Guests

Kazuha Oda/Kazha

Kazuha Oda started the band Kazha after her successful solo career, releasing several albums in Japan, working with a wide variety of different performers including the Grammy winning pianist Bob James.

Kazha released their first EP “Breathe Through Your Dreams” from major Japanese label Victor Entertainment in September 2009. With the release of their first full-length album “Overture” in April 2010, Kazha made their first National tour in North America and South America. Debuting at San Francisco’s Asian Heritage Festival, Kazha’s tour made stops in Los Angeles, Houston, Jacksonville, New York City, Chicago and more. Kazha then made their convention debut at Denver’s premiere anime convention “Nan Desu Kan” before heading down to Tijuana for their Mexican debut.

Because of the eclectic backgrounds of Oda, Kazha represents the new future of the world music; a fusion of cultures and musical viewpoints that create their sound.

Kiryu (桐龍)

Kiryu (桐龍) is a Japanese artist with a unique sound that moves beyond basic rock, exploring what an artist can do for music, instead of what music can do for an artist. With a distinctive style and keen awareness as a vocalist, Kiryu creates music that sets him apart from other musicians. As a singer/songwriter, his perseverance in the Japanese music industry has led to an eventful and successful career. While still in high school, Kiryu performed at Yokohama Stadium in front of 25,000 people with his first band and was signed to major label Columbia Music Entertainment with his second. Now focusing on his solo career with his self-described “sexy” music, his considerable experience and influences integrates many genres, from pop to rock and from electronic to hip-hop, and the result can be heard in his sound.

In April 2009, Kiryu released his first EP, Hydra, on his label White Wolf and began performing in and around Tokyo. In October, he ventured to the US to make an appearance at Oni-Con in Texas and in November performed at Pacific Media Expo in Los Angeles as part of an event entitled Hydraphonic. As his US debut, Kiryu opened for Japanese glam rockers Uchuu Sentai NOIZ and garnered a lot of attention, including an invitation to appear at 2010?s Japonawa, Tijuana’s Japanese cultural festival, as well as great reviews. In May 2011, Kiryu returned to Mexico with his band BIG SEXY to headline Japonawa once again.

Currently working on his first full album, Kiryu is excited to return to the US and his fans and show them what he is really about.

Symphonic Anime Orchestra

Symphonic Anime Orchestra (SAO) is run by a team of four people who bring together the worlds of Anime and Classical music through large ensembles, chamber music and panels. SAO plays gripping background music, peppy opening and ending themes, videogame music and heart felt Jrock.

SAO is made up of dedicated anime fans of all ages who enjoy music. If you play an instrument, you can play with us at KatsuCon. Rehearsals are in the MORNINGS all three days, music is emailed in advance and we are taking suggests of what you want to hear or play! Go to AnimeOrchestra.org to fill out an application or suggest a song!

The Clockwork Dolls

When The Clockwork Dolls emerged onto the Steampunk music scene back in 2007, their mission was simple: To create music that serves not only as a source of recreation, but as a storytelling vehicle as well. Utilizing epic orchestral music and operatic vocals, The Clockwork Dolls established their presence in Steampunk music early on and were considered one of the pioneering bands to labeled under the “Steampunk” genre, along with the Vernian Process, Abney Park, and the Unextraordinary Gentlemen. They are also credited as being the first band to sign with Gilded Age Records, a record label devoted purely to the future that never was.

The Clockwork Dolls have performed at such high profile events as The Steampunk Worlds Fair, World Steam Expo, and Steamcon. They are absolutely ecstatic to be returning to Katsucon this year.

Note: The Clockwork Dolls will not be performing a musical act, but they will be providing panels!

Christopher Ayres

Christopher Ayres has been working professionally in theatre, television and film since the age of 6. His work has been seen Regionally, Nationally and on Broadway. He currently works as a voice actor for ADV FILMS and FUNimation ENTERTAINMENT Chris is also an A.D.R. Director for ADV FILMS and AMUSEMENT PARK MEDIA . As an A.D.R. director his credits include the hit anime musical comedy THE NERIMA DAIKON BROTHERS, XENOSAGA: The Animation, MAGIKANO, MERMAID MELODY PITCHI PITCHI PITCH, and co-director with Matt Greefield on THE WALLFLOWER. Some of the roles as a voice actor Chris is best known for are Kei Kourono in Gantz, Suitengu in Speed Grapher, Von Kampher in Trinity Blood, Hayashimizu in Full Metal Panic? Fummofu, Nakamaru in Maburaho, Yaminami in Peacemaker, DJ Plugman in Air Gear , Johnny in One Piece, Sid in Devil May Cry, Sawadust in A Tree of Palme, Oshodani in Pappuwa, and Woogy in Michel. His voice can also be heard in Elfin Lied, Claymore, Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood, Godanner, Oran High School Host Club, Diamond Daydreams, and Desert Punk to name a few. Chris can also be heard as Wagram in the Square Enix Game The Last Remnant. Most recently Chris has been heard as the the voice of Frieza in Dragonball Z Kai, Covenant Commander and various other roles in Halo: Legends. Chris will also soon be heard as Arthur in Tears to Tiara, Prince Soma in Black Butler and Takada Shingin in Son Goku Basura. Chris is also one of the Anime industry voice actors who sings on Voices for Peace. He is very proud to be a part of the “Voices For…” oganization. Chris also works as a professional fight director and has enjoyed bringing his workshop “Mock Combat for Cosplay” to many conventions.

