On Sunday, May 30th, the seventh year of Animazement came to an end. As in previous years, the industry panel count remained relatively low, and so here I am, reporting on what news there was to be gleaned from the only particularly notable industry panel, that of AN Entertainment.

The panel was run by John Oppliger, well known for AnimeNation's "Ask John" column, and began with a screening of the 4th episode of their upcoming release, Miami Guns. It was shown dubbed, as the new voice actor and actresses who were making their anime premiere with the show at Animazement along with Scott Houle (who produced the dub) and were amongst this year's guests of honor. The episode itself was a hilarious parody of Initial D.

After the screening, the show was discussed. Miami Guns is a 13 episode TV series that was broadcast originally in 2000. AN announced June 22nd as the official release date for the first disc, but there will probably be advance copies at Anime Expo in July. The series will be released over 4 discs, which will be released between June and close to the end of the year. The suggested viewing age of Miami Guns is 17 and up.

AN tried to retain the original Japanese covers for the DVDs, and have continued their history as a new translation company to be very faithful to the original shows and culture in their translations: retaining the original name orders, honorifics, and such. There will be 4 pages of liner notes on the first disc to explain the cultural references made within the show, and they're continuing their efforts to cram in all the bonus material they can, such as commercials, music videos, voice actor and director interviews, image galleries, production art, and things to that effect. However, it is not yet set in stone as to just what will be on which disc.

AN Entertainment also announced that they are in final negotiations for their third title (Their first having been Risky Safety) and expect the negotiations to be finalized within the week. Although they could not yet reveal the name of the series in question, they did say that it will be their biggest title yet. They will be revealing it to the world as a major announcement at Anime Expo.

AN talked about their plans to make their first steps in directions beyond merely releasing anime DVDs, as they were planning more from day one. Nothing specific was announced as to what consumers can expect from them in the future.

When asked if they would be producing a box for Miami Guns, as they did with Risky Safety (which was included it free with the first run of the final DVD), they said that there are no plans to do so at the moment. However, AN Entertainment wants feedback. If there is a real demand for it, they will produce a Miami Guns box with the 4th DVD, and promise that it will be quality.

When asked about their history of releases genre-wise thus far, AN Entertainment said that they don't want to pigeonhole themselves as a light comedy exclusive company and plans to release some dark, serious shows later. However, it is not as common as far as anime genres go. Japanese fan communtiies tend to prefer lighter shows. With the greater demand for the darker shows on north american shores, there is a great deal of competition for licensing dark shows.

John mentioned that AN Entertainment does look at shows that fans suggest, and plan to release the shows that fans want; shows that they can be proud of releasing. AN encourages fans to contact them with suggestions, and will indeed listen.

When asked about the possibility of releasing theatrical anime, AN Entertainment said that it is the most expensive to license because it is the most costly to produce. Licensing fees are based on how much footage the licensee is getting. The longer the show is, the pricier it becomes. OVAs cost more than television series because of their higher production costs. This effect is seen moreso with films. AN has no plans to move into theatrical releasing yet, but would love to do so in the future.

As is the tradition, AN Entertainment ended their panel with a trivia session, giving away 9 of the 100 Miami Guns shirts that will ever exist.