An outcry last year emerged about an alleged crackdown by Hilton security staff on any room party at the hotel. This year marked another improvement on AX's past. A shift in strategy to avoid future incidents by both AX and the Anaheim Hilton Towers seemed successful.
"We had several meeting with hotel management to prepare them for Anime Expo," explained Tatsugawa. "We structured the room blocks so we monopolized the sixth, seventh and eighth floors, isolating Anime Expo's attendees from [other hotel guests]. Parties were isolated to the 6th floor to insure that noise only went to fellow AX attendees' rooms and the function rooms below.
"We also worked with the Hilton to ensure that all security personnel working that night had proper training in dealing with hotel guests and also in coming up with a common dress code that both parties would agree to require all hotel guests to honor."

Special Events

Anime Expo was host to not one, but two musical performances this year. On Friday night singer Iijima Mari performed a live concert with her band. While most of the songs were off of her new English album, the fans seemed to enjoy hearing Ms. Iijima live. Her final song was, of course, "Ai, Oboete imasu ka?" the song from the MACROSS movie. She proved to be very popular after the concert when she autographed and sold her new CD to the crowd of eager fans.

	Iijima Mari's concert (left) and autograph signing (right).

The next big musical event at Anime Expo occurred less than 24 hours later. Saturday morning was the scheduled panel and piano recital for composer Kanno Yoko. Clearly a fan favorite, the line for her panel began very early on Saturday morning, forcing some attendees out of bed earlier than they would have liked. The room was filled to capacity as the panel began, and Ms. Kanno answered questions about composing and performing. She even demonstrated some techniques on the piano.

	Kanno Yoko performed to a packed room, delighting fans with her musicianship and sense of humor.

After the panel, the audience was treated to a live performance by Ms. Kanno. As images from the shows she worked on played on a large video screen, she provided live musical accompaniment. Shows included MACROSS PLUS, ESCAFLOWNE, and of course, COWBOY BEBOP. When the lights came back on and the performance was over, Ms. Kanno was given a standing ovation and performed two encore pieces. She demonstrated that she was as much performer and showman as she was composer.