Europe's Upcoming Japan Expo 8 Anime Convention: What to Expect

Well fans, Europe's Japan Expo is back, and it is once again filled with everything for anime and manga fans. As expected, Europe's largest anime convention brings back some of its old features and also introduces fans to a few new things as well.

This year's festival will be held in Paris, France at the Exhibition Center of Paris-Nord Villepinte during the first weekend in July. The fun filled three day event will last from July 6-8, and tickets are currently available. Ticket prices will range from 12 Euros-28 Euros (approximately $16-$38) depending on the length of your stay, and children 6 and under are free. A pretty reasonable price considering the elaborate size and entertainment made available for this year's events.

Japan Expo 8's programming is definitely worth checking out. Some of the scheduled events includes karaoke, anime screenings, video and card games, an art show, cosplay, workshops, and free autographs from the guest panel. Contests, such as always popular cosplay contest, will also be featured. Another great element of this year's convention is the long list of video and comic publishers who will be showcasing some of their catalog's new products to the fans. Specialty, culture, and goodie shops will be setup and will have on display some fantastic anime, manga, and other Asian related products. Fanzines, which are a type of fan created magazine or book, will also be available and will contain articles, comics, fanfictions, bookmarks, and postcards of your favorite anime or manga series. Probably one of the greatest aspects of the entire convention will be the guest panel and many fans will be happy to hear that "Shaman King" creator Hiroyuki Takei will be a featured guest.

A little background information about Hiroyuki Takei is that he first got noticed after publishing his manga series "SD Hyakkaten" in a fanzine. A few of his friends include the very popular "Once Piece" creator Eiichiro Oda and "Rurouni Kenshin" creator Nobuhiro Watsuki. "Shaman King" is probably his most famous work, however, he has published a more recent manga titled "Jūki Ningen Jumbor". Now that you know a little more about Takei, do not forget to visit his booth for those attending Japan Expo 8.

This year's Japan Expo 8 looks as though it will be as good as or greater that Europe's previous conventions. If you can't attend Japan Expo 8, don't worry about it. Other anime and manga conventions across the United States will be occurring throughout the year. One such convention is Japan Expo 2007 in Los Angeles, CA which will be held in early December. This particular convention will also be celebrating its' 28th anniversary this year. Start saving back your money because this year's festival is supposed to be absolutely spectacular.