Katsucon 18

Allkore is an America-based record label started in the early Spring of 2009 by DJ SBZ and DJ Melancholia with the aim of establishing a worldwide , all-inclusive label geared towards fans of the “J-Core”
scene of hardcore music. From the very beginning, Allkore’s goal has been to create enjoyable music that caters to the interests of their fanbase. Allkore’s releases showcase talent from across the globe and are often themed after specific elements of pop culture.

Stupid and Insane Defenders Against Chaos couldn’t happen without Harknell. He designed and manages all of Onezumi’s websites and prevents her from punching anyone. He also contributes a blog for the My Annoying Life comic. Onezumi’s webcomic gallery is Harknell’s custom-designed AWSOM Pixgallery. He is one of the key developers that makes the Webcomics Central App Service which gives free custom iPhone apps to webcomics and indie creators.

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Oni is one of the most active contributors to and supporter of the independent comics scene:

• She writes and draws Stupid and Insane Defenders Against Chaos: A Lovecraftian Horror Comedy.
• Her dev team made the Webcomics Central App Service. They give free custom iPhone apps to other webcomics.
• She founded an entire webcomics and New Media convention. Intervention is a convention for webcomics, fans, and creators who want to learn, have fun, or just geek out.
• She posts random art, more tutorials, and awesomeness in her personal blog Onezumiverse.
• She blogs about Nerd Culture for NJ.c

... Read more

Kiryu (桐龍) is a Japanese artist with a unique sound that moves beyond basic rock, exploring what an artist can do for music, instead of what music can do for an artist. With a distinctive style and keen awareness as a vocalist, Kiryu creates music that sets him apart from other musicians. Now focusing on his solo career with his self-described “sexy” music, his considerable experience and influences integrates many genres, from pop to rock and from electronic to hip-hop, and the result can be heard in his sound.

Robert V Aldrich – professional writer, accomplished speaker, and know-it-all extraordinaire – returns to Katsucon to give panels on a wide variety of anime and anime-related topics, as well as to promote his newest series, Epitaph For A Memory, and the final chapter of Crossworld II: Outcasts.

A recognized author in numerous mediums, RVA draws from a wide range of anime and Geek-Chic sources to present highly informative panels that are part-standup routine and part-multimedia experience

Christopher Ayres has been working professionally in theatre, television and film since the age of 6. His work has been seen Regionally, Nationally and on Broadway. He currently works as a voice actor for ADV FILMS and FUNimation ENTERTAINMENT.

Greg Ayres can usually be found rockin’ out somewhere, whether animated or not. From the loud-mouthed Hideki in Nerima Daikon Brothers, to Koyuki, singing with the the band in Beck:Mongolian Chop Squad, he’s always glad to shake things up a bit. He is thrilled to be able to include Aoi Miyoshi in Night Raid 1931, Naoi in Angel Beats, Kouta Tsuchiya in Baka and Test, Seikechi Tayama in Oh Edo Rocket, and Abe in Big Windup to his list of new roles.

Since 2001, Christopher Bevins has recorded, cast, directed, produced, acted in and/or adapted scripts for nearly 100 anime series, movies and specials.

Outside of anime, Chris’ interests include magic, crosswords and comic books… But mostly the comic books. In fact, his comics collection is old enough that it should’ve gotten a job and moved out of the house by now.

An ex-stage actor and failed Internet shut-in, T Campbell has written eighteen gazintillion pages of comics, won some awards and gotten high-flying writers to praise his work, so if you don’t love his series, it’s probably your own damn fault. Besides Guilded Age, his series include Quiltbag, Penny and Aggie, Fans, Rip and Teri, Widgetitis, Divalicious and Cool Cat Studio, plus about fourteen seconds’ worth of work for Marvel and Archie. He spends his “spare time” designing crosswords, dancing with the stars and seeking the Anti-Life Equation.

Danielle Corsetto is the creator of the hit webcomic “Girls With Slingshots,” a weekdaily strip about two girls, a bar, and a talking cactus.

She also created “The New Adventures of Bat Boy” for the Weekly World News, following the honorable Peter Bagge after his run on the strip.

This is Danielle’s second year exhibiting at Katsucon and she’s excited to return! Danielle hails from Shepherdstown, West Virginia, where she lives in a 230-year-old farmhouse with two cats, a goldfish, and a billion pounds of tea.

