, and Naro Lee
propelleranimeclub.blogspot.com

Have you ever wanted to be a Pokémon Master? We’ll teach you how to be the very best, like no one ever was!  This will also be your chance to get all the info you need on Pokémon Heart Gold and Soul Silver, which comes out the next day!

Manga for American Comic Fans
10:00am – 11:00am in W224B
Hosted by Anime World Order
www.animeworldorder.com

If you like comics about superheroes or even indy books and haven’t given manga a fair chance yet, then the crew from Anime World Order will help clear up any misconceptions you have about manga and make some solid recommendations on what to try out based on your tastes.

Kingdom Hearts
11:00am – 12:00pm in W224B
Hosted by Jessica Roth

Kingdom Hearts is widely popular in both the United States and Japan.  Eight years, and six games later, the series is still going strong!  This panel will be about the changes made to the series, its characters, and will end with a (spoiler free?) review of Birth by Sleep.

Sushi Boy’s Quick Fire AMV F&Q
12:00pm – 12:30pm in W224B
Hosted by Sushi Boy
www.animesushi.com

The head judge of Anime Sushi’s 4th Annual AMV Contest will go through everything about making a quality Anime Music Videos!

It’s MANIME! The Manly Anime Panel
12:30pm – 1:30pm W224B
Hosted by Kent Ward and Brotha Kyo
www.kentward.com

Learn what is to be a true man and makes a manly anime! This one is for fans of series like Fist of the North Star, Berserk, and other testosterone-filled classics! Both old and new anime of manly proportions shall be covered and you will even learn the gospel that is the Twelve Laws of True Man!

Otaku Survival Guide
1:30pm – 2:30pm W224B
Hosted by Corey “Waldo” Waldusky and Rogelio Mosqueda
propelleranimeclub.blogspot.com

Think you’re an Otaku? Don’t know what one really is? Or maybe you’re looking for ways to live in this crazy world as one? Whatever your questions may be, come and found out all the information for your American Otaku lifestyle, and get tips on further delving into your obsession.

Sunday, March 14th

Anime Madlibs
11:00am – 12:00pm in W224B
Hosted by Spooky Electric

We’re seriously letting Spooky Electric do an event on his own! You supply the words that he’ll use to fill in the blanks of his hot new anime fan fiction, and then hilarity will ensue!

The World of J-Pop
12:00pm – 1:00pm in W224B
Hosted by Blikku
www.blikku.com

This panel is an introduction to the J-Pop genre and focuses on an array of artists and styles. Discussion of fan bases will be included such as websites, clubs, and J-Pop inspired cosplays.

SEGA: Welcome to the Next Level!
1:00pm – 2:00pm in W224B
Hosted by Brandon Bernard, John Merced, and Brotha Kyo

SEGA, from past to present, to games, and consoles! SEGA has contributed a vast amount of entertainment throughout the many years of its existence, and continues to carry on the legends that it has created. Come join us as we discuss the topics that have made SEGA to what it is now.

The Analysis of G.I.T.S.  –  Ghost In the Shell
2:00pm – 3:00pm in W224B
Hosted by Emilio Lopez-Centellas
propelleranimeclub.blogspot.com

A definitive Ghost in the Shell panel, covering the classic characters, what Public Security Section 9 is and the technology they use, including the Tachikomas and all of the A.I. units. Everything from the manga to the movies and television series will be discussed! Panel sponsored by Manga Entertainment!

Robotech: The Legacy Continues
3:00pm – 4:00pm W224B
Hosted by Larry Furry

One of the oldest giant robot franchises continues on! Robotech expert Larry “Fuzzy” Furry will discuss all things about the sci-fi epic. Panel sponsored by Manga Entertainment!

Karaoke
4:00pm – 6:00pm in W224B
Hosted by Propeller Anime Club
propelleranimeclub.blogspot.com

We’re wrapping up another awesome year at Megacon with some Karaoke! Sing with friends and have a great time! Come in early because it’s first come, first served!

Guide to MegaCon 2010: Propeller Anime Club Panels

I have introduced you to what MegaCon is and how to survive the experience. Not only that, we have announced the Ninja Olympics, the Quickdraw! Contest, and Karaoke as some of the big events that our club is hosting!

Our club has grown and done a good job to secretly establish itself in the local anime community here in Orlando. We have four conventions under our belt and MegaCon 2010 will be our first big step out of the shadows of other groups. I'm really proud of what the club has become and all the hard work our members have contributed.

Many members of the Propeller Anime Club will be volunteering to help out in the Anime Events Track at MegaCon and some of use will be doing panels in addition to the events we have previously announced.

Our first event of the convention, Propeller Anime Potluck, looks like it may be a "filler event" as it is simply showing older anime that predates Inuyasha and Naruto. It kinda is but it's more of a club meeting we are having at MegaCon. We'll be showing the first episodes of some classic anime and we'll hang out and socialize like we normally do at our campus meetings. Anime that we have toyed around with showing include Berserk, Ranma 1/2, Those who Hunt Elves, and Super Dimensional Fortess Macross. We haven't finalized that yet but we hope that you can join us. We'll have candy!

Right after that, I will be doing a panel called Anime is Already Dead? It will chronicle the rise and fall of anime in the 2000s, what went right and wrong, and what directions Japan needs to go in with the direction of it's anime in order to capture that real "Cool Japan" spirit the country keeps talking about.

Anime kids at conventions are weird and sometimes forget that they are out in public. They do things that the rest of the con-goers frown upon and they don't even realize what they are doing. Not only that, many anime fans in general show up to conventions unprepared. Last year, I was part of a Sunday rant panel that covered a lot of issues we had concerns with and I did snap a couple times. But this year, myself and others felt that it may be more proactive to discuss these issues and more(like how to talk to girls at conventions) in a Friday afternoon panel. This way, people can take from it valuable information that they can use throughout the weekend. As an inside joke, we have titled the event The Panel about Everything!

The last event from our club on Friday will be Rebuild of Evangelion, hosted by both Waldo and Emilio. It will be in Main Events(W224 F,G,H) and will be followed up by Funimation's showing of Evangelion 1.11 You Are (Not) Alone. Waldo is extremely knowledgeable of Evangelion to the point that is sometimes scary and both him and Emilio put on an entertaining panel each time.

Saturday morning, Zak, Steve, and Naro will tell us How to be a Pokemon Master! It will cover many things Pokemon from the beginning to where Ash and crew are now. In addition, they will discuss and celebrate the next day release of Pokemon Heart Gold and Soul Silver, coming do a Nintendo DS near you!

In the afternoon, I will be doing It's MANIME! The Manly Anime Panel with my partner Brotha Kyo! I don't need to even tell you what it's about. If you aren't there then you have already failed at MegaCon. Yes, I am that confident that you will enjoy the event. It might even change your life and make you a better person for attending.

Right after that, Waldo and Roger will be doing the Otaku Survival Guide, which will cover what an anime otaku really is and how to guide yourself into the obsession with otaku law and anime recommendations covered.

We have a lot of big events on Sunday, but Emilio will be doing The Analysis of G.I.T.S. - Ghost in the Shell in he afternoon. Ghost in the Shell is still one of the most important science fiction anime franchises to exist, helping anime harpoon into mainstream in the late 90s with the release of it's first film. If you are unfamiliar with the movies, manga, or television series: first off, shame on you! Second, make sure you go to this panel so that you may see what you have been missing out on!

We have a lot going on at MegaCon, and we hope to see you at our events. But we are just a part of the anime fun going on. March 12-14th will be an awesome time thanks to many groups and people that will be involved. Once the events schedule is finalized, we will cover the rest of the fun! Stay tuned!