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John Gremillion is a stage, film, and voice actor who has been working in anime for over 20 years. He has provided voices for dozens of popular anime titles for ADV, FUNimation, Okratron 5000, and Sentai Filmworks. John’s most popular roles include Dracule Mihawk in One Piece, “D” in Sentai’s re-dub of Vampire Hunter D (Nominated for BTVA’s Best Male Lead Vocal Performance in an Anime Feature Film, 2015), Roland Chapelle in Food Wars, and Law in Fullmetal Alchemist.

 

Other popular roles include Arthur Randall in Black Butler, Takeshi Hirokawa in Parasyte: The Maxim, General Liver in Akame Ga Kill!, Hakuoro in Utawarerumono, Inuyama in Air Gear, Daiju Mononobe in Eden of the East, Nobuteru Irihata in Haikyu!, Muroga Hyouma in Baselisk, Cardinal Francesco in Trinity Blood, Albedo Piazzolla in Xenosaga, Schawanheld Bulge in Galaxy Railways, Fal (The Duel) in Halo Legends, Yutaka Takenouchi in Cromartie High School, Dr. Kestner in Appleseed Ex Machina, and Makoto Shinjou in Area 88. John has played supporting roles in such titles as Spriggan, Summer Wars, Devil Survivor 2, Phi Brain, Five Numbers!, Devil May Cry, Darker than Black, Coyote Ragtime Show, Speed Grapher, Full Metal Panic!, Peacemaker, Desert Punk, Gilgamesh, Gantz, D.N. Angel, Chrono Crusade, Saiyuki, Princess Nine and Gasraki, and many others. 

 

A professional video editor for over 20 years, John worked on the supplemental materials for the ADV Films 2010 release of Halo Legends and FUNimation’s release of Assassination Classroom Vol 2.  In addition to anime, John has provided voice-over for several commercials and some feature films. He studied film at The University of Texas at Austin and Theatre Arts at The Juilliard School.

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Andi Serpenti is an Ohio-based professional pet groomer and has been cosplaying since 2015, however, her love for nerd culture and animals has been in her heart since she was a little girl. A great lover of books and true crime, in her downtime she can usually be found reading or listening to a podcast or audiobook. This combined with her favorite childhood tv shows such as Pokemon, Inuyasha, Batman the Animated Series, and Xena Warrior Princess would later become inspirations for many of her future cosplays.

Andi aims for extreme detail with all of her cosplays and often adds her own little touches to the characters she chooses to portray. It is this attention to detail and natural charm she uses while portraying a character that has not only earned her the praise of many but led her to winning costume contests as well as being featured in several mediums in various cosplay-related articles online and syndicated television. A self-professed perfectionist, Andi pours everything she has into her art- from fabrication and styling to learning about working with new mediums and techniques. She credits her attention to detail, especially when styling wigs to her day job as a professional pet groomer.

A firm believer that everyone is beautiful inside and out and that there is no wrong way to cosplay, Andi hopes to help inspire people from all walks of life to cosplay, just as she was inspired by others in the cosplay community. Taking a cue from one of her favorite musicals, ‘ The Rocky Horror Picture Show’, Andi’s message to those who want to cosplay but may be hesitant to do so is, “Don’t dream it, Be it.”

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Woah there, tiger! You’re planning on coming to Ohayocon and you don’t even have your room situation figured out? Let’s fix that right now! This year Ohayocon is partnering with 3 fantastic options to help you get the most out of the time you don’t spend in the dealer’s room, at a workshop, meeting guests, or cutting loose on the dance floor. See your options and find the best snooze cage for you and all your best friends  a reasonable number of your buddies to crash at by clicking here!

The Hyatt Regency Columbus

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Helen McCarthy was first introduced to anime and manga in 1981. With no reference books in the English language on Japanese animation, she started to research an introductory guide using French, Italian, Spanish, and Asian sources. Since there was no awareness of Japanese pop culture in Britain, it took her over a decade to find a publisher for Anime! A Beginners Guide To Japanese Animation.

In 1991, still seeking a publisher, Helen co-founded the UK’s first professional anime magazine, Anime UK. The magazine won an international reputation – it was even on sale in Japan – and helped to create the market for her first book. She later edited Manga Mania magazine and has written over 100 articles for European, American, Japanese, and online publications, from Super Play magazine and Kyoto Journal to the Daily Telegraph Online. She’s delighted that other writers, designers, and artists started their professional careers on her magazines.

Since then, Helen has written a dozen more books, including works on anime and manga superstars Hayao Miyazaki, Osamu Tezuka, and Leiji Matsumoto. She is co-author of The Anime Encyclopedia, considered the pre-eminent research guide to the medium. She has also contributed to numerous academic works, and written more playful material – a manga cross-stitch guide, two how-to books on drawing, and the shortest, most picture-packed, and most colorful history of manga on the market. Her work has been published in eight languages including Japanese, Chinese, and Korean, and has won several international awards. 

