AnimeNEXT

AnimeNEXT (AN) is an annual three-day anime convention held at the New Jersey Convention and Exposition Center in Edison, New Jersey. The convention was previously held at the Meadowlands Exposition Center in Secaucus, New Jersey, the Garden State Exhibit Center in Somerset, New Jersey, and the Atlantic City Convention Center in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The convention typically offers anime music video (AMV) screenings, cosplay chess, a dance, dealer's room, karaoke, panels, masquerade, video gaming, and video rooms.
== Gallery ==
=== AnimeNEXT 2014 ===
Hiromi Wakabayashi & Koyama Shigeto posing alongside Kill la Kill cosplayers during AnimeNEXT 2014.jpg|Hiromi Wakabayashi & Koyama Shigeto posing alongside Kill la Kill cosplayers during AnimeNEXT 2014
=== AnimeNEXT 2015 ===
Shigeto Koyama's autograph on Eureka Seven product with a little Nirvash sketch.jpg|Shigeto Koyama's autograph on Eureka Seven product with a little Nirvash sketch
Eureka Seven and Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt merchandises signed by Studio Trigger staff.jpg|Eureka Seven and Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt merchandises signed by Studio Trigger staff
==History==
This is a table displaying a comprehensive timeline of various times Studio Trigger in-house staff and affiliates participated in this event. It is a nonexhaustive list as Studio Trigger might continue to partake in these events as time goes on, and the list might be missing past events due to lack of awareness or information availdable. Comment below the article if you know of any details that can be added to this table.
Events 	Start 	End 	Participated Members
AnimeNEXT 2014	Jun 6, 2014 	Jun 8, 2014 	Hiromi Wakabayashi, Shigeto Koyama, Tatsuru Tatemoto
AnimeNEXT 2015	Jun 12, 2015	Jun 14, 2015	Shigeto Koyama, Sushio, Hiromi Wakabayashi, Takafumi Hori, Tatsuru Tatemoto
AnimeNEXT 2016	Jun 10, 2016	Jun 12, 2016	Akira Amemiya, Shigeto Koyama, Hiromi Wakabayashi, Tatsuru Tatemoto
AnimeNEXT 2017	Jun 9, 2017 	Jun 11, 2017	Yoh Yoshinari, Shuhei Handa, Shigeto Koyama, Hiromi Wakabayashi, Tatsuru Tatemoto, Reina Ueda, Noriko Hidaka
== Notes ==
* The following information was shared during AnimeNEXT 2014:
**As reported by a blog article from Reverse Thieves during AnimeNEXT 2014AnimeNEXT 2014: Studio Trigger:
***Majorities of Studio Trigger staff are fans of American comics, particularly ones by Marvel Comics. This even reflected by subtle Marvel Comics influence on their works (ex. Kill la Kill's second ending theme has a secret wink and nod to World War Hulk and Inferno Cop being inspired by Ghost Rider).
***In the same event, the panel of Inferno Cop was less attended than that of Kill la Kill due to its style being too peculiar to Japanese audience's liking, which also attributed to its unusual development approach (Studio Trigger only allowed one hour per week to work on Inferno Cop, which didn't help by those involved took their time rather than doing so seriously like the latter). Notably, its storyboard consisted of just a single sheet of paper with three hap-hazardly drawn boxes inside which were the loosest of sketches for the action.
***While Little Witch Academia's original short was as reputable as Kill la Kill that the sequel was greenlit, fans apparently saved questions pertaining it in bigger events such as AnimeExpo since none of them brought that up in AnimeNEXT 2014.
***Just like TV Series adaptation of Little Witch Academia later on, initial storyline was confirmed to be much darker and edgier than final product as indicated by initial versions of first five episode storyboards in which Ryūko Matoi initially depicted as a bounty hunter and Elite Four being all-female member band. Not only that, Ryūko and Mako's early designs were more adorable and masculine elements in Satsuki's design initially more prominent.
