Thirteen Reasons to Come to Otakon 2018

Washington, D.C. (August 1, 2018) – Still on the fence about coming to this year's Otakon? Ethan Kick, the head of Guest Relations, has put together a list of thirteen reasons this year's Otakon will be worth attending.

1) Come check out all the amazing Gundam content we have at Otakon for our Mecha year! Sunrise and Funimation have a ton of amazing panels including a "Gundam Iron-Blooded Orphans" Live Reading including Johnny Yung Bosch (Orga Itsuka), Kyle McCarley (Mikazuki Augus), Cherami Leigh (Kudelia), Robbie Daymond (Gaelio Bauduin), and Masaya Matsukaze (Gaelio Bauduin's Japanese Dub) which will be at noon in featured programming (Ballroom C)! We will also have a "Gundam Iron-Blooded Orphans" panel with Kyle and Johnny alongside two of the creators: Kanetake Ebikawa (mecha designer) and Tatsuyuki Nagai (director) at 3:15 p.m. in Panel 1 (Room 202). You can also see Nagai-san and Ebikawa-san at their own panels on Sunday at 10:15 a.m. and Friday at 5:45 p.m. respectively. Ask Nagai-san about his work on "Anohana, Toradora!" and his other works. If you ever wanted to pick the brain of one the biggest modern mech designers, you have the chance. Ebikawa-san is the mecha designer behind titles such as "Gundam Build Fighters" (including "Try," "Divers," "Try Island Wars" and "Battlogue"), "Eureka Seven," "Full Metal Panic!," "Gundam 00," "Gundam Age" and "Gundam Iron-Blooded Orphans," and Vandread. Make sure grab the autographs from all our guests that were in "Gundam Iron-Blooded Orphans" and "Thunderbolt." We have Kyle McCarley (Mikazuki Augus), Johnny Yong Bosch (Orga Itsuka), Cherami Leigh (Kudelia Aina Bernstein), Bryce Papenbrook (Eugene Seven Stark), Lucien Dodge (Norba Shino), Max Mittelman (Ein Dalton), Robbie Daymond (Gaelio Bauduin), Masaya Matsukaze (Gaelio Bauduin Japanese Dub), Erica Mendez (Cracker Griffon/Elgar), and Ray Chase (Rustal Elion) from "Gundam Iron-Blooded Orphans." If you are a "Gundam Thunderbolt" fan, we also have Max Mittelman (Io Fleming), Johnny Yong Bosch (Daryl Lorenz), Cherami Leigh (Claudia Peer), Ray Chase (Graham), and Todd Haberkorn (Layton.)

2) If giant robots aren't your jam, that's OK. Aniplex and Otakon are bringing you a "Persona 5" panel at noon in featured programming on Saturday. Come see part of the cast, including Max Mittelman (Ryuji Sakamoto), Cherami leigh (Makoto Niijima), Robbie Daymond (Goro Akechi), and Bryce Papenbrook (Mr. Hiruta.) Also, there may or may not be a giant feline friend at the Aniplex booth ready for photos and selfies!

3) Jumping from video game to video game, we have the awesome "Mystic Messenger" team joining us this year. Sujin Ri, the amazing and talented creator of "Mystic Messenger," is joining us from Seoul along with several other veteran and talented voice actors. Check out the voices of Yoosung (Kyuhyuck Shim), V (Ho San Yi), Ray (Soojin Kang), and 707 (Young Sun Kim). They'll be having a larger two-hour event from 2 to 4 p.m. in Panel 6 (Room 152). They also have an awesome booth where they'll be happy to meet you in the dealer's room.

4) If you come in early on Thursday, make sure to come and see our "Anime for All" event at the Library of Congress. There will be a screening of "Princess Kagura," a Ghibli concert, a panel with Kihara Hirokatsu, who worked at Studio Ghibli on many of your favorite movies, including: "Kiki's Delivery Service," "My Neighbor Totoro" and "Laputa: Castle in the Sky." Also, they will have displays of some incredible anime pieces in the library's collection. Finally, there will be a movie screening on the North Lawn. Also, since it's at the library, there is no price for admission! Lastly, they will also be at Otakon and have a panel on Saturday at 2 p.m., as well as a booth in the Dealers' Room in the Industry section.

5) Studio Trigger is also joining us this year. You may know them for their work on "Little Witch Academia." We have Masahiko Otsuka (director), Yoh Yoshinari (mecha designer, designer), and Naoko Tsutsumi (animation producer) with us. They have a quiz and trivia event with the team at 2 p.m. in Panel 5 (Room 151B). You can join them for a group Q&A, and they'll be doing a live drawing in Panel 1 (Room 202) on Saturday at 12:15 p.m. Also, they'd be happy to meet and sign autographs with you on Friday and Saturday.

6) Also, don't miss the incredibly talented Ray Chase, Max Mittelman, and Robbie Daymond as they have their energetic LAVA troupe events. They have "Lava After Dark" on Friday in Featured Programming (Ballroom C) from 10:15 p.m. -12:15 a.m. They also have "LAVA's Super Kawaii Happy Party Game Go Go Hyper Hangout Funtime." which is a more family- friendly event at 8 p.m. on Saturday in Featured Programming again (Ballroom C.)

7) If the forge or prop making is more your style, check out Man at Arms. Matt, Ilya, and Bill will all be there doing different things throughout the weekend. Ilya will be demonstrating etching and engraving in Featured Programming (Ballroom C.) On Saturday the guys will take you into an inside look at what goes on from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. in Featured Programming (Ballroom C.) Last, on Sunday you can see the guys and the gentlemen from Capital City Budokai demonstrate some of the weapons live in Panel 6 (Room 152) from 2 to 3 p.m. Also they will have a big booth down in Artist Alley all weekend where they will be happy to chat and sign autographs.