You can learn more about Chris by visiting his website www.christopherayres-va.com.

Greg Ayres

Greg Ayres can usually be found rockin’ out somewhere, whether animated or not. From the loud-mouthed Hideki in Nerima Daikon Brothers, to Koyuki, singing with the the band in Beck:Mongolian Chop Squad, he’s always glad to shake things up a bit. He is thrilled to be able to include Aoi Miyoshi in Night Raid 1931, Naoi in Angel Beats, Kouta Tsuchiya in Baka and Test, Seikechi Tayama in Oh Edo Rocket, and Abe in Big Windup to his list of new roles. He can also be head as Son Goku in Saiyuki, Chrono in Chrono Crusade, Kaoru Hitachiin in Ouran High School Host Club, Yuki in The Wallflower, Leo in Ghost Stories , Satoshi Hiwatari in DNAngel, Kaworu Nagisa in the Director’s Cut of Neon Genesis Evangelion, Negi Springfield in Negima, Heihachi in Samurai 7, Uesugi Kenshin in Sengoku Basara, Jr. in Xenosaga:The Animation, Tsujido in Speed Grapher, Roan in Ragnorok The Animation, Yamazaki in Welcome to the NHK, Nowy in Glass Fleet, Gau Ban in Shadow Skill, Pope Alessandro XVIII in Trinity Blood, and a bunch of other titles he’ll probably forget to mention.

When he’s not in a booth with headphones on, you can usually find him sporting headphones of another variety behind “the decks”. A veteran nightclub DJ of many years, Greg has really enjoyed the oppor- tunity of doing something else that he truly loves at conventions. From packed rooms at anime conventions, to the legendary stage of The Knitting Factory (NYC), Greg never misses an opportunity to share his love of music with anyone who will listen.

Christopher Bevins

Since 2001, Christopher Bevins has recorded, cast, directed, produced, acted in and/or adapted scripts for nearly 100 anime series, movies and specials. His directing credits include Samurai 7, Speed Grapher, BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad (with Taliesin Jaffe), Witchblade, El Cazador de la Bruja, Burst Angel, Shigurui: Death Frenzy, Origin: Spirits of the Past, Spiral and Dragon Ball GT, as well as episodes of Gunslinger Girl, Case Closed, Jyu-Oh-Sei and Big Windup! He has had the good fortune to direct his own scripts several times, including the feature-length movie Case Closed: The Last Wizard of the Century and Sengoku Basara: Samurai Kings. He has also contributed script adaptations for Claymore and Rideback. Chris’ most recent work includes voice direction on The Sacred Blacksmith and the upcoming Sengoku Basara Two, Heaven’s Lost Property and Princess Jellyfish.

Christopher is also an accomplished voice actor, whose roles include Japan in Hetalia: Axis Powers, Mercutio in Romeo x Juliet, Apollo in Aquarion, Hugo Housman in The Sacred Blacksmith, Tamotsu in Rin ~Daughters of Mnemosyne~, Kenji in Initial D, Johnny Gil in D.Gray-man, Nicholas Wayne in Baccano!, Shishi Wakamaru in Yu Yu Hakusho, Lafitte and Shu Shu in One Piece, Bee the Puppy in Dragon Ball Z, and Beck the Dog in BECK. You can also hear him in various roles in Dragon Ball, Sgt. Frog, Soul Eater, Shin chan, Fruits Basket, Fullmetal Alchemist (both series), Ouran High School Host Club, Desert Punk, Kodocha, School Rumble, Case Closed and many more. Chris has also worked on several video games, most notably as the English-language voice of Dhalsim in Street Fighter IV, Super Street Fighter IV, and next year’s Street Fighter x Tekken.

Outside of anime, Chris’ interests include magic, crosswords and comic books… But mostly the comic books. In fact, his comics collection is old enough that it should’ve gotten a job and moved out of the house by now.

Richard Epcar

Richard Epcar has voiced over 300 characters and is well known to fans starting with ‘ROBOTECH’ in which he played ‘BEN DIXON’, ‘LUNK’, ‘GREL’, and now ‘CAPT. VINCE GRANT’ in ‘ROBOTECH: THE SHADOW CHRONICLES’ , which he also directed.

He is the voice of ‘BATOU’ in all things ‘GHOST IN THE SHELL’.

Most recently he’s in a brand new series from Nickelodeon, ‘AVATAR: THE LEGEND OF KORRA’.

