The larger amount of function space seemed to have benefited the Exhibit Hall, which was located in a spacious hall and provided ample room for both the dealers as well as the eager shoppers. The only inconvenience was the entry to the Exhibit Hall—though there was a set of escalators in the LBCC leading directly to the hall, it was blocked off by another convention using the space, and AX attendees had to take the scenic route through the loading dock to enter the Exhibit Hall from the other side.

As usual, the big companies such as Bandai, Pioneer, and ADV Films all had large booth displays to show off their current and upcoming products, but the majority of booths seemed to be teeming with customers as well. One booth held a fire sale of laserdiscs at really low prices, while a booth selling copic markers gathered a lot of interest from aspiring artists and illustrators despite the relatively high cost of the markers. To the relief of many, there was no repeat of the incident last year at the Disneyland Hotel (where adult-related items had to be removed from the booths), and the overall Exhibit Hall experience was uneventful and smooth.

The art show was held in the same hall as the Exhibit Hall, and as usual displayed a number of great pieces of artwork from fan artists. After visiting the art show himself, Mikimoto later commented that he felt glad and honored to have become the inspiration of many budding artists in the U.S. if not worldwide.

Undoubtedly the biggest event in the film program was the North American Premiere of the AH! MEGAMISAMA film. Character designer Matsubara Hidenori and Belldandy voice actress Inoue Kikuko were attending as Guests of Honor, and took some time to stop by the first showing of the film to say a few words about it, to the great delight of the audience.

Other film favorites were also on hand, with the subtitled ESCAFLOWNE print making a return to AX, but with only a handful of showings this year. Other films included BLOOD, POKEMON 2000: THE MOVIE, and IRON GIANT.

Held outside on Friday night, the Meet the Guests Reception proved to be as popular with the fans as it ever was. Thirteen of the fourteen Guests of Honor showed up to answer questions and chat informally with fans.

As usual, Watase Yuu held court over a large number of fans who flocked around her table, but she also had a lot of competition this year from voice actress Inoue Kikuko. And, of course, Mr. Kawamoto was besieged with questions about the upcoming COWBOY BEBOP movie. Mr. Ishiguro entertained fans with his stories of working in the industry for many years, and Mr. Mikimoto fielded questions about his current works, his manga, and his rumored involvement with a new MACROSS project.

After the meet the Guests Reception, the fans flocked out onto the lawn for the Anime Expo tenth anniversary celebration. Six large vaguely Borg-like cakes represented the six components of Anime Expo: the fans, the staff, the industry, the dealers, the Guests of Honor, and the SPJA. Each cake was ceremoniously cut by selected members of each group of individuals, including those staffers with the dubious distinction of having served AX for ten years.

After the ceremonial cutting, fans, industry, and Guests mingled on the lawn as the cake was handed out. And out. And out. There was more than enough cake to go around. In fact, if you drive by the Long Beach Convention Center today, some of it may still be there.

And like these cakes that are representative of Expo, Expo will endure... Though hopefully not with white frosting.