8) If you've ever wanted to turn your passion into a career, make sure to see Ollie Barder's amazing panels on mecha anime. Ollie writes for "Forbes" and has interviewed all the mecha giants and reviewed more models and toys than you can shake a stick at. He'll have a panel called “Bushido and Beamsabers: A Discussion on Japan's Unique Mecha Pop-Culture” on Friday at 3:15 p.m. in Panel 4 and "The Legacy of Ryosuke Takahashi: From BattleTech to Blue Comets" at 3:15 p.m. in Panel 4.

9) If your jam has always been "Macross" over "Gundam," then you'll be excited to know that Shoji Kawamori, the series creator and mecha designer, will be joining us this year. He'll have a set of panels at 3:15 p.m. in Panel 2 on Friday and 12:45 p.m. in Panel 2 on Saturday. He also has some lovely artwork he's drawn up that he'll be signing and giving away at his autograph sessions and panels. You may also know him from his work on "Aquarion," "Escaflowne," "Eureka Seven," "Ghost in the Shell," "Mobile Suit Gundam 0083," "Transformers" and "Outlaw Star."

10) We are excited to have SungWon Cho/ProZD and Mr.Creepy Pasta joining us this year. Both have made their home online as personalities and expanded to do voice work as well as broader comedy, entertainment, and production. You can see ProZD at 12:45 p.m. in Panel 3 on Friday and 11:30 a.m. in Panel 3 on Saturday. See how he'll rate your waifus and husbandos live and ask questions (just not how to pronounce his name!) You can also catch him at "Voice Actors After Dark" alongside Kyle McCarley, Cherami Leigh, Lucien Dodge and Erica Mendez. Mr. Creepy Pasta will have story times and other events at 3:15 p.m. in Panel 1 on Friday, 8:30 p.m. in Panel 1 on Friday, 7:15 p.m. in Panel 2 on Saturday, and 2 p.m. in Panel 1 on Sunday. They are excited to meet you all.

11) We are happy to have Serena DeJesus and Roxanne Modafferi showing us martial arts. Serena and Roxanne are best friends and training partners out of Syndicate MMA in Las Vegas, NV. Serena is the first pro MMA female fighter with autism, and Roxanne is a two- season "The Ultimate Fighter" contestant. They are both huge anime fans and have attended Otakon in their youth. Roxanne is known for wearing cosplays to her weigh-ins. Roxanne lived and taught English in Japan, where she also trained and fought professionally before returning to the USA to compete on "TUF 18." Throughout her life, she has trained in Taekwondo, Kenpo Karate, Judo, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and Muay Thai. Serena has trained in Taekwondo, Boxing, Muay Thai, Wrestling, and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Both women are instructors in BJJ. Both women are inspirations in a male-dominated sport. They will be doing demonstrations at 2 p.m. on Friday in Panel 7 (Room 146C) and 12:45 p.m. in Panel 2 (Room 207) as well as a panel at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday. Roxanne and Serena are excited to meet everyone and would be happy to sign autographs and take pictures.

12) Come check out the Premiere of "Hi Score Girl," a "90's arcade romantic comedy." Sixth- grader Haruo is a gamer in the true sense, hardly ever seeing the light of day from his local arcade. He runs into Akira, his female classmate with good grades, and money, at his favorite hangout. Akira completely "schools" Haruo game after game, and things go from there. What will come of this unlikely duo? You can see the first episode in Featured Programming (Ballroom C) at 2:30 p.m. with a small talk from Yuji Matsukura, the head producer at J.C. Staff. Matsukura-san worked on "Hi Score Girl," and you may know him from his work on “Food Wars!” and “Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?” You can talk to him about his experience and work on those titles and many more such as “Toradora!”, “Little Busters!”, or “The Familiar of Zero” at his panel at 4:15 p.m. in Panel 6 (Room 152). Also, you can see another premiere episode later in Video 3 (Room 146B) at 5:30 p.m. and ask him more questions and get some goodies from the team.

13) Don't forget to check out of the amazing voice talent from near and far, such as Todd Haberkorn and Nobutoshi Canna. You know Todd from "Fairy Tail," where he plays Natsu. Canna-san you may know best for his Japanese dub of "Guts from Berserk." You can see Canna-san and ask him about his time in the Japanese voice industry and his experience at 4:45 p.m. in Panel 5 (Room 151B) on Friday and 11:30 a.m. in Panel 4 (Room 151A) on Saturday. Todd will be chatting with all of you at 12:45 p.m. on Friday in Panel 1 (Room 202), 6 p.m. in Panel 2 (Room 207) on Saturday, and 11:30 a.m. in Panel 1 (Room 202) on Sunday.

Otakon 2018 will be held August 10-12, 2018 at the Walter Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C.

ABOUT OTAKON AND OTAKORP, INC.: Now entering its twenty-fifth year, Otakon is an annual celebration of Japanese and East Asian popular culture, and also one of the largest gatherings of fans in the United States. Otakon celebrates popular culture as a gateway to deeper understanding of Asian culture, and has grown along with the enthusiasm for anime, manga, video games, and music from the Far East. Historically, Otakon has drawn up to 34,000 people for three days each year (for a paid attendance of over 100,000 turnstile attendees). Otakon is a membership based convention sponsored by Otakorp, Inc., a Pennsylvania-based, 501(c)3 educational non-profit whose mission is to promote the appreciation of Asian culture, primarily through its media and entertainment. Otakorp, Inc. is directed by an all-volunteer, unpaid staff – we are run by fans, for fans.

For more information about Otakorp, Inc., see http://www.otakon.com/otakorp/index.asp
For more information and the latest news on Otakon 2017, see http://www.otakon.com/