Some games he’s on: all ‘KINGDOM HEARTS’ (except the first one) as ‘ANSEM / XEHANORT’ and ‘TERRANORT’, ‘TRANSFORMERS’, ‘MORTAL KOMBAT’ as ‘RAIDEN’, ‘MORTAL KOMBAT vs. D.C. UNIVERSE’ as ‘The JOKER’ and ‘RAIDEN’, ‘CALL OF DUTY-BLACK OPS’,
‘DEAD SPACE II’, ‘BASARA’, ‘STAR WARS’, ‘GREEN ARROW’, ‘STAR CRAFT II’ as ‘DARK TEMPLAR’, ‘DEAD OR ALIVE 3-D’, ‘RED FACTION GUERILLA’,'COMMAND & CONQUER’, ‘XENOSAGA’ as ‘ZIGGARAT 8′, ‘ACE COMBAT’, ‘GUILTY GEARS’, ‘.HACK’,
‘RESIDENT EVIL’, ‘SAMURAI / DYNASTY WARRIORS’ as ‘DONG ZHOU’, ‘WARCRAFT III’, and ‘WORLD OF WARCRAFT’, ‘STREET FIGHTERS’, ‘STAR OCEAN’ to name a few.

Some of you know him from ‘BLEACH’ as ‘KOGA’ and ‘ZANGETSU’, ‘BOBOBO-BOBOBOBO’, ‘MR. NOISY’ on ‘THE MR. MEN SHOW’, ‘INSPECTOR LUNGE on ‘MONSTER’, ‘NARUTO’, ‘X-MEN’ as ‘GLADIATOR’, ‘LUCKY STAR’, ‘FUSHIGI YUUGI’ as ‘MITSUKAKE’, ‘GULD’ in ‘MACROSS PLUS’, ‘NINJA SCROLL’ as ‘GEMMA’, ‘TEKNOMAN’ as ‘MAC’, ‘GTO’, ‘SAMURI X’, ‘MACROSS’, ‘EAGLE RIDERS’, ‘MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM’, ‘WITCH HUNTER ROBIN’, THE NEW SPEED RACER’ as ‘RACER X’, ‘CYBER SOLDIER 009′ as ‘BLACK GHOST’ and ‘RUROUNI KENSHIN’ as ‘SEIJURO HIKO’.

Shows he’s directed are ‘LUPIN the THIRD’, doing the voice of ‘JIGEN’, ‘NOEIN’, doing ‘KOOYRAMA’ and the first season of ‘DIGIMON’, doing ‘ETEMON’, ‘MYOTISMON’, ‘APEMON’ and now ‘MERUKIMON’ on ‘DIGIMON DATA SQUAD’. The series ‘FIGHTING SPIRIT’, doing the voice of ‘KAMOGAWA’, and ‘POWER RANGERS’. He also wrote for ‘TRANSFORMERS’ doing the voice of ‘ARMORHIDE’.

Some games he’s directed: ‘STAR OCEAN I & II’, ‘BLUE DRAGON’, ‘VANDAL HEARTS’, ‘SHADOW HEARTS II’, ‘ LUPIN the THIRD’, ‘FIGHTING SPIRIT & VICTORIOUS BOXERS’ in which he played ‘KAMAGAWA’ in both, ‘VEGAS’, ‘SMACKDOWN vs. RAW’,
‘JACKASS the GAME’, ‘DEAD-HEAD FRED’, he co-directed ‘UNREAL TOURNAMENT III’, and co-cast the mo-cap for ‘QUANUM OF SOLACE’.

He also does tons of voice work on many shows including: ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’, ‘The Day the Earth Stood Still’, ‘Resident Evil 3′, ‘Devil’s Rejects’, ‘Xena’ & ‘Hercules’, ‘Gladiator’, ‘Independence Day’, ‘Inspector Gadget’, ‘Seven’, ‘Rumble in the Bronx’, ‘Man in the Iron Mask’, ‘Rounders’, ‘Crime Story’, ‘Hell Raiser III & IV’, ‘Operation Condor’, ‘Babylon 5′, and many others.

As an actor he just finished filming one of the leads in the feature film ‘BROKEN SPIRITS’.

Josh Grelle

A native Texan and avid anime fan, Josh Grelle was raised on stage and in the art studios of Central Texas. He performed on stage at the Tin Building Theatre for over 15 years prior to starting work for ADV Films at the start of 2004. Since then he has acted/starred in over one hundred different titles and worked for such studios as ADV Films, FUNimation Entertainment, Okratron 5000, 48 Windows, Amusement Park Media, Warner Bros. Studios, and Seraphim Digital.

Josh is best known for his role of Kenichi Shirahama in Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple. He is also known as the outrageous Taishi in Comic Party: Revolution; Kyohei Takano in The Wallflower; Akihisa Yoshii in Baka and Test: Summon the Beast; Kouchi Hayase in Linebarrels of Iron; and Akisha in Shikabane Hime. He can also be seen as Hosei in Hero Tales; Hatake in Big Windup!; Ox Ford in Soul Eater; Ajitaro in My Bride is a Mermaid; Edward V in Black Butler; Itsuki in Initial D; Lithuania in Hetalia: Axis Powers; Makoto in Ghost Hound; Damiano in FMA: Brotherhood; and Hammer in Xenosaga: The Animation. Josh was also involved in the much anticipated HALO: Legends project, playing the role of Haka in Production I.G.’s “THE DUEL”. He has also lent his voice to a number of video games, the first of which was Dynasty Warriors 7, where he voiced Sima Shi.

