AnimeNEXT is happy to announce its first guests for the 2009 convention, US Anime producer Toshifumi Yoshida of Bandai Namco, US Anime Director Tom Wayland of Tripwire Productions and US Anime Voice Actor Greg Ayres.
 
 Toshifumi Yoshida is a producer with Bandai Namco in the United States where he has recently worked on Gurren Lagann. Toshi is also well known in the US anime industry for his work in both manga and anime. Toshi may best be known for his work in the past on InuYasha and Ranma ½. Look for Toshi in our schedule where he will be speaking about anime and manga in the United States.
 
Tom Wayland is a New York area anime director. Tom has worked on numerous titles that you are familiar with, such as titles like Gall Force, DNA2, Revolutionary Girl Utena and Animation Runner Kuromi. You can expect panels and workshops with Tom. In the past Tom has hosted voice acting workshops at AnimeNEXT. Stay tuned to this newsletter and the AnimeNEXT website for what panels Tom will be doing at the convention in 2009.
 
AnimeNEXT is also very proud to welcome back Greg Ayres. Greg was with us in 2008 and he will return to AnimeNEXT in 2009. Greg has been featured in such popular anime as Ouran High School Host Club, Neon Genesis Evangelion, and Full Metal Alchemist. Greg’s panels were packed last year and you can probably expect the same again this year.

Sorry folks, the forum upgrade took longer than expected. Everything is working now except searching. The forum needs to scan all our posts to make them searchable again. This will take a day or so and might slow down the site a little. If you can't log in, try using the 'forgot password' function to reset it. If you run into any problems, please email webmaster@animenext.org and we'll fix it!

Remeber to check your signatures and user profiles to make sure nothing got messed up. We promise we'll change the not-so-cool bright blue color scheme, but making sure everything works right... "Saiyuusen jikou yo!"

The forum is being upgraded this week. If you see the forum down while you are trying to post something, just come back in an hour or so and everything should be ok again.

Dear friends, we are now accepting online registrations for AnimeNEXT '09! For a limited time, you can pre-register for AN '09 for low price of $35 for a full weekend pass. See our registration page for more information or just click this link to register.

AnimeNEXT offers this early registration (or "pre-reg") as a "thank you" to our fans; the AN family. These early birds and forum faithful have the chance to enjoy the full weekend at AnimeNEXT (Fri., Sat. & Sun.) for a fraction of the regular cost...(they also get their admittance badges quicker on opening day ).

So, don't delay! Click the link above and join the AN family! If you have any questions, you can always click the "contact" link and email us. We hope to see you there!!! 

The AnimeNEXT Death Note II Movie ticket give away is over. The winners are Raquel Medina and Amanda Munyon. You will be contacted personally about how to get admittance to the movie. Thank you to everyone who sent in an entry for the give away. We had a huge out pouring of Death Note fans for this contest. Keep your eyes peeled on the AnimeNEXT web site, our Twitter account and the AnimeNEXT email Newsletter  for more news about AnimeNEXT, more contests and .more promotional events. Thanks again to everyone who participated.

AnimeNEXT has got tickets to the Death Note II Movie at the Clifton Commons 16 movie theatre in Clifton, NJ. Would you like to see Death Note II on the big screen for free? Here are the specifics:

1. Write and send an email to publicity@animenext.org with the subject line “AnimeNEXT Death Note II Movie Give-Away”.
2. Please include your real name, street address, email address and a contact phone number in the body of the email.

The deadline for submissions is Sunday, October 12. We will choose two winners at random. Each winner gets two tickets - one for you, one for a friend. The film will be playing at the AMC Clifton Commons 16 Movie Theatre, 405 Route 3, Clifton, NJ 07014 on October 15 and 16, 2008 at 7:30pm.

The MangaNEXT 2008 Pre-registration deadline is now extended until October 15, 2009. Take advantage of the lower price for your registration. The price will be higher at the door of the event. Check out the details:

Registration Type Rate

Pre-register on-line $25
Register at the event $35

You can register for MangaNEXT here. Come on down to this fun intimate event. Check out the Hotel and area that is the new home for AnimeNEXT 2009 too. We have some special surprises in store for you on Halloween. Overall, MangaNEXT 2008 should be a great and fun event from the same group of people that bring you AnimeNEXT.

So, we bet you have been wondering what the dates are for AnimeNEXT 2009. Well here you go. AnimeNEXT 2009 is going to begin on Friday, June 12, 2009 and continue until Sunday, June 14, 2009. Remember, as always we may have some special events for you early birds that come and see us on Thursday night before the event officially starts. Please look below for details on the new official AnimeNEXT 2009 location.

AnimeNEXT 2009 is Moving! Your favorite New York and New Jersey area anime convention is moving to a larger facility for the 2009 convention. We are moving to the bigger and better facilities at the Garden State Exhibit Center and the DoubleTree Somerset Hotel in Somerset, New Jersey, less than one hour away from our former facilities in Secaucus.

You can look forward to a larger facility with more meeting rooms and areas for more AnimeNEXT events, some great places for cos-play photo shoots and a beautiful new hotel. The recently modernized and renovated DoubleTree Hotel is our 2009 official hotel and features over 364 contemporary hotel rooms. King and Double rooms are availablel. You can find more information on the AnimeNEXT Location page.

The Official Hotel for AnimeNEXT 2009 is the Somerset DoubleTree Hotel in Somerset, New Jersey. Rooms can be booked now by attendees from Thursday, June 11, 2009 (If you want to come see us early) to Sunday, June 14, 2009 at the special AnimeNEXT attendee rate of $139 per night.

You can register online. When filling out the web form make sure to enter the codes “ANC” or “AnimeNEXT” to get the special low rate. Or you can call the hotel directly at (732) 469 2600 and mention the code over the phone to get the special rate.

Doubletree Hotel & Executive Meeting Center Somerset
200 Atrium Drive
Somerset, NJ 08873-4197
Phone: (732) 469-2600
Fax: (732) 469-4617
$139 per night