SaikouCon 2015 Welcomes Up and Coming Cosplayer Koralene Cosplay as a Special Guest

PA Native Cosplayer also crowned champion of Philly's Next Top Cosplayer 2014

2/25/15 Bethlehem, PA – SaikouCon, which means "best convention”, is the Lehigh Valley's first and only large scale, annual anime convention. Boasting a dedicated staff of longtime Japanese anime and manga fans, SaikouCon is excited to be the only annual convention dedicated exclusively to anime, manga, and Japanese culture and pop culture in this area of Northeast Pennsylvania. The convention grew out of the now defunct, but soon to be relaunched, webzine Anime Ate My Brain Magazine; the sibling webzine to Tastes Like Rock! Music Magazine. Both journalistic endeavors fall under the newly renamed Nerdy Rock 'n Roller Publishing, which will be growing in diversity in 2015.

The convention promises to remain very hands on and attendee friendly every year, while also maintaining a safe atmosphere for attendees to enjoy the convention to their carefree fullest. As always, Cosplay =/= Consent is a very important issue to the staff of SaikouCon, and the same rules and regulations that made SaikouCon 2013 and 2014 a safe haven for cosplayers will be enforced just as strictly at SaikouCon 2015. SaikouCon 2015 will feature many diverse and entertaining panels, workshops, activities, events, screenings, gaming tournaments, and much more!

SaikouCon welcomes Koralene Cosplay as a Special Guest to SaikouCon 2015, she is a Pennsylvania native and was crowned the champ of the Philly's Next Top Cosplayer webseries' first season in 2014. The following is a message from Koralene, “Hey there! I'm Koralene, a cosplayer based out of PA. I grew up in the town of Lock Haven, where cosplay isn't the norm, so I only discovered it 2 years ago. My best friend introduced me to anime, so I made him go to a convention with me and I have loved it ever since.
I enjoy cosplay because I believe it brings a whole community of people together, and gives us the chance to make life long friends that have the same interest as ourselves. Many of us learn a lot of new skills and we get the chance to show off our hard work. It also lets us be our favorite characters for a weekend and bring our fantasy world we love so much into reality if only for a weekend at a convention. My hard work seems to be paying off as I won 2nd place in the Novice category of the Setsucon walk on, and I was the winner of Philly's Next Top Cosplayer. I am really excited to continue competing and creating, and loving every minute along the way.
I am very excited to meet everyone this year at SaikouCon so please say hello!”

For more about Koralene and keep updated on what conventions she will be appearing at follow her at http://www.facebook.com/koralenecosplay, http://koralenefrost.tumblr.com. And Instagram under koralene_frost.



SaikouCon 2015's list of Guests to date is as follows:

Guests of Honor:
RuffleButt Cosplay (Jessie Pridemore)
Leah Clark, Voice Actress

Featured Guests:
The Gamer's Edge Comics & Gaming
Sci-Fi Photo Guys
Hazel Dayze
Cosplay Burlesque

Musical Guests:
The Adarna
Mike P

Special Guest:
Koralene Cosplay

For more information on all of SaikouCon's Guests, visit www.saikoucon.com/guests-of-honor.html.

To Pre-Register as a guest of SaikouCon 2015 visit www.saikoucon.com/guest-registration.html and make sure to note the new designations for Teen and Adult badges to attend the convention, the new designations do away with the need for parental consent forms for SaikouCon guests under the age of 17. To book a room for SaikouCon Weekend 2015, call the Best Western Lehigh Valley Hotel Conference Center, SaikouCon's new home located at 300 Gateway Drive, Bethlehem PA 18017, at 1-888-222-8512 or 1-610-866-5800 and request a room in the SaikouCon block of rooms for the discounted rate! The Best Western is offering SaikouCon attendees a block of 50 rooms available until July 25, 2015 or until the block is booked solid. There will be limited overflow rooms available for booking after the Best Western block is filled at the Hampton Inn right next door to the Best Western. Amenities from both hotels are open to attendees that book sleeping rooms at either hotel including the Best Western's outdoor pool and the Hampton Inn's indoor pool as well as gym facilities at both hotels.

The convention will always feature some of the best live entertainment themed to Japanese culture and pop culture, as well as the best in J-Rock, J-Pop, and nerd/geek culture musical acts from all over the US and beyond.

All of this plus top creators, writers, artists, distributors, industry insiders, English dub and original Japanese voice talent, some of the best cosplay talent, shows, masquerades; and so much more!

To get the latest up-to-the-minute updates follow SaikouCon on http://www.saikoucon.com, http://facebook.com/SaikouCon, http://twitter.com/SaikouCon, http://saikoucon.tumblr.com, and SaikouCon's listing on animecons.com: http://animecons.com/events/info.shtml/5461/SaikouCon_2015.