Aside voice work, Josh has also written several shows (Magikano, Moonlight Mile) and worked in the Comic Book industry as a freelance colorist doing “the grunt work” for Marvel Comics and a few other studios around the world. Josh also avidly believes that Rainbow Dash is best pony. He is incredibly excited to be attending and looks forward to making tons of new friends so, if you see him walking around, feel free to come up and chat!

Kyle Hebert

Kyle Hebert is a Los Angeles-based anime and video game voice actor whose credits include Marvel Vs Capcom 3 (Ryu), Naruto (Kiba), Bleach (Aizen, Ganju), X Men Arcade (all male voices) and Gurren Lagann (Kamina). He is best known as the Narrator and Teen Gohan from Dragonball Z. Other notable roles include Soul Eater (Masamune), Ouran High School Host Club (Kazukiyo Soga), Fullmetal Alchemist (Vato Falman), Tales of Symphonia (Richter Abend) and Star Ocean (Dias, Arumat, Crow). Kyle also provides voices in numerous video games including Final Fantasy XIII, World of Warcraft, Devil May Cry 4, Dynasty Warriors, and James Cameron’s Avatar. He also provides private online voice acting critique sessions for beginners.

For more info, visit www.kylehebert.com.

Ellyn Stern

ELLYN began in voice work, 30 years ago and has voiced hundreds of animated with the original ‘Robotech’ series- in which she played several characters. Most recently: GUNDHAM UNICORN: (series regular) Martha, TRUE CRIMES HONG KONG: Dorothy.

NOEIN: Mikyuki Goto(Yu’s Mom), BLEACH:Masaki Kurasaki, MAR:Jack’s Mom, GHOST IN THE SHELL: INNOCENCE: Haraway, ARMITAGE lll: Rosalind, WINGS OF HONNEMAISE: Republic News Reporter, ”FIGHT, SPIRIT OF THE SWORD: Himeno, Miku’, VAMPIRE PRINCESS MIYU: Moru,Sato, ‘Hiroshi’s Mom’ in ZENKI: Hiroshi’s Mom ‘The Great Miracle’ Others include: ZENTRIX, MINI PATU, DIGIMON, ‘BOBOBO-BO BOBO, ‘PAROME’ in ‘GENMA WARS’, as well as several roles in ‘MOBILE SUIT GUNDHAM-THE MOVIE TRILOGY’, ‘BUSHIDO BLADE 2′, ‘LUPIN THE 3rd’, ‘PATLABOR 3′, and FIGHTING SPIRIT’, to name just a few. SHADOW HEARTS ll: Veronica Vera and other characters. SAMURAI X, THE LITTLE PUNK, HONEY BEE HUTCH, WISDOM OF THE GNOMES, MACROSS l, ll, lll, TOM SAWYER, CAPTAIN SCHAUZER, GIGI, INHERIT THE EARTH, ABBY.

Ellyn just voiced and mo-capped a big game whose name she cannot reveal at the moment.

Among her directorial game credits are: SAMURAI X, JADE COCOON, GALERIANS, AERO WINGS l & 2, SUPER MAGNETIC NEO.

On film she starred in ‘Jessie’s Girls’, co-starred in ‘Duchess and The Dirtwater Fox’, co-starred in ‘Fatal Charm’, and ‘Prisoner in the Middle’ aka ‘Warhead’. ‘Charlie’s Angels’, and recurring:’General Hospital’, Santa Barbara, Days Of Our Lives. TV:, ‘American Carrott.’ LIVE ACTION LEAD VOICES: Academy Award winners ‘Cinema Paradiso’, ‘Belle Epoque’, ‘Eat, Drink, Man, Woman’, ‘Kika’, ‘Mostly Martha’, ‘Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown’, ‘Fencing Master’, ‘Widow of St. Pierre’, ‘Amores Perros’, ‘Mission Kashmir’, ‘Iron Monkey’, ‘The Emperor and the Assassin’, ‘Onmyoji-Ying-Yang Masters’, ‘Le Femme Nikita’,'Tae Guk Gi’, ‘Babbette’s Feast’ and ‘Shiri’, to name a few.

RECENT PLAYS: MRS. WARREN’S PROFESSION: Mrs. Warren APPLE: lead WE’LL NEVER BE YOUNG AGAIN: Jacqueline Kennedy @ Kirk Douglas Theatre RUMORS: Lead.

RECENT ON CAMERA TV Series: MILK AND HONEY, milkandhoneyseries.com with Debbie Allen & Idris Elba.

Starring in: BLOOD ON CANVAS, TB Released in November. DISNEY PILOT AND FEATURE: To be shot soon.

To see more complete resume, go to ellynstern.com.

J. Michael Tatum

Nurtured on anime classics from the tender age of Star Blazers, et al, this reclusive fanboy-turned-voice actor/writer/ADR director/flake extraordinaire spent more years than he cares to remember in what might charitably be described as freefall before landing, mostly by accident, smack dab on the industry of his dreams. To this day, some believe the small crater made by the impact remains the source of his power.

