Guests

Anjali is a voice actor and writer known for roles including Dori in Genshin Impact, the Grim Player Character in Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands, Karin in Fena: Pirate Princess, Mimi Imimi in Yu-Gi-Oh! SEVENS, Danika in Pokémon Journeys, Ramzi in Attack on Titan, Fuku in Demon Slayer, and more!

Over 20 years ago Briana Lawrence and Jessica Walsh (Snow) were two fanfiction-writing ladies who geeked out over Gundam Wing and Resident Evil. Now? They’re still geeks and still have their fandoms, but they’re also a cosplaying married couple who write books, discuss the importance of representation, and do their best to keep their three butt-head cats in line. (They’re failing. Send help.)

Briana has had a number of publications for various pop culture websites, including Funimation, SyFy Wire, Teen Vogue, The Mary Sue, and more. She currently works as the Senior Features Editor at Crunchyroll where she edits a team of phenomenal writers and writes articles that take a deep dive into anime. When she’s not trying to tell you why you need to marathon “SK8 the Infinity,” she’s working on her magical girl book series, “magnifiqueNOIR.” She also just signed her first two-book deal with Andrews McMeel Publishing.

Snow is also a writer and is hard at work on the third book in the couple’s “Hunters” urban fantasy series now that she’s launched her horror anthology Little Creepers. She’s also had her horror stories read on various podcasts such as “Ghoul Intentions” and the always spine-tingling Mr. Creepy Pasta. Currently, she runs the queer review blog, “Well, Are They?” where she takes a look at various forms of LGBTQ+ content. The blog also hosts Briana’s “Queer Manga Book Club.” When Snow’s not writing, you can catch her (potentially swearing) at her sewing machine, working on various craft projects and cosplay where she designs variations of her and Briana’s favorite characters. Don’t be surprised if you see one of them sporting a “Super Mario Brothers” dress or “Toy Story” inspired ball gown.

When going to conventions, Briana and Snow always bring their best. You can get lost in their books—or heck—you can come by for a selfie and fun conversations about cosplay, anime, ships, or video games. (Use caution: if you start a conversation about Supergiant Games’ “Hades” they may never let you leave!)

Bri’s website: https://www.brishouldbewriting.com/

Snow’s website: http://www.sewntogetherreflections.com/

Disney, Anime, Broadway, top 40: Caleb Hyles has done it all when it comes to cover songs! With his big heart, and even bigger voice, Caleb has wowed millions across the globe with a multitude of musical styling and an infectious, positive attitude. Caleb Hyles has a history in musical theatre, having grown up in a family of musicians and thespians. There was no doubt that Caleb was born to be an entertainer of some kind and YouTube become the platform for his talent! Caleb has been recognized by the likes of Ryan Seacrest, Tyler Oakley, DeeDee Magno Hall, and many others for his musical prowess. Ever since his viral hit, “Let It Go”, dropped in 2014 Caleb has not stopped growing his YouTube channel which has garnered over 1.5 million subscribers. By holding Live Q&A’s, and random “Stream Nights” with fans, Caleb has nurtured a growing community centered around one-on-one interaction and a common love for all things music. No