Happy! Happy! Joy! Joy! fills our hearts to announce that Brian Drummond and his son, Aidan, will be making a guest appearance at AnimeNEXT 2008!

Brian has a long resume in the English voice acting scene, voicing some of anime's most notable roles, including Vegeta from Dragon Ball Z, Zechs Marquise from Gundam Wing and Andrew Walfield from Gundam Seed & Seed Destiny. He has voiced roles in Escaflowne, Transformers, Soul Taker, and Zoids Fuzors. And is now the voice of Ryuk in the Live Action Death Note Movie!!!

Aidan Drummond is an up-and-coming VA who's voiced roles in Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever and the Inuyasha movie 4!

Come one and come all and join us in giving Brian and Aidan a warm AnimeNEXT welcome!!!

We are pleased to announce that Tom Wayland will be making an appearance as an Industry Guest at AnimeNEXT 2008. Tom is an accomplished Voice Actor, Writer and ADR and Voice Director; recently becoming the Voice Director of the new Pokemon English-language Dub. He is a great guest and a great friend to AnimeNEXT. We are just *pink* with excitement to have him!!!

Jhouse-Rock ENT and AnimeNEXT are pleased to announce RENTRER EN SOI live in concert at the 2008 AnimeNEXT convention! This powerhouse of Japanese rock has been busy touring to sold out audiences throughout Japan. However, Japan is no longer enough. They wish to come back to the US for their first ever east coast concert at AnimeNEXT. So come watch RENTRER EN SOI in an unforgettable Friday night concert and experience the raw joy and despair that has made RENTRER EN SOI so popular. Then on Saturday you will be able to catch the band members at various convention events through the day including signing and photo opportunities.

If you would like to participate in our LARP this year, we've got bad news and we've got good news. The bad news is that pre-registration is officially closed, retroactive to today. The good news is that there are a small amount of pre-made characters that will be available for registration on Friday morning, June 20. So get to the con early if you still want to role-play for the entire weekend!

Sure it's fun to get dressed up in costume and run around as your favorite characters. But it's even more fun to participate in a game show while you're doing it! Back by popular demand, the information and rules are up for the Cosplay Dating Game and the Cosplay Human Chess Show.

AnimeNEXT is the place to get your Japanese-themed gaming on, and we've got information about our first-announced tournament: Naruto: Ultimate Fighter 3 for the PS2! Sponsored by Bandai Namco, the lucky winners of this tournament can win special convention-exclusive merchandise such as posters and figurines, and the grand winner will win a copy of the PS2 game! Check out the Video Gaming for more details.

The AnimeNEXT block of rooms at the Embassy Suites is now sold out. We're working with other hotels to secure more space for attendees. Currently rooms are still available at the La Quinta. More information can be found in the location section.

We're busy as bees behind the scenes here at AnimeNEXT headquarters, and we're pleased to announce that registration is open for fan panels , the AMV Contest and Artists' Alley. Each registration is separate and each has its own deadline, so be sure you read the rules carefully!

We said we'd be negotiating with some more local-area hotels, and we're finally able to deliver on our promise! AnimeNEXT is pleased to announce that we've gotten some more discounted rates for two hotels near the Meadowlands Exposition Center in Secaucus, NJ for our convention from June 20 to June 22.

For folks who wish to stay in a hotel right next to the MEC, we've negotiated a rate with the Embassy Suites Secaucus Meadowlands of $189 per night (not including tax) for a double-occupancy suite. Attendees who don't mind staying a little further away can enjoy the comfort of the La Quinta Inn & Suites Secaucus Meadowlands with rates of $149 per night for a single-occupancy room, and a rate of $159 per night for a double-occupancy room.

Both hotels feature a complimentary continental breakfast, a swimming pool, and microwaves and refrigerators in all of the guest rooms. The La Qunita also offers free high-speed Internet access in its guest rooms while the Embassy Suites offers .mp3-equipped radios.

For more information on how to book a room at one of these hotels, please see the Location link at left.

We are pleased to announce that two more guests will be making an appearance at our convention this year: voice actors Michele Knotz and Bill Rogers.

Michele and Bill have been stalwart fans and friends of AnimeNEXT for several years. To find out more about their voice over roles, you can click on the Guests page on our website.