Discovered by Funimation warhorse and visionary ADR director Christopher Bevins, who cast him as Rikichi in 2005’s Samurai 7, Tatum’s inexplicable luck has held long enough to see his flag hoisted on a slew of dream roles, most notably Kyoya Otori in the hit English language dub of Ouran High School Host Club and suave, demonic Sebastian Michaelis in Black Butler. Other characters the man still can’t believe he’s had the crazy good fortune to play include: Doumeki in XXXHolic, Jiro Mochizuki in Black Blood Brothers, Isaac Dian in Baccano!, Both God Eneru and Dalton in the new dub of One Piece, Komui Lee in D-Gray Man, Dororo in Sgt. Frog, the titular loveable savage of Heroic Age, Ryosuke Takahashi in Initial D, Lawrence Kraft in Spice and Wolf, Zarbon in Dragon Ball Z Kai, and Scar in Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood. His vocal “stylings,” much to the chagrin of drama teachers everywhere, he’s sure, have also been featured in Romeo X Juliet, Speed Grapher, Trinity Blood, Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple, Black Cat, Nabari no Ou, Ghost Hunt, School Rumble, The Tower of Druaga, Aquarion, Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicles, Shuffle, Shigurui, Glass Fleet, Mushishi, Soul Eater, along with feature-length films such as Vexille and Summer Wars, among many others.

And as if being involved with so many awesome shows wasn’t enough, in late 2007 the fluky so-and-so tempted fate by officially branching out into ADR directing and adaptive scriptwriting for Funimation as well. His ADR directing credits to date include Aquarion, Jyu-oh-Sei, Romeo X Juliet, Big Windup, Rin: Daughters of Mnemosyne and Shikabane Hime (Corpse Princess), while his writing credits include substantial work on Ouran High School Host Club, Heroic Age, Initial D, Blassreiter, Ga Rei: Zero and Dragon Ball Z Kai.

In early 2010 he teamed up with Terri Doty and Stephen Hoff to launch That Anime Show, a web-based chat show centered on colorful, often diabolically unhinged interviews with friends and colleagues within the dubbing industry, all episodes of which can be downloaded for free at http://thatanimeshow.com/

Ever the workaholic, Tatum is currently burning the midnight oil on a number of exciting projects due for release later this year. And before you ask, the “J” stands for… Well, it stands for whatever you’d like it to.

Yaya Han

Yaya Han is a costume designer, model and cosplay entertainer with 12 years of experience. After discovering cosplay at her first con over a decade ago, she quickly absorbed the heart and soul of costume design and creation. To this day Yaya has made 200 (and counting) costumes in the genres of anime/manga, comic books, video games, sci-fi and of course from her own original designs. Her intricate and lavish creations have won many awards and acclaim world wide, and Yaya has been featured in a myriad of magazines, websites, and television programming. Commercially, Yaya’s visage has been drawn, painted and sculpted by several professional artists and she enjoys modeling in her limited spare time. Additionally, Yaya has taught a multitude of panels on costume craftsmanship, presentation, makeup, wigs and more; and judged countless costume contests and performed in front of many peers and fans alike on stage. Over the past several years, Yaya has traveled to a long roster of conventions and events within the USA as well as internationally to Italy, Mexico, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany and Brazil as a Guest of Honor. Yaya is a strong advocate of preserving cosplay as an art form and encourages and mentors new cosplayers to improve their craftsmanship constantly. She is excited to see the World Cosplay Summit Preliminaries come to Katsucon and wishes all contestants best of luck. Yaya also is a driving force behind the cosplay charity calendar Cosplay For a Cause, with all proceeds being donated to the Japanese Red Cross directly benefiting the disaster relief. She appears in the 2012 calendar as Faye Valentine, and incidentally Katsucon’s other two cosplay guests, Meagan Marie and Vampy, are also models in the calendar. Cosplay for a Cause will be available for purchase exclusively at Yaya’s booth inside the dealer hall, stay tuned for signing times. For more information, visit www.yayahan.com

Linda Le

Linda Le has always been a dreamer since she was a small girl. Paint brushes and her Mom’s sewing machines always made their presence known around her old house in Oklahoma. Blaring in the background would be Transformers, GI Joe, Rainbow Brite, and He-Man. Toys filled her room as well as NES video games stacked ready to play. She was born an Otaku with her brothers, and enjoys Metal music.

Heavily interested in fashion and the arts, she went to schooling in Japan, London, as well as furthering her education in styling in the states. She then became a teacher all around the Bay Area, but still eager to be more creative she then collaborated with Street Fighter HD Remix Artist Long Vo to create artwork and a comic for Udon Entertainment’s book. Soon after her love for toys became her lifestyle, with artistic collaborations with KusoVinyl, Sideshow Toy’s Tim Miller, Nakanari for Gibson Guitar and other companies around the world trying to promote cosplay in a good light to all avenues and genre’s, as well as working with non-profit organizations to help Japan.

She can be seen blogging online, to making cosplays, attending conventions all around the world, but mainly endorsing fun and excitement throughout the cosplay community. She currently resides in the Bay Area, eating ramen, running around San Francisco checking out all the toy stores, and spending time with her 3 dogs.

