Anime Expo 2005
Anime Expo - Geneon Anime Festival
by Bamboo Dong,
For all the attendees who missed the Geneon panel, they got the chance to have more fun with the company the following day with the Geneon Anime Festival. Scheduled to run the full hour before the KOTOKO concert, the festival was held in the packed Main Events hall. All of the company's licensing announcements had been saved for the event, with the exception of Gun x Sword which was unveiled at the panel, and anticipation was high for one thing... the chance to see the new trailer for the Hellsing Ultimate OAV.
The festival was scheduled to start early in the afternoon, but almost an hour later, it still hadn't started yet. It wasn't until almost the scheduled time for the KOTOKO concert that the presenters walked onto the stage.
Hosted by voice actors Johnny Young Bosch and Wendee Lee, the festival first showed a clip of the history of Geneon's releases, starting with their Pioneer days. Some of the clips were met with thunderous applause and cheering, with notable audience favorites being Hellsing and
Afterwards, a lengthy video of upcoming Geneon releases and acquisitions was played for the cheering audience. The list included Fate/stay night, Starship Operators, Kannaduki no Miko, Shakugan no Shana, Erementar Gerad, Ergo Proxy, and of course, Hellsing Ultimate.
Most of the more well-known titles were met with loud cheers, and only some of the more obscure titles were greeted with silence. Unsurprisingly, the audience was buzzing from the first frame of Hellsing to the last. With classy, updated character designs and what promises to be a slick new storyline, the OVA will be something to look forward to.
Once the trailer reel was finished, two surprise guests popped onto the stage to answer a few questions—Hellsing manga creator Kouta Hirano and producer Yasuyuki Ueda. Fielding a few questions from Bosch and Lee, they pumped up an already-excited crowd for the upcoming OVA series.
Although many of the audience members sitting in the Main Events hall were anxiously awaiting the KOTOKO concert, the Geneon Anime Festival was still a success. It was a fun way for the concert sponsors to showcase some of their upcoming releases, and all those who saw the Hellsing trailer walked away with plenty to tell their friends.
The festival was scheduled to start early in the afternoon, but almost an hour later, it still hadn't started yet. It wasn't until almost the scheduled time for the KOTOKO concert that the presenters walked onto the stage.
Hosted by voice actors Johnny Young Bosch and Wendee Lee, the festival first showed a clip of the history of Geneon's releases, starting with their Pioneer days. Some of the clips were met with thunderous applause and cheering, with notable audience favorites being Hellsing and
Afterwards, a lengthy video of upcoming Geneon releases and acquisitions was played for the cheering audience. The list included Fate/stay night, Starship Operators, Kannaduki no Miko, Shakugan no Shana, Erementar Gerad, Ergo Proxy, and of course, Hellsing Ultimate.
Most of the more well-known titles were met with loud cheers, and only some of the more obscure titles were greeted with silence. Unsurprisingly, the audience was buzzing from the first frame of Hellsing to the last. With classy, updated character designs and what promises to be a slick new storyline, the OVA will be something to look forward to.
Once the trailer reel was finished, two surprise guests popped onto the stage to answer a few questions—Hellsing manga creator Kouta Hirano and producer Yasuyuki Ueda. Fielding a few questions from Bosch and Lee, they pumped up an already-excited crowd for the upcoming OVA series.
Although many of the audience members sitting in the Main Events hall were anxiously awaiting the KOTOKO concert, the Geneon Anime Festival was still a success. It was a fun way for the concert sponsors to showcase some of their upcoming releases, and all those who saw the Hellsing trailer walked away with plenty to tell their friends.
bookmark/share with:
back to Anime Expo 2005
Convention homepage / archives