When The Clockwork Dolls emerged onto the Steampunk music scene back in 2007, their mission was simple: To create music that serves not only as a source of recreation, but as a storytelling vehicle as well. Utilizing epic orchestral music and operatic vocals, The Clockwork Dolls established their presence in Steampunk music early on and were considered one of the pioneering bands to labeled under the “Steampunk” genre, along with the Vernian Process, Abney Park, and the Unextraordinary Gentlemen.

Richard Epcar has voiced over 300 characters and is well known to fans starting with ‘ROBOTECH’ in which he played ‘BEN DIXON’, ‘LUNK’, ‘GREL’, and now ‘CAPT. VINCE GRANT’ in ‘ROBOTECH: THE SHADOW CHRONICLES’ , which he also directed.

He is the voice of ‘BATOU’ in all things ‘GHOST IN THE SHELL’.

Most recently he’s in a brand new series from Nickelodeon, ‘AVATAR: THE LEGEND OF KORRA’.

Birthed at Katsucon just four years ago after a group of crazed artists engaged in a round of special hugging, the self-described “Greatest Live Art Competition in the Known Universe” truly is unlike any other live event touring today. Super Art Fight is best described as a mixture of Pictionary and Pro-Wrestling, with larger than life personalities battling each other on the canvas, creating unbelievable art right before your eyes! No two shows are ever alike, so get ready for a once in a lifetime event!

Chris graduated from Radford University in 1991 with a graphic design and commercial illustration degree – which he put to use by being everything from a silk-screen illustrator, newspaper production artist and an advertising agency graphic designer. In between all of those gigs, he has continued to find work as a freelance illustrator and caricaturist.

They just say how professional he is as he lurks in modest internet fame, churning out captivating comics since 2004 in an artistic style that mystically abducts the essences of both western comics and eastern manga; blending them together through patent pending methods into an addictive drug that tantalizes the optic nerves in ways science has yet to be able to explain.

A native Texan and avid anime fan, Josh Grelle was raised on stage and in the art studios of Central Texas. He performed on stage at the Tin Building Theatre for over 15 years prior to starting work for ADV Films at the start of 2004. Since then he has acted/starred in over one hundred different titles and worked for such studios as ADV Films, FUNimation Entertainment, Okratron 5000, 48 Windows, Amusement Park Media, Warner Bros. Studios, and Seraphim Digital.

Yaya Han is a costume designer, model and cosplay entertainer with 12 years of experience. After discovering cosplay at her first con over a decade ago, she quickly absorbed the heart and soul of costume design and creation. To this day Yaya has made 200 (and counting) costumes in the genres of anime/manga, comic books, video games, sci-fi and of course from her own original designs. Her intricate and lavish creations have won many awards and acclaim world wide, and Yaya has been featured in a myriad of magazines, websites, and television programming.

Kyle Hebert is a Los Angeles-based anime and video game voice actor whose credits include Marvel Vs Capcom 3 (Ryu), Naruto (Kiba), Bleach (Aizen, Ganju), X Men Arcade (all male voices) and Gurren Lagann (Kamina). He is best known as the Narrator and Teen Gohan from Dragonball Z. Other notable roles include Soul Eater (Masamune), Ouran High School Host Club (Kazukiyo Soga), Fullmetal Alchemist (Vato Falman), Tales of Symphonia (Richter Abend) and Star Ocean (Dias, Arumat, Crow).

A longtime Professional Neckbeard, Phil Kahn has spent a few years writing for various Webcomic, Webcomic Criticism, and Webcomic Enthusiast sites, and is now trying to take his accumulated knowledge and put it all to good use on Guilded Age. While building a daytime career as an IT Support Specialist and Pokémon Trainer, he also spends a great deal of time practicing silly voices/faces in front of a mirror for the inevitable day where the only thing that can save the whole of humanity from certain doom is his impression of Henchman #24

The husband and wife team of Daniel and Jillian Coglan are full-time martial art instructors, specializing in 16th century Samurai arts. When not teaching at their dojo, the Kojokan, they travel the United States performing and teaching the ancient ways of the most famous warriors in history.

With a combined 35 years of experience, their show is a unique blend of history, combative skill, and humor, designed to educate and entertain audiences both large and small.

Linda Le has always been a dreamer since she was a small girl. Paint brushes and her Mom’s sewing machines always made their presence known around her old house in Oklahoma. Blaring in the background would be Transformers, GI Joe, Rainbow Brite, and He-Man. Toys filled her room as well as NES video games stacked ready to play. She was born an Otaku with her brothers, and enjoys Metal music.