Meagan Marie

A passion for video games, comics, and anime introduced Meagan Marie to the world of cosplay – a hobby she’s indulged in fully for the last five years. Her modeling background lends itself to a keen eye for set design, and parings with phenomenal photographers have aided in producing several recreations well-known within the cosplay community. A strong focus on prop making and armor fabrication has landed Meagan features in international gaming magazines, Otacool, CosMode, Kotaku, USA Today, and more.

Prior to May of 2011, Meagan spent her days as an Associate Editor for Game Informer magazine, writing news, conducting interviews, reviewing games, and traveling to events across the world. Now she resides in San Francisco, where she is the acting Community Manager for Crystal Dynamics and is working on the next Tomb Raider installment. When she isn’t at the office, chances are you’ll find her playing games, reading comics, or pouring her blood, sweat, and tears into a new costume for an upcoming convention.

T. Campbell

An ex-stage actor and failed Internet shut-in, T Campbell has written eighteen gazintillion pages of comics, won some awards and gotten high-flying writers to praise his work, so if you don’t love his series, it’s probably your own damn fault. Besides Guilded Age, his series include Quiltbag, Penny and Aggie, Fans, Rip and Teri, Widgetitis, Divalicious and Cool Cat Studio, plus about fourteen seconds’ worth of work for Marvel and Archie. He spends his “spare time” designing crosswords, dancing with the stars and seeking the Anti-Life Equation.

Danielle Corsetto

Danielle Corsetto is the creator of the hit webcomic “Girls With Slingshots,” a weekdaily strip about two girls, a bar, and a talking cactus.

She also created “The New Adventures of Bat Boy” for the Weekly World News, following the honorable Peter Bagge after his run on the strip.

This is Danielle’s second year exhibiting at Katsucon and she’s excited to return! Danielle hails from Shepherdstown, West Virginia, where she lives in a 230-year-old farmhouse with two cats, a goldfish, and a billion pounds of tea.

Chris Flick

Chris graduated from Radford University in 1991 with a graphic design and commercial illustration degree – which he put to use by being everything from a silk-screen illustrator, newspaper production artist and an advertising agency graphic designer. In between all of those gigs, he has continued to find work as a freelance illustrator and caricaturist.

In 1999, he taught himself html and eventually went on to co-author two books about web design both published by New Riders Press. It was this association with New Riders Press that lead him to start a promotional webcomic strip for the website, Community MX (www.communitymx.com) which he has been doing weekly since May 2004. That webcomic is called “CMX Suite” and can be read every Wednesday at Community MX.

After a few years of working on “CMX Suite”, Chris decided to create an entirely new comic strip comprised of his own characters and dealing with his love of comic books and super heroes. In November of 2007, Capes & Babes was born. Since that time, Chris has self-published two collections of his Capes & Babes strip – You Can’t Print Flick and You STILL Can’t Print Flick. Both books are available for purchase at his table and online.

Capes & Babes is a webcomic about a strip mall, a comic book shop and one crazy werewolf and can be read three times a week at www.capesnbabes.com

Garth Graham

“Hey you sass that hoopy Garth Graham? Now there’s a frood who really knows where his towel is,” would be the words on the lips of internet trawlers the world ’round if we didn’t happen to live in the unfashionable western spiral arm of the galaxy. Instead, they just say how professional he is as he lurks in modest internet fame, churning out captivating comics since 2004 in an artistic style that mystically abducts the essences of both western comics and eastern manga; blending them together through patent pending methods into an addictive drug that tantalizes the optic nerves in ways science has yet to be able to explain.

His latest artistic creation is Finder’s Keepers, the dark urban fantasy of a young lady who accidentally claims the soul of a man who is not entirely human, thus entangling herself in a mystery that spans the breadth of human imagination. A mystery whose solution will most likely get her killed, but is the only thing that can return her to a normal life and break the bond between herself and her otherworldly companion. It is kind of like what you’d get if Scott Campbell of Danger Girl drew Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere.

Garth has become well known for his steampunk art, though his heart will always belong to cyberpunk.

Harknell

Harknell is the quieter half of the Onezumi Studios team. He is best known for his production work on Onezumi Studios properties and websites, but he also supports the creative community through his WordPress Plugin development and workshops. As co-founder of Intervention, the creator-focused art and technology convention, he has been able to inspire countless people to take charge of their future through technology.

Harknell’s clients include universities, individuals, and places like Erfworld.com. He lives in New Jersey with Onezumi and way too many computers.

Phil Kahn

A longtime Professional Neckbeard, Phil Kahn has spent a few years writing for various Webcomic, Webcomic Criticism, and Webcomic Enthusiast sites, and is now trying to take his accumulated knowledge and put it all to good use on Guilded Age. While building a daytime career as an IT Support Specialist and Pokémon Trainer, he also spends a great deal of time practicing silly voices/faces in front of a mirror for the inevitable day where the only thing that can save the whole of humanity from certain doom is his impression of Henchman #24. He is also totally that Gnome Warlock who just won’t DIE ALREADY.

