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■ WasabiCon
WasabiCon is Jacksonville, Florida’s largest and longest-running annual pop culture, anime, and gaming convention. Founded in 2012 by Tom Croom of Wasabi Anime (Green Mustard Entertainment, Inc.)

My favorite part of WasabiCon is the Cosplayers. They come from all spectrum of fandom, from anime to web series to Sci-Fi (Star Wars/Star Trek) to video games. I recognized some of the more popular ones, but I would guess I didn’t know 75% of the modern anime. While I love old Anime, like Fist of the North Star and Robotech, the younger generation simply have moved on to stuff like My Hero Academia, Jujutsu Kaisen, Demon Slayer, Chainsaw Man, and many others that I’ve never seen.

Even though I have no idea who the characters they are dressed up as, I admire their dedication and passion.

Based on the cosplays, I would have to say that Amazing Digital Circus was a big hit with the younger cosplayers. This may have something to do with their guest of honor Skye Redden (who voiced Ribbit). I believe this is her first appearance in Jacksonville.

The other big hit seemed to be My Hero Academia. I think because of the large cast of My Hero Academia that fans just have more options for dressup. I was surprised to see that Naruto (the only ninja who dresses up in bright orange) is quite popular. I guess it never died down.

One Piece (thanks to that Netflix show) was also quite popular, although I will admit I can only recognize the straw hat. Death Note was a good one, probably thanks to their guest Brad Swaile (he voices Light). I guess Hazbin Hotel was also popular, but for the life of me, I have no idea what the characters look like.

Note: I tried to identify all the characters or anime series they are from. Unfortunately, all my paper notes were washed away in the heavy rain! If I can’t identify the cosplay, I just labeled it as ‘Anime’. If you know the characters, please post a comment or email me and I will update accordingly.

October 09