A passion for video games, comics, and anime introduced Meagan Marie to the world of cosplay – a hobby she’s indulged in fully for the last five years. Her modeling background lends itself to a keen eye for set design, and parings with phenomenal photographers have aided in producing several recreations well-known within the cosplay community. A strong focus on prop making and armor fabrication has landed Meagan features in international gaming magazines, Otacool, CosMode, Kotaku, USA Today, and more.

Izumi Matsumoto is a popular Japanese comic writer and creator. He is well known for the “Kimagure Orange ★ Road” series, which he begun writing in 1984. Featuring a teenage boy with supernatural powers and adolescent girls, this school romance comedy with a love triangle became one of the mega-hits in the Japanese comic industry. “Kimagure Orange ★ Road” was later adapted to a TV animation series, a novel and a radio drama during the 80s and 90s and has been adored by both the comic and anime communities.

Randy Milholland has been drawing the webcomic Something*Positive since 2001 and making people uncomfortable even longer. Ask him nicely and he’ll draw a free fast sketch for you. His hobbies include cooking, hiding acorns, and forgetting to write bios and making poor, unfortunate con staff members miserable.

Kazuha Oda started the band Kazha after her successful solo career, releasing several albums in Japan, working with a wide variety of different performers including the Grammy winning pianist Bob James.

Kazha released their first EP “Breathe Through Your Dreams” from major Japanese label Victor Entertainment in September 2009. With the release of their first full-length album “Overture” in April 2010, Kazha made their first National tour in North America and South America.

Because of the eclectic backgrounds of Oda, Kazha represents the new future of the world music; a fusion of cultures and musical viewpoints that create their sound... Read more

Symphonic Anime Orchestra (SAO) is run by a team of four people who bring together the worlds of Anime and Classical music through large ensembles, chamber music and panels. SAO plays gripping background music, peppy opening and ending themes, videogame music and heart felt Jrock.
SAO is made up of dedicated anime fans of all ages who enjoy music. If you play an instrument, you can play with us at KatsuCon

Stan Sakai was born in Kyoto, Japan, raised in Hawaii, and currently lives in Southern California. His creation, Usagi Yojimbo the samurai rabbit, was first published in 1984. Since then, Usagi has been on television, as a guest of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and has been made into toys, statues, seen on clothing, and featured in a series of graphic novels. His latest, Usagi Yojimbo Book 25: Fox Hunt, was published in July, 2011.

Jan worked in the animation (anime) industry in Japan for almost 14 years. She attended animation school and later went on to work at a number of studios in including Artland, Production IG and Atelier BWCA on shows including RikiOh 2,Locke the Superman (OVA), Shurato (OVA), Bubblegum Crash (OVA) and Tottoi(feature). She become an expert in many different aspects of animation production, such as cel painting, animating, backgrounds, camera and directing.

ELLYN began in voice work, 30 years ago and has voiced hundreds of animated with the original ‘Robotech’ series- in which she played several characters. Most recently: GUNDHAM UNICORN: (series regular) Martha, TRUE CRIMES HONG KONG: Dorothy.

Nurtured on anime classics from the tender age of Star Blazers, et al, this reclusive fanboy-turned-voice actor/writer/ADR director/flake extraordinaire spent more years than he cares to remember in what might charitably be described as freefall before landing, mostly by accident, smack dab on the industry of his dreams. To this day, some believe the small crater made by the impact remains the source of his power.

The Geek Comedy Tour is a collective of the funniest stand-up comedians from the Washington DC area. Each one is an experienced comic, having performed at bars, clubs, and colleges all over the East Coast. Telling their normal jokes to normal audiences but all of that was about to change.

There was something amiss. For you see, they were all gigantic dorks, and comedy club crowds don’t fully appreciate jokes about comic books, anime, and video games. So, they’ve decided to let their freak flag fly, form together, and bring their geek jokes to the horde that needs them most.

While still a young college student and part-time hacker in 1998, Steve got his first job at an anime company as a digital animator. It was a dream come true for any fan who grew up on anime to be working somewhere in the industry. After slaving away through 80 hour work weeks and one really bad 100 hour work week where he started hallucinating from being awake too long, Steve called it quits and went back to Riverside where he got his B.A. in Creative Writing. Stay in school, kids!