Overview of Liberty City Anime Convention 2017
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Soulcial Dreamin’ Entertainment was invited to attend Liberty City Anime Convention in New York at the Marriott Marquis hotel. The hosting space was so much bigger this year compared to last. They even extended it to another site, the Edison Ballroom, where the main events (Masquerade) and the concerts were held. At night they hosted anime dance parties headed by Rabbit Revolution. This year the convention had plenty of panels, video games, voice actors, concerts and anime screenings. We were able to get an insider’s view of the convention while having a great time.
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We were able was able to sit in on the rehearsal for the Masquerade and see how much work was put in behind the scenes. Every contestant’s cosplay looked amazing. Some of the skits practiced for months and one group, in particular, it took a year to get down their routine. My favorite performance was the Mystic Messenger dance routine. I really would have liked to see Mr. Freeze shoot fog from his Ice Gun, which would have been very cool. But the Flo from Progressive was the funniest skit. The cosplayer looked identical to Flo. I loved the originality of the IKEA Gundam which was also hilarious. The masquerade was an overall success.
There was also a variety of artists that came and performed at the con. J-MUSIC Ensemble is an 8-piece instrumental band who performed this year. They always bring a refreshing look to the world of Japanese Music. One of my favorite pieces is their cover of Utada Hikaru’s Simple and Clean from Kingdom Hearts. There were also several other great performances.
Reni Mimura a.k.a Reni Reni performed and had a Rock, Paper and Scissors Competition. The winner won an autographed T-shirt. 2une, a Japanese-American Duo performed and they were as cute and bubbly as ever. Psyche Corporation had a beautiful performance, I am still trying to decode the hidden message in her songs.
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MC Frontalot was interesting to see with his Nerdcore Hip-Hop, I liked his Final Boss song, it made me relive all my final boss battles. The accompanying video animation was pretty cool. I was finally able to see Frenchy and the Punk, a folk-punk steampunk cabaret. This was my first time listening to folk punk music. TheAsterplace performed, they are the most anticipated artist at the Convention which would make since sense they are the headlining act. Last, we saw Professor ShyGuy, which was to me, my second favorite performance of this year. He has an amazing voice and his beats are equally as amazing. If he had a concert,t I would pay to see him perform.
Last, there were several types of panels you could sit in on this year. The panels provided an opportunity to either learn something new or have an open discussion about a topic of you already familiar with. Many of the panels were focused on creating and developing your own anime. Every panel provided some incite of the anime industry. I was able to sit in on a panel with Tyler and Heather Walker. Tyler Walker is a script writer and voice actor at Funimation Entertainment. His wife Heather Walker, is an established voice actress, notable character Mary Hughes from Fairy Tail. In their panel, they gave us insight on voice acting, as a career and what directors are looking for in a voice actor.
We sat in on a panel with Chuck Huber, who is another famous voice actor known for his role of Hiei from Yu Yu Hakusho. In this panel, Chuck walked panel goers, through the process of about film making. Throughout the whole panel, it sounded as Hiei was speaking and giving us information. There were also many other famous voice actors, who shared their experience and how they came about into the industry.
Overall, our team had a fantastic time and we are grateful for the staff at Liberty City Anime Con for inviting us to participate in this year’s festivities. There were few minor setbacks, via of some of the panel cancellations. But the staff was very helpful and considerate to everyone. We hope to see everyone again next year.
