A-Kon is bringing cosplay, gaming, concerts to Fort Worth
June 7,2017
Reposted from Fort Worth Business Press
By Linda Kessler
Downtown Fort Worth will be home to some characters this week as a convention focused on anime, gaming, Japanese pop culture and cosplay draws fans to the Fort Worth Convention Center.
A-Kon will run June 8-11. The 28th annual convention brings with it more than 25,000 anime, gaming, Japanese pop culture and cosplay fans. It is North America’s longest-running and second largest anime convention.
According to the Fort Worth Convention and Visitors Bureau, with more than 25,000 people expected to attend the convention is anticipated to have a $15,652,290 and 16,696 hotel room night impact on the city.
Anime is a style of Japanese hand-drawn or computer animation and cosplay is a word that comes from "costume play" and usually refers to the act of dressing up as a fictional character.
Seasoned A-Kon attendee 23-year-old Sterling Vick of Denton has been both cosplaying and attending A-Kon since 2009.
Though he’s not cosplaying this time, Vick will be attending A-Kon for his ninth year.
“I attend A-Kon primarily for the social aspect. It's fun meeting new people and I've made a lot of friends through the convention. I just hope A-Kon continues to thrive and I'm excited to see how this new venue is for the convention,” he said.
“A-Kon has been a majority positive experience for me. It's always fun and my only issues are with the lack of space and staff for the massively increased size of the convention. I do feel every year they improve upon at least one aspect at a time to make quality of life at the convention a little better.”
This is the first year the convention will be held in Fort Worth, having previously been hosted in Dallas since 1989. Among other things, the convention includes cosplay, TV and movie screenings with panels featuring voice actors and directors, concerts by Japanese and SteamPunk bands and martial arts demonstrations.
Brandan Haag, a visual art studies senior at the University of North Texas, has been cosplaying for about six years and attended A-Kon for the first time in 2016. Haag added that he isn’t sure about the Fort Worth change.
“I'm a little frustrated with the venue change because the convention is now spread over four different locations compared to one single one, like it has been,” he said.
But despite any geographic concerns, Haag is excited for the opportunity to see friends and show off his cosplay, though he hasn’t completed his costumes for this year’s convention quite yet.
“I'm cosplaying YorHa 2B from Nier Automata, Super Sonico from Nitro+, and Lucoa from Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid,” he said. “I chose these costumes because I like the character designs and the series they were from and I thought it would be fun to represent the character. I haven't finished them yet but it's taken me about two weeks start to finish.”
New to A-Kon but not to cosplay is 18-year-old RB Doran and soon to be a UNT fashion design freshman. Doran is a freelance costume worker and has been cosplaying for around six years.
“I've been wanting to go to Akon for years now, but have only had the chance to as of now. It's a very big con and I think it's a great and fun way to meet new people and see all of the art and cosplays people bring,” he said.
“I'm expecting to see new faces and new content that a different con has to offer. I also have different standards since this con has been around for much longer and is much more reputable than other conventions I’ve been to.”
Doran is attending A-Kon in various cosplays such as the characters Junkrat and Mccree from the video game Overwatch.
“I've chosen these characters because they are fun to portray and are some of my favorites from the game,” he said. “I've probably clocked about ten to fifteen hours on all of my costumes combined for this year, which is substantially less than others I have made in the past, which have taken me around 50 or more hours to complete.”
But cosplay isn’t all A-Kon has to offer.
A-Kon announced that this year’s convention will also include seven featured guests:
* OXT, a digital rock band known for creating theme songs for popular anime
* Atelier Perriot – J-Fashion, a Gothic Lolita brand est. 1978
* Christopher Sabat, a director and voice actor, best known for his roles in Dragon Ball Z
* HEAVYGRINDER, a metal, electronica and Japanese rock-pop duo
* J. Michael Tatum, a voice actor known for his roles in many popular anime
* Matthew Mercer, a voice actor best known for his roles in video games like Resident Evil
* Pentagon Japan, a visual alternative metal and rock Kei band
* Rachel Robinson, a voice actor whose roles range from video games and anime to animation national commercials
* Vic Mignonga, a voice actor for more than 300 animated series and video games
A-Kon is also hosting several featured events from concerts by featured guests to their new Cosplay Museum – which has been curated by the Texas-based cosplay group, Southern Cospitality – and an “escape the room” experience called Neko Squared’s Yandere Escape. Additionally, they will be holding a cosplay contest, a masquerade ball themed Masquerade on Ice and will feature a maid and host club called the Neko Neko Maid Café.
The convention also supports a charity initiative each year. The 2017 A-Kon Charity Initiative is the Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children. Attendees can contribute to the initiative through buying a Charity FastPass – the Fast Pass will feature custom artwork and allow priority access for autographs and priority admittance to converts, the J-Fashion Show, Cosplay Contest and Masquerade Ball – or purchasing a ticket for the Banquet with the Stars, which will feature special guests and prize giveaways. Additionally, attendees are able to be “arrested” to serve time at the Sky Marshal’s Charity Jail & Bail for $1/minute