Randy Milholland

Randy Milholland has been drawing the webcomic Something*Positive since 2001 and making people uncomfortable even longer. Ask him nicely and he’ll draw a free fast sketch for you. His hobbies include cooking, hiding acorns, and forgetting to write bios and making poor, unfortunate con staff members miserable.

Onezumi

Fans say that Onezumi is what would happen if Dirty Harry and Weird Al Yankovic had a daughter that loved to draw. It’s pronounced “Oh-neh-zoo-me”. She lives in New Jersey. She loves Heavy Metal and Disney World.

Onezumi “Oni” Hartstein was born in New York City to Indian/German/Polish parents, but raised in an economically depressed area in Pittsburgh, PA. Here she experienced firsthand the positive effects of art on young people. After moving to New Jersey, she worked professionally for places like The Disney Channel before leaving to start Onezumi Studios, LLC.

“I wanted to do this myself because I believe that art saves lives. When I was younger I didn’t get much support when it came to making my art, so if I can do this, anyone can. It is important to me to put forth a positive voice and to motivate people to discover their own power.” — Onezumi

Onezumi’s Lovecraftian horror comic is located at http://www.Onezumi.com. It is updated two times a week. Her “cute and scary” art portfolio and media blog is located at http://www.Onezumiverse.com. Her creator-focused art and technology convention is located at http://www.InterventionCon.com.

In addition to her fiercely loyal online fan base, she also has a vocal off line following. She has been a guest speaker at XM Satellite Radio, Katsucon, Ubercon, Otakon, and many other conventions. Subject matter includes “Publishing Your Comics and Art Online”, “Starting Your Own Creative Business”, “How to Make Money from Your Art”, “Digital Art Technique 101″ and “Women and the Comics Industry”.

Onezumi has a B.A. in Sociology/Psychology specializing in Gender Studies, and has studied classical art in a University setting for over 6 years, thanks to receiving two merit-based full scholarships for intensive art courses that took place prior to her freshman year in college. She lives in New Jersey and shares an apartment with her husband and a lot of coffee beans.

Izumi Matsumoto

Izumi Matsumoto is a popular Japanese comic writer and creator. He is well known for the “Kimagure Orange ★ Road” series, which he begun writing in 1984. Featuring a teenage boy with supernatural powers and adolescent girls, this school romance comedy with a love triangle became one of the mega-hits in the Japanese comic industry. “Kimagure Orange ★ Road” was later adapted to a TV animation series, a novel and a radio drama during the 80s and 90s and has been adored by both the comic and anime communities.

In 1990, Izumi launched a production of the digital comic in association with Toshiba EMI, allowing the reader to enjoy the comic panel by panel on a computer monitor. Izumi made his first debut by winning a “Fresh Jump Award” for Weekly Shonen Jump magazine in 1981.

His main works include:

1984 – Kimagure Orange ★ Road

1998 – Sesami ★ Street

1994 – NEW Kimagure Orange ★ Road

1996 – “COMIC ON” Digital comic CD-ROM Magazine

In 1999, right before the launch of his new series for Super Jump magazine, Izumi took a break from his writing activity as he experienced worsening health problems that lead to a diagnosis in 2004 of a rare cerebrospinal fluid disease. Izumi has since become an activist for research toward finding a cure for his condition and an advocate of awareness through his comic and drawing.

Stan Sakai

Stan Sakai was born in Kyoto, Japan, raised in Hawaii, and currently lives in Southern California. His creation, Usagi Yojimbo the samurai rabbit, was first published in 1984. Since then, Usagi has been on television, as a guest of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and has been made into toys, statues, seen on clothing, and featured in a series of graphic novels. His latest, Usagi Yojimbo Book 25: Fox Hunt, was published in July, 2011.

Stan is a recipient of multiple Eisner Awards, a Harvey, an Inkpot, as well as an American Library Association Award, four Spanish Haxturs, and the National Cartoonists Society Comic Book Division Award. He received the Cultural Ambassador Award from the Japanese American National Museum in 2011.

Usagi Yojimbo is translated into a dozen languages, which gives Stan an opportunity to travel to such countries as Croatia, Argentina, France and Spain. In 1998 he went to Tokyo as a guest of Osamu Tezuka Productions where he met with mangaka, editors and animators. He returned to Japan in 2009, and was invited to tour TMS and Studio Ghibli.

Jan Scott-Frazier

Jan worked in the animation (anime) industry in Japan for almost 14 years. She attended animation school and later went on to work at a number of studios in including Artland, Production IG and Atelier BWCA on shows including RikiOh 2,Locke the Superman (OVA), Shurato (OVA), Bubblegum Crash (OVA) and Tottoi(feature). She become an expert in many different aspects of animation production, such as cel painting, animating, backgrounds, camera and directing. In 1991 she founded an animation studio – TAO Corp. Ltd. in Bangkok, Thailand. TAO did work on Moldiver, Diary of Mikan, Genocyber and SWAT Kats amongst others. In 1994, Jan moved into consulting work, freelancing for Cambridge Animation Systems, the developers of Animo (a computer assisted (2D) animation production system). Also in 1994, Jan co-founded GENESIS Digital Publishing Company with Izumi Matsumoto (Kimagure Orange Road) where they created the best-selling Comic ON, a CD-ROM manga compendium in which Jan debuted as a manga artist. In 1999 Jan directed episodes of Susie-chan & Marvy(TV) and spent most of the year working on the development of original TV series projects. In 2000, she moved back to the USA to work at Celsys USA on the development of the next generation of the RETAS digital production system.