*The following information was shared during AnimeNEXT 2015:
**As revealed by Koyama in an interview with Ogiue Maniax during AnimeNEXT 2015, Inferno Cop was made possible through a commission by Google, which was surprising given to the amount of money Google known to have and how little money and effort was placed into it, which wasn't an issue as the studio set up a rule that it could only spend two hours a week on the series.Sunset on Somerset: AnimeNext 2015
***Studio Trigger's initial pitch on what would become Inferno Cop was Superson, the story of an ordinary guy in a superhero academy which rather underwhelming in comparison.AnimeNext 2015: TRIGGER Interview
****The major highlight of the event was Inferno Cop X Little Witch Academia crossover, which also featured Sucy depicted in the former series' style. As reported by the Reverse Thieves blog, in this episode, Inferno Cop and the witches from Little Witch Academia prepare for a confrontation but are compelled to unite against a more formidable adversary. They succeed in overcoming this threat and form a friendship, however unbeknownst to them, a greater force has been manipulating events from the beginning.AnimeNEXT 2015: Trigger
***Studio Trigger's other work, Turning Girls was indeed created and produced by its non-animator female staff. It was created as the way to see how people with no experience in animation would make an anime. Despite failing in attracting much of an audience abroad, it interested sponsors involved more against all odds, though they refused to make more of the series. It's worth mention that the series' titular characters apparently based on the staff members themselves, particularly the one with shades of Kaerun, the highly abrasive aspiring idol from Turning Girls.
**According to Reverse Thieves, during the Q&A, the Inferno Cop crew shared that they're super excited to do more Inferno Cop and Little Witch Academia crossover material. However, the Little Witch Academia crew was not as enthusiastic to include Inferno Cop in their production.
***This convention also featured the debut of Studio Trigger mascots, who are known as the Trigger Girls. News about them were first reported on April 1, 2015https://web.archive.org/web/20150402162055/https://www.st-trigger.co.jp/news/20150401.html, although their names were first divulged during this convention - the red-head is Trigger-chan, the blonde is Spring, and the burnette is Muzzle Brake. During this convention, the staff shared that they are just visuals but they would like to make some sort of animation surrounding them in the future.
**At the time, the staff mentioned that Little Witch Academia 2 was nearly done so it would be ready in time for its big premiere during AnimeExpo 2015.
**Hiromi Wakabayashi confessed that fans' support for Little Witch Academia: Enchanted Parade through Kickstarter to be notable; the crowdfunding for the project reached its goal in 4-5 hours instead of estimated 30 days. Having made up their mind in working on the sequel regardless, he and the rest of Studio Trigger felt the failure of the Kickstarter campaign being the least of their worries.
**The success of Kill la Kill, as well as Inferno Cop and Little Witch Academia shorts saw the growing interest of fans outside Japan in Studio Trigger's works.
**Sushio confirmed that his drawing style was influenced by Yoshihiko Umakoshi whom he collaborated with back when working on Ojomajo Doremi. Additionally, he chose Kitan as his Twitter profile due to working on Kittan Zero (part of Gurren Lagann Parallel Works) at the time.
**According to Takafumi Hori, the difference between animating a project with standard TV budget and one with more time and funding lies in budget management; in the former, the director had to be mindful with the budget which unfortunately prevented them from hiring more experienced, seasoned animators like the latter.
**Sushio, Shigeto Koyama, Takafumi Hori, and Hiromi Wakabayashi remarked that Studio Trigger's atmosphere was much more brighter than other studios such as Khara, Inc.. Upon being asked whether they would make a sequel or two of Kill la Kill, they felt it won't be necessary with most, if not all of loose ends with it had been tied up, though Koyama had other plans for Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt and Inferno Cop while Sushio expressed an interest for a possible prequel for Kill la Kill.
**Turning Girls was made as an experiment to create an anime with less time and effort than even Inferno Cop did hence its even more subpar quality, something which further attributed to those who involved being predominantly female staff of Studio Trigger who weren't animators from start. Although it wasn't as successful as Inferno Cop, there were those who intrigued by Turning Girls nonetheless.
* The following information was shared during AnimeNEXT 2016:
** Studio Trigger broadcasted an Inferno Cop short featuring Vince Averello, Vice Chair of Programming at AnimeNEXT.https://reversethieves.com/2016/06/23/animenext-2016-guests/ 
** There was an Inferno Cop and Space Patrol Luluco panel.
* The following information was shared during AnimeNEXT 2017: 
**According to an interview with Ogiue Maniax, at one point when recently joining Gainax and it coincided with the airing of Sailor Moon, Yoshinari didn't think much about working on a franchise with magical girls, even commented that not wanting to do with series with such genre. However, he eventually changed his mind upon learning the studio's exceutives, Hideaki Anno included, love Sailor Moon series.[AnimeNEXT 2017 Studio Trigger Interview].
