The 8th and 9th of September, 2001, one of the most anticipated dates for any Aussie anime lover's calendar, is none other than the Australian Comicfest! Luckily for me, Comicfest is always held in Sydney so I had no trouble getting there. This year, it was held at the Centerpoint Convention Center on Pitt Street - which was where the first ever Comicfest was held.
   Comicfest is a convention dedicated to comics, manga, games, and most importantly - anime! I must admit, I didn't spend all that much time browsing through the huge number of comic books available upstairs, but instead stayed on the lower floor browsing through all the anime merchandise and watching all the new anime being screened.

   On arrival, I immediately headed for the Madman Entertainment Anime Screening Room. At 11:00 am, three new series (four episodes) were screened which had never been seen before in Australia. These included episodes 180, 181 and 182 of Dragonball Z. Martian Successor Nadesico were next in the line-up after these hilarious new DBZ episodes, followed by three more DBZ episodes, 183, 184 and 185. As the heated battle between Pikkon and Goku ended, and Gohan finally finished his first day of high school, I realized a large number of people were scurrying off to the Madman booth. Not knowing what was going on, one of the staff members nearby explained that Sean Schemmel had arrived. I then headed to the back of the line so that I could get an autograph. After a 30-minute wait, I finally reached the top of the line. I requested he address the autograph to UltimateDBZ.Com and he was more than happy to. While he was signing my poster, we engaged in a 30 second conversation, including the quality of Australian hamburgers and how his hand was about to drop off. (I apologize I was unable to have a proper interview with him. There was a huge line up of DBZ fans to see Sean and I don't think I could've talked to him much longer. I'm really sorry. -_-
   After parting with the legendary voice actor, I headed upstairs to the comic book and manga sales. I tell you, I've never seen so many comics all in one place before. I was tempted to buy a Ramna 1/2 manga, but my spending money was very limited. After more browsing, I discovered a booth in the corner, which was selling anime soundtracks. Evangelion, Dragonball, Bubblegum Crisis: Tokyo 2040, Sailor Moon. You name it and they were all there.
   I then headed back downstairs to watch half an episode of Card Captors and purchased two Evangelion VHS titles. I then realized there was a room I hadn't visited yet - it was filled with posters, wall scrolls, action figures and trading cards. I sadly parted with my last of my money in exchange for a Gundam Wing poster and a truckload of DBZ, Pokemon and Magination trading cards for my younger brother.
   I then headed over to where the DBZ Card Game tournaments were being held. I wandered around watching for a little while, until a young boy came up to me an offered to teach me how to play. Eventually, he had to leave and I was on my own again. (By the way, I was unable to meet up with the winner of the tournament, but where ever you are, congratulations, and I hope you enjoy your $1000 prize!)
   For the remaining hour, I watched the uncut, theatrical version of the first DBZ movie - The Dead Zone (It was so much better than the version I had seen on Cartoon Network!). Five O'clock had finally come, and I was forced to leave the convention center where I made my way home. I was unable to attend Comicfest on the Sunday, and unfortunately missed out on seeing more series four episodes and movie four - Lord Slug.

   All in all, this convention was one of the most enjoyable experiences I have ever had (anime-wise). But there is one thing that still confuses me - what ever happened to that "Live DBZ Stage Show" that was advertised? I had my hopes up to see this show, which would've been hysterically pathetic. But oh well, maybe another time! I urge all you Australian fans to head on over to Comicfest next year, it's great and it's an event that should never be missed. See you all next year!

Media:
Sean Schemmel threaten's aLaNa with a Magic Marker!
Signed Poster dedicated to UltimateDBZ, from Sean!