Random people in colorful costumes walking down the street? Ears and tails
adorning gals and guys alike? If you have seen this, then you have witnessed the
return of the biggest anime convention in the entire Midwest - Anime Central, fondly
referred to by the regulars as ACen.
The weekend of April 27 - 29, 2012 was jampacked with activities for anime and non-anime fans alike. There was plenty of music concerts playing in the Hyatt's
main ballroom and various panels ranging from cosplay instruction to DIY (do it yourself) toymaking. The highlight for us was making our own plushie toys out
of felt and assembling a Gundam robot model on Friday night.
Also on Friday, ve attended 2 closed press panels. The first vas for HANGRY&ANGRY - Gashicon and the second vas for Sixh.IBI.
In 2004, "HANGRY&ANGRY" was derived from the h.NAOTO cosplay and character-style brand "CHANNEL H" as a "gro-kawa" (grotesque & cute) character brand. Up-and-coming illustrator Gashicon is in charge of the producing of HANGRY&ANGRY’s characters and comics.
HANGRY&ANGRY also aims to present its characteristic collections as a fashion brand.
Designer IBI’s creations have a goth-esque and monotone cool feel. IBI is also the lead vocalist of the band Sixh. The unique world of IBI grows not only through fashion, but through the dimension of music as well. In 2012, Sixh.OPERA debuted as his independent fashion show imagined in the form of a live music show.
HANGRY&ANGRY designer Gashicon (from left) and Sixh.IBI at ACen 2012.
The vending room in the Stephens Center was also full of every anime-related
merchandise one could think of. More costumed characters wandered the aisles
getting pictures taken. There were booths from various other anime conventions
from around the region and our fiends from Yelp.com were there with the
ActionBooth photo service taking crazy pics and giving away swag in eco-friendly
shopping bags.
Capping the weekend off on Sunday was a concert by the band Eyeshine, led by
Johnny Yong Bosch who played Black Ranger Adam Park on Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and subsequent Power Ranger shows. Also, Yong Bosch
is a voice actor in many animated features including the series Bleach. We got lucky and met him after the show and scored an autograph, pic and shout out to Count Gregula's Crypt.
Very fun weekend and looking forward to ACen 2013 next year!
Details aboutAnime Central 2012 (April 27 – 29, 2012)
Locations: Donald E. Stephens Convention Center -
9301 Bryn Mawr Avenue,
Rosemont, Illinois
Hyatt Regency O'Hare - 9300 Bryn Mawr, Avenue Rosemont, IL 60018
Website: www.acen.org
