As with every year, the companies and Guests of Honor graciously donated items for the auction block. While the rare and often autographed anime goods brought in quite a bit of money, the prize items were—as usual—the autographed and colored sketches by the Guests of Honor. Despite the decline of the high-tech sector (and thus the reduced disposable income of some of the wealthier dot.com fans), the sketches resulted in some fierce bidding wars and rather large amounts of money raised for the City of Hope. There was a wide variety of signboards this year, ranging from a Vampire Hunter D to a Kero-chan to Faye and Spike from Cowboy Bebop to a Gundam 0083 montage.

But the crown item was a lovely sketch of Belldandy from Ah! My Goddess, which fetched an even $10,000, not as high as last year's record-breaking Ayukawa sketch, but a very large sum nevertheless.

John Taylor then unveiled the check from last year, which was in the amount of an unprecedented six figures—$113,487 to be precise. Mr. Taylor explained that Pioneer Entertainment had made an additional donation in anime goods for the children patients at the City of Hope, which was reflected in the amount on the check. It was good to see both industry and fandom contributing towards a better cause, and to see that contribution grow every year. (And if you can walk away with a treasured sketch from your favorite Guest of Honor, that's just an added bonus.)

The Guests of Honor once again took the stage to give their thanks and parting comments to the audience. Many of the Guests of Honor expressed how greatly motivated they felt by the fervor and appreciation of their U.S. fans, and promised to channel that energy into their creative work. Several even remarked what an honor it was to be sitting at the same table as their idol Mr. Mikimoto, who in turn was sitting close to his mentor, Mr. Ishiguro. Speaking of Mr. Ishiguro, the affable industry veteran once again displayed his "translate" sign (which at this point had become a running gag like the masquerade "chair").

The winners of the various contests were announced, including the winning music video entries, the most popular of which was "Tainted Donuts". The music video was an impressive composite of scenes from Cowboy Bebop and Trigun, with the crew of Bebop chasing Vash for the bounty on his head. Amazingly choreographed and hilarious to watch, it even impressed Mr. Kawamoto, the character designer for Bebop, who later remarked that he'd like to meet the "director" of the music video.

The announcement that AX2002 would again take place at the LBCC elicited a few groans from the audience (most likely those whose hotels were located further away from the LBCC, unlike the Hyatt), but was overall well received due to the ample function space provided by the LBCC for programming. Attendance broke the

And with that, Anime Expo 2001 was over. Despite some of the issues that came up, such as a few autograph lines being cut off prematurely, and a few movies being cancelled or delayed, the general sentiment seemed that it was a fairly smooth and fun-filled four days. With the heavy heart that follows the end of a major event, the attendees slowly departed Long Beach, swag in tow, looking forward to another year of Anime Expo.