Japanese animation otherwise known as anime, is growing in population. Many people enjoy watching it as well as reading Japanese manga. In different cities across the nation are anime conventions throughout the year. Some are smaller while others draw in crowds by the thousands. The basic happenings at an anime convention are panels, workshops, a dealer’s room, artists alley (were artists can sell their work), guests such as voice actors or musicians, some have a game room and a video room to watch videos. There are some that even have a manga library where you can read some manga while you are at the convention. No matter the convention you are at, there is bound to be something that attracts your attention. Many people also cos-play while they go to the conventions and participate in a hall cos-play: a cos-play contest and possibly a fashion show.
Pittsburgh is one of those cities that host a large anime convention: Tekkoshocon, Tekko for short. Tekko is normally held in either March or April. This year it is being held March 21-25 at the Wyndam Grand Hotel in Pittsburgh. The price for a general badge which allows you into the convention and the opportunity to meet the guests, or go to panels, dealer’s room and more, is 50 dollars at the door, if you pre-register before February 29th, it is 45 dollars. The premium badge which has special privileges such as getting into the dealers room half hour before it opens and priority admission into the concerts and guest autographs, is priced for 70 dollars before February 29th. It is not available at the door. Those attending the convention have the opportunity to stay in the hotel for the convenience of being able to go back to your room whenever you want. If you don’t want to stay at the hotel there are plenty of hotels in the area where you can stay.
Thus far the convention has David J Fielding, who is most known as the face and voice of Zordon; the villain from the Mighty Morphing Power Rangers. The musical guest they have so far is exist†trace which is one of the first all-female bands in Japan. Other events that Tekko will have include the masquerade, the dance competition, hall cos-play, and the Saturday Night Dance. Many people will be hosting panels on various different subjects. There is not a schedule of the panels and guest posted as of yet due to the fact that Tekkoshocon is still a month and a half away. Tekko is an amazing convention filled with entertaining panels and guests. If you cannot find a guest you would like to meet there are panels everyone can enjoy or multiple games you can play in the game room even videos to watch of popular anime.
One of the downfalls to Tekko is that the hotel it is hosted in is small and there is somewhat of a fight to get into the elevators. Many guests tend to just use the stairs when returning to their rooms. One of the times when the hotel will become very crowded in one area is after the masquerade when people are leaving the same room all at once. Tekko is a great convention to meet new friends and get acquainted with the voice actors we all love and admire. Along with Tekkoshocon, Pittsburgh also has two smaller conventions: The Sangawa Project and Kurokiiro Festival. Sangawa Project is held July 13-15 at the Best Western Parkway Center Inn. This convention is an 18 and over convention, 2012 will be the third year that Sangawa will be held. There will be humorous panels about Saturday morning cartoons, cult movies, and the goofier part of fandom. The difference with this convention is that the panels and guests lectures are more adult oriented with adult themes and language. At the door registration for Sangawa is 35 dollars, pre-registration until June is 30 dollars, and until March it is 25 dollars. The price is one of the things that bring attendees to Sangawa.
The other convention that Pittsburgh plays host to is Kurokirro Festival. The date for this convention is still to be determined. It is generally held in late November at the Boyd Community Center in Pittsburgh. This is another smaller convention is Pittsburgh. It was started as a pre-convention to Tekko, to help people get their convention fix 6 months before Tekko is officially held. At Kurokiiro Festival you can learn how to do popular Japanese dances we all enjoy watching, or get started making costumes of your own if you have a passion for design and sewing. Kurokiiro Festival was founded in 2009 as an convention built around education. That is what Kurokiiro panels are built around: teaching attendees various things like cooking for a bento box.
Pennsylvania has a few conventions throughout the year, not just the three that Pittsburgh hosts. Philadelphia hosts Zenkaikon at the Great Philadelphia Expo Center. This year Zenkaikon has guests like comedian Uncle Yo, martial artists Pa Jedi, and musical guests The Asterplace. They even have a LARP competition as well as Karaoke. They are considering having cos-play chess. This is where two team battle it out with human chess pieces. It plays out much like Wizards chess in the Harry Potter films. This would be something worth watching. State College plays host to Setsucon in January. This year it was held January 28-29. It was a great convention. It is a smaller convention but the guests are wonderful and the panels were entertaining. The artists alley and dealers room had plenty of things to appeal to the attendees.
Pennsylvania plays host to wonderful anime conventions. People from all around the area come to attend these conventions. As each year progresses the conventions get bigger and bigger. If you are looking for an anime convention that will entertain you and help you meet new people come to Pennsylvania and check out our wonderful conventions.