After more than a decade of researching the history of cosplay from its earliest times to its explosion as a Japanese-inspired global contemporary art, Helen’s newest research interest is the history of British anime and manga fanzines. She loves their punk energy and diversity. 

She’s also been talking to audiences all over the UK about the art history of Studio Ghibli. What were the influences, were the influences, artistic, literary, industrial, political, and personal, out of which the studio’s unique style arose? Ohayocon will be the first US convention to experience this presentation.

Before the pandemic, Helen curated and presented a number of film seasons, and spoke at venues all over the world, ranging from public libraries and universities to exhibitions including the British Museum’s 2009/10 and 2015 manga exhibits and their 2019 blockbuster exhibition Manga! She loves introducing anime and manga to audiences of all ages, and during the pandemic, she presented to audiences online. She intends to continue working virtually, because it enables those who can’t be at an event to share in the excitement of anime and manga, but is delighted to be back to presenting in person.

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Legendary Actor RICHARD EPCAR – Gamepur’s VOICE ACTOR OF THE YEAR is one of the hardest working men in show business, has voiced over 1,200 characters in Games, Animation and Anime.

Best known as:
RAIDEN in MORTAL KOMBAT, The JOKER in several Batman games including INJUSTICE: GODS AMONG US (Fighting Game of the Year!) and MORTAL KOMBAT 11 (Fighting Game of the Year!) ANSEM in KINGDOM HEARTS, JOSEPH JOESTAR in JOJO’S BIZARRE ADVENTURE, BATOU in GHOST IN THE SHELL, JIGEN in LUPIN the THIRD, AKUMA in STREET FIGHTER V, YHWACH the Quincy King in BLEACH: The Thousand-Year Blood War!, SANDMAN in MARVEL ULTIMATE ALLIANCE 3, and The BRIGADIER GENERAL in DAEMON X MACHINA!
Voted one of the Top 20 Video Game Voice Actors of all Time and Top 20 Anime Actors of all time by IMDB! And Gamepur’s Top Ten Video Game Voice Actors of all time! Starting out in ROBOTECH, you’ve heard him in LEGEND OF KORRA, LUPIN THE THIRD, BATMAN UNLIMITED, BLEACH, BOBOBO-BOBOBO, ONE PUNCH MAN, MEGLOBOX, POKEMON GENERATIONS as Giovanni, & POKEMON MASTERS, DRAGON BALL SUPER, BERSERK, BACK STREET GIRLS, DURARARA, SIRIUS THE JAEGER, DIVE OLLY DIVE, MARVEL DISK WARS, GORMITI, COPPELION, PATEMA INVERTED, PEABODY & SHERMAN, ASTERIK WAR, BLOOD LAD, MONSTER, NARUTO, TRANSFORMERS, KENSHIN, SAO II, GTO, A LULL IN THE SEA, STITCH & AI, HUNTERXHUNTER, GUNDAM, MACROSS, DC SUPER FRIENDS, CYBER SOLIDER 009, LUCKY STAR, DIGIMON, 7 DEADLY SINS, X-MEN, GUNDAM UNICORN, BABYLON 5, DETECTIVE CONAN and POWER RANGERS to name a few!

He’s also in tons of games including:
SKYRIM, WARHAMMER, GRANBLUE, BLADE 2, LINEAGE 2, ELEX 2, OVERSTRIKE, BRAVELY DEFAULT, FINAL FANTASY as Gaius and Ilberd, SAINTS ROW, MAFIA III, ARKHAM ORIGINS, PERSONA 5, INFINITE CRISIS as the Joker, CALL OF DUTY- ADVANCED WARFARE, MAD MAX, FIRE EMBLEM: AWAKENING as Walhart, MK vs. D.C. UNIVERSE as the Joker and Raiden, STARGATE SG-1 as Gen. Hammond, CALL OF DUTY- BLACK OPS, STAR WARS: EMPIRE AT WAR, STAR WARS: OLD REPUBLIC, TRANSFORMERS, MONSTER HUNTER WORLD, X-COM, COMMAND & CONQUER, DEAD OR ALIVE 3-D, STARCRAFT as Dark Templar, DEAD SPACE, XENOSAGA as Ziggy, MARVEL HEROS, WORLD OF WARCRAFT, SMITE, SPEC OPS, LEAGUE OF LEGENDS as Xin Zhao, NARUTO, COWBOY BEBOP, SAMURAI WARRIORS, BLUE DRAGON, STAR OCEAN, XENOSAGA, SPLINTER CELL, GUILTY GEARS, .HACK, MEDAL OF HONOR, GHOST RECON, BATON KAITOS ORIGINS, SPACE SEIGE, SPEC-OPS, BAYONETTA, SOULCALIBUR VI, CATHERINE, TEKKEN, ACE COMBAT, MODNATION RACERS, and RESIDENT EVIL.

