NEW YORK, NEW YORK - December 5, 2007 - Last year, they gave her a
name. Now, this year, the AnimeNEXT attendees may also give its mascot
Minae a life.

Universal Animation, Inc., the parent company of AnimeNEXT, is proud
to sponsor a contest for all of its creative writing and/or artistic
attendees by offering them the chance to tell Minae's story--in their
own words and images.

Starting on January 1, 2008 interested attendees can either choose
between writing a 1,000 word short original story or a single page of
original comic sequential art with Minae in the leading role.  The
winners of the contest in each category will have their work published
in the AnimeNEXT 2008 Program Guide as well as receive VIP status at
the 2008 convention, held between June 20 and June 22.

"Many of our attendees are also writers or creators of fan-fic or
dojinshi," stated director of publicity Trisha L. Sebastian.
"Harnessing their creative talent to help promote our convention and
flesh out Minae as a character seems like a win-win situation for
everyone!"

The green-haired cyberninja was originally created by Meridith
Mulroney for the 2001-2002 convention. Other artists such as Lisa
Lahmut and current AnimeNEXT staff artist Ben Rodriguez have
influenced her style in recent years, while Kelly Johnston provided
her with a name in the 2007 contest.

Complete contest rules, deadlines, entry forms, and all stipulations
will be available at http://www.animenext.org/contest starting January
1, 2008.