A huge flurry of talent is headed our way this January! We want to extend a warm welcome to Ellyn Stern, Caleb Hyles, Kiba Walker, and Knightmage! Click through to read their full bios!
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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!
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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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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.
Hello everyone and welcome to September! We’re excited to give you all a number of updates!
We are proud to announce our official new logo!
Did you know there are Cherry Blossoms that bloom in the wintertime? This modern design symbolizes traditional Japanese culture and the spirit of rebirth — just like Ohayocon, your signifier of a whole new year of convention fun! Join us as we embrace this exciting change and look forward to 2024 and beyond!
Ohayocon 24 Guest Announcements!
Check out our newly announced fan guests, voice actors and industry speakers who will be attending Ohayocon 24!
Indie Gaming Showcase Applications are Open!
If you’re interested in applying, please visit our Indie Gaming Showcase Exhibitor page for more information.
Upcoming Deadlines:
Panel applications close 10/31/23 — apply here
New Volunteer Applications close 12/31/23 — apply here
We’re less than half a year from Ohayocon 24 and we are SO excited! Check out our newest updates about Ohayocon 24 below:
Be on the lookout for more updates from us soon!
We at Ohayocon are pleased to provide important updates to our mask and vaccination policies for our upcoming event. As the COVID-19 situation evolves and vaccination rates increase, Ohayocon has decided to remove both the mask mandate and vaccination requirement for all attendees. We strongly encourage all participants who are able to get vaccinated to prioritize the safety and well-being of our community.
With the removal of the mask mandate, attendees will have the freedom to choose whether to wear masks or not. While masks will not be obligatory, we wholeheartedly recommend continued usage as a responsible precaution. While we’re no longer requiring masks or vaccinations, we urge our attendees to make informed decisions and consider the well-being of others during the convention.
Furthermore, Ohayocon remains committed to fostering a respectful and inclusive environment for everyone. Harassing fellow convention attendees regarding their vaccination status or mask choices will be considered a violation of our harassment policy, leading to appropriate consequences.
As always, Ohayocon will implement enhanced cleaning and sanitation measures to maintain a safe and enjoyable environment for all participants.
For the latest event updates and guidelines, please visit our website and follow our social media channels.