RICHARD has voice-directed many games including:
ARKHAM ORIGINS, DEAD ISLAND: RIPTIDE, BLUE DRAGON, SHADOW HEARTS II, STAR OCEAN 2, 3, ASTELLIA, GIGANTIC X, ENEMY TERRITORY QUAKE WARS, UNREAL TOURNAMENT 3, JACKASS THE GAME, SMACKDOWN VS. RAW, and DEAD HEAD FRED

voice directed many shows including:
GHOST IN THE SHELL 2, ROBOTECH: SHADOW CHRONICLES, ALMOST HEROES, JUNGLE SHUFFLE, THE REEF, MONCHICHI, GRAND MASTER, NOEIN, DIGIMON, LUPIN THE III, GLITCH, FIGHTING SPIRIT, PATLABOR 3, ZENTRIX, AZUMI I & II, FEARLESS, BETTY BLUE, IRON MONKEY, VR TROOPERS, POWER RANGERS, UGLY BETTY WEBISODES, and OLD BOY to name a few.

He has voice acted in several big films including DEADPOOL 1 & 2, WARCRAFT, PLANET OF THE APES, X-MEN: FIRST CLASS,
CAPTAIN AMERICA: WINTER SOLDIER and RESIDENT EVIL 3 to name just a few.

On Camera, Richard has appeared in many shows, including: WAREHOUSE 13, MEMOIRS OF AN INVISIBLE MAN, COLUMBO, DIAGNOSIS MURDER, MATLOCK, CHEERS, DAYS OF OUR LIVES, GENERAL HOSPITAL, and a lead in the film ALTERED SPIRITS.
richardepcar.com
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Samantha Inoue Harte is a US Representative and Producer for Japanese anime studio GONZO K.K., which is best known for their work on Hellsing, Afro Samurai, Basilisk, Samurai7, Witchblade, Last Exile, and 80 other titles. GONZO also provides animation production support on shows including: Invincible, Attack on Titan, My Hero Academia, One Piece, and One Punch Man and support to feature films including: Your Name, Redline, Evangelion 2.0, Batman: Gotham Knight, and to Studio Ghibli on films such as: Howl’s Moving Castle, Ponyo on the Cliff By the Sea, Tales from Earthsea, The Secret World of Arrietty and From Up On Poppy Hill. As a creator and producer, Samantha oversees the production of new anime, her work often includes: character design, budgeting, production scheduling, story development, scriptwriting, pitch deck development, animation production oversight, etc. She started her film career as a director’s assistant in 1997 at an animation studio in Texas where she did: cleanup, rough, keyframe, storyboards, and layouts on the King of the Hill pitch animation, Fox Animation’s Anastasia and Titan AE, for Dreamworks on projects including Prince Of Egypt, Spirit Stallion of the Cimarron, Disney’s Lilo & Stitch 2, Adam Sandler’s Eight Crazy Nights, and on Clerks Concurrent to being an animator, Samantha works as an actress and casting director in over 40 various Japanese anime dubbed into English and acted in various anime including: Gatchaman, Final Fantasy Unlimited, Trinity Blood, Negina, FairyTail, and Sakura Wars. She also became well known for her videogame voice work in games such as Wasteland 3, World of Warcraft, Pirate101, DC Comics’ DC Universe Online. Acting in videogames and anime, as well as being an animator, lead Samantha to be a “regular” for Mike Judges and for Robert Rodriguez in many of Troublemaker Studios features as both an actress and VFX artist. Her work can be seen in Alita Battle Angel, Predators, Sin City, Grindhouse: Planet Terror, Grind House: Death Proof, Idiocracy, Office Space, and Spy Kids Armageddon. Samantha’s reputation in the anime industry has lead companies such as Titmouse (on The Boys: Diabolical), Nickelodeon, and Disney to have Samantha act as consultant and writer on their Japanese anime productions

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A bisexually lit version of the classic OHAYOCON logo with vertical CRTV lines.

 

Ohayocon was founded in 2001 and has gone on to become the largest and most beloved Japanese culture and anime convention in the state of Ohio. What is unique and wholly special about Ohayocon is its makeup of passionate fans who come together to create not only a magical weekend with memories that are cherished for a lifetime but a community that is a welcoming safe space for all. Even just saying the name “Ohayocon” to anyone who has ever attended, elicits immediate mental images of stunning costumes, engaging panels, competitive gaming tournaments, vibrant screenings, hallways overflowing with smiles and laughter, and chosen family.

Ohayocon returned in person to Columbus, Ohio in 2022 and while it was a successful event in many regards, it was not without a myriad of challenges. As fandom saw conventions throughout North America cease operations, Ohayocon president Melissa Phelps sought a way to ensure that the beloved annual gathering could grow and thrive for decades to come even after she passed the baton. To do so, Ohayocon has made the transition from being a for-profit single weekend convention to a year-round non-profit entity known as the Cultural Exchange Society, Inc (CESI). Very little will change for the attendees of Ohayocon, but for the organization and convention as a whole the changes will be overwhelmingly positive! It will allow for the organization to receive grants to strengthen offerings, have sponsors and donors to support the mission, and to engage our community to keep that Ohayocon feeling going all year long.

Since the beginning, the backbone of Ohayocon has always been our volunteers, an ever-evolving group of experts and enthusiasts who come together to provide an exceptional experience for all of Ohayocon. We simply could not and would not be Ohayocon without them. Yet for too long, Ohayocon has overworked and underappreciated some of our most loyal volunteers simply due to the sheer volume of tasks and responsibilities. With the shift to a nonprofit status, CESI is elated that we will be able to bring on full time and seasonal staff that are paid and valued, independent contractors, provide stipends to key Senior Leadership Team volunteers, in addition to offering all of our phenomenal volunteers the perks and accommodations that they know and love to ensure that all of their time, talent, and treasure is valued.

In this exciting transition, CESI has planned to retire three unpaid positions and bring on an Executive Director, Convention Director, Attendee Experience Manager, and Volunteer Coordinator to ensure the convention’s continued success and CESI’s growth to a year-round institution. Any and all Ohayocon volunteers are encouraged to apply for these positions when they are posted to our website later this month. To aid in the transition and allow better board oversight, Melissa Phelps will be stepping down from the board and stepping into CESI’s first ever Executive Director role, allowing her to better pass the baton to the next generation of Ohayocon staff. While this position will provide direct support to CESI’s premiere program Ohayocon, the Executive Director will be primarily tasked with the year-round success of CESI beyond the annual convention.

Contrary to misinformation swirling online, NO volunteers or members of the Senior Leadership Team have been fired from Ohayocon and only three positions have been dissolved in the organizational chart shift. All past volunteers are invited to return for 2024, as Ohayocon would simply cease to exist without them. While CESI would love its Ohayocon volunteers to have the ability to unionize, National and Ohio State Labor Laws prevent unpaid volunteers of any kind from forming a union. As such, no Ohayocon union has ever or could ever exist, and no “union busting” has or even could take place. CESI encourages its volunteers to communicate to them all of their needs, wants, hopes, dreams, fears, and aspirations through individual correspondance or collective bargaining. Additional rumors of a “hostile takeover” from Phelps are not only untrue, but impossible as Phelps was and has been in charge of the event and cannot take it over from herself. As planned, Phelps has stepped down from the CESI Board of Directors to allow for greater oversight and organizational stewardship. To fill the board seat vacated by Phelps, CESI will be holding an election wherein volunteers will be able to elect representation to join the professionals on the Board of Directors to allow greater integration and transparency. CESI encourages all interested volunteers to stay tuned to our website for more details this month.

While those fabrications are simply not based in any reality, there is a rumor online that contains some truths, and that is regarding the Ohayocon logo. A well meaning volunteer, concerned with the similarities with Ohayocon’s longtime cross artwork and its similarities to that of the Red Cross, submitted our logo to them for review. The Red Cross determined that the logo was in fact too close to their trademarked Red Cross Emblem. As such, an agreement was made with the Red Cross in April of 2023 to shift Ohayocon’s logo’s color to shade of blue to avoid any further issues. Since then, a cyberpunk theme was proposed for Ohayocon 2024, and our longtime artists and designers at Studio Capsule set out to craft new annual art and a refreshed logo. A different well meaning volunteer crafted their own logo in the meantime and despite being instructed not to be the CESI Board of Directors, asked for approval from their peers and began posting it online. Unfortunately their wonderful design bares too close a resemblance to the logo of Sakura Color Products and its use would open CESI up to a potential second logo lawsuit in less than a year. Out of respect for Sakura of America and their 100+ year history, we must kindly ask that the interim sakura blossom logo be not used moving forward.

Ohayocon 2024 will take place January 19-21, 2024 at the Hyatt Regency Columbus & Greater Columbus Convention Center. This will be the second Ohayocon presented by parent organization CESI and our first with paid and valued staff in addition to our phenomenal volunteers who will continue to receive the perks and accommodations that they know and love and then some to ensure that all of their time, talent, and treasure is valued. We invite back tens of thousands of attendees and hundreds of volunteers to continue to form this remarkable convention and join us in not only spreading the joy of japanese culture and anime to Columbus, Ohio and beyond, but being a part of a decades old community of artists and enthusiasts, gamers and geeks, fans and funseekers, masqueraders and music lovers, and above all else passionate persons. Ohayocon is for everyone and CESI will continue to work with all of our dedicated volunteers to ensure that it is around for decades to come.