Jan has traveled extensively throughout Asia and the US teaching animation techniques and speaking at tradeshows and conventions. She has also translated videos and manga, written and co-written magazine articles and created extensive training materials for cel painting, animation and computer animation.

In 2006 she produced the album Voices for Peace as a charity benefit. She currently produces albums for Voices For, a non-profit corporation and is writing her memoirs.

Super Art Fight

Birthed at Katsucon just four years ago after a group of crazed artists engaged in a round of special hugging, the self-described “Greatest Live Art Competition in the Known Universe” truly is unlike any other live event touring today. Super Art Fight is best described as a mixture of Pictionary and Pro-Wrestling, with larger than life personalities battling each other on the canvas, creating unbelievable art right before your eyes! No two shows are ever alike, so get ready for a once in a lifetime event! For more details, check out SuperArtFight.com.

Robert V Aldrich

Robert V Aldrich – professional writer, accomplished speaker, and know-it-all extraordinaire – returns to Katsucon to give panels on a wide variety of anime and anime-related topics, as well as to promote his newest series, Epitaph For A Memory, and the final chapter of Crossworld II: Outcasts.

A recognized author in numerous mediums, RVA draws from a wide range of anime and Geek-Chic sources to present highly informative panels that are part-standup routine and part-multimedia experience. He will also have a table downstairs where he will do book-signings, expound on the topics in the panels, and generally try to get the attention of anybody walking by.

Studio Kojokan

The husband and wife team of Daniel and Jillian Coglan are full-time martial art instructors, specializing in 16th century Samurai arts. When not teaching at their dojo, the Kojokan, they travel the United States performing and teaching the ancient ways of the most famous warriors in history.

With a combined 35 years of experience, their show is a unique blend of history, combative skill, and humor, designed to educate and entertain audiences both large and small.

Beyond their martial skills, the dynamic duo collaborated to write, direct, host, and star in a 12 episode TV series entitled, “The Way of The Samurai.”

Daniel is also an author, with several martial art articles published, and is currently working on his second full-length novel.

Find out more at: www.facebook.com/SamuraiDanAndJillian

The Geek Comedy Tour

The Geek Comedy Tour is a collective of the funniest stand-up comedians from the Washington DC area. Each one is an experienced comic, having performed at bars, clubs, and colleges all over the East Coast. Telling their normal jokes to normal audiences but all of that was about to change.

There was something amiss. For you see, they were all gigantic dorks, and comedy club crowds don’t fully appreciate jokes about comic books, anime, and video games. So, they’ve decided to let their freak flag fly, form together, and bring their geek jokes to the horde that needs them most.

Once again, the Geeks will be returning to Katsucon with killer new material and guest comics for a full show, a full panel and contest prizes from assorted local comic shops.

And yes, there shall be awesomeness.

Find out more about The Geek Comedy Tour on their official website: http://www.geekcomedytour.com/.

Steve Yun

While still a young college student and part-time hacker in 1998, Steve got his first job at an anime company as a digital animator. It was a dream come true for any fan who grew up on anime to be working somewhere in the industry. After slaving away through 80 hour work weeks and one really bad 100 hour work week where he started hallucinating from being awake too long, Steve called it quits and went back to Riverside where he got his B.A. in Creative Writing. Stay in school, kids!

Fresh out of college and eager to work in the anime industry again, Steve joined Harmony Gold to build the Robotech.com website, and has since co-produced and associate-produced several other projects as well, including the Macross restoration, the Robotech:Battlecry video game, the Robotech: Invasion video game, Robotech Remastered and Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles. Steve has also been featured in an anime documentary called Geeks, which he has still not had a chance to see.

Since its launch, Robotech.com has constantly been one of the busiest anime-related destinations on the internet, being the subject of a Conan O’Brien feature and mentioned on countless anime websites. You can email Steve at info@robotech.com to send him Robotech-related fan mail, complaints, constructive criticism and suggestions.

All Kore

Allkore is an America-based record label started in the early Spring of 2009 by DJ SBZ and DJ Melancholia with the aim of establishing a worldwide , all-inclusive label geared towards fans of the “J-Core”
scene of hardcore music. From the very beginning, Allkore’s goal has been to create enjoyable music that caters to the interests of their fanbase. Allkore’s releases showcase talent from across the globe and are often themed after specific elements of pop culture. Allkore also holds periodic “Allkore Riot Kontrol” netradio events, which span two nights and usually involve 20+ hours of music spanning a wide variety of styles. This year’s party at Katsucon 2012 is the first gathering of Allkore artists in a real-world Allkore Riot Kontrol event, so you won’t want to miss it!

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