**As highlighted in an interview with Yoshinari and other Studio Trigger staff from Ani-Gamers during AnimeNext 2017, the original short, Enchanted Parade, and TV Series adaptation were produced under different circumstancesLittle Witch Academia Director Yoshinari Talks TV Production and the Challenges of Directing: 
***2013 short was, a stated prior, were developed as part of Anime Mirai event, a training program for aspiring animators.
***Enchanted Parade was through crowdfunding via. Kickstarter, a rare instance in animation industry. While he admitted that his part in its development of the film was ensuring it to be enjoyable, Yoshinari felt Kickstarters staff had greater challenge in doing their part to fulfill the backers' demands.
***TV Series adaptation was funded by Netflix, though he intended it to be both enjoyable and catered for Japanese audience, though his biggest challenge was assuming the role of its director. He also confirmed to enlist Masanobu Hiraoka in working on its ending animation, being a fan of the latter's works.
**As highlighted during the same interview with Studio Trigger staff from Ani-Gamers during AnimeNext 2017, Hiromi Wakabayashi revealed that he, Hiroyuki Imaishi, Yō Yoshinari, Atsushi Nishigori, Shigeto Koyama, and Masahiko Otsuka formed a group called Geek Fleet during their time as main staff of Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt. The group however, reduced into Geek Boat during the development of Sex & Violence with Machspeed due to Yoshinari, Nishigori, and Otsuka got occupied with their own works, comparing it to loss-of manpower that they moved to boat hence its logo's three nerds escaping on a U-boat.
**According to Reverse Thieves, The staff brought a brand new episode of Inferno Cop along with the announcement of Inferno Cop 2 (Aka Inferno Cop 2nd Season). This episode featured a crossover with Little Witch Academia and a fight with Donald Trump.https://reversethieves.com/2017/06/29/animenext-2017-guests/
***They also had a picture of the new main character of Inferno Cop 2 displayed during their panel.
***Reportedly, the Trigger team asked the audience how many had seen the Little Witch Academia TV series. They pointed out that it wasn't officially available in English yet, but they knew people found ways to watch it anyway, an assertion that was soon proven as most people in the audience raised their hands; it's abundantly clear that a lot of the audience had watched the show through fansubs.
==External links==
===Interviews===
*Ani-gamers 
**Interview: Studio Trigger on Inferno Cop, Turning Girls, and Kill la Kill by David Estrella and Evan Minto July 9, 2015
**Little Witch Academia Director Yoshinari Talks TV Production and the Challenges of Directing by Evan Minto August 3, 2017
*All-fiction
**AnimeNext 2015: TRIGGER Interview by Sean July 14, 2015
*Japanator
**Anime Next '14: Studio Trigger by Jeff Chuang July 16, 2014 (Archived on June 19, 2014)
*OGIUE MANIAX 
**Sunset on Somerset: AnimeNext 2015 by sdshamshel June 19, 2015
**[AnimeNEXT 2017] Studio Trigger Interview by sdshamshel August 1, 2017
=== Blogs===
*Reverse Thieves
**AnimeNEXT 2014: Studio Trigger by Alain and Kate June 13, 2014
**AnimeNEXT 2015: Trigger by Alain June 18, 2015
**AnimeNEXT 2015: Panels by Alain and Kate June 26, 2015
**AnimeNEXT 2016: Roanapur and New Jersey Now Have Yet Another Thing in Common June 9, 2016
*OGIUE MANIAX 
**I Didn’t Go to AnimeNEXT 2014 But I Have Some Thoughts on the Studio Trigger Panels by sdshamshel June 20, 2014
**Less Slots, More Anime Plots: AnimeNEXT 2017 by sdshamshel June 18, 2017
===News===
*Ani-gamers
**Con Report: AnimeNEXT 2015 by David Estrella, Evan Minto, and Ink July 14, 2015
**AnimeNEXT 2015: The Panels by David Estrella, Evan Minto, and Ink July 19, 2015
==References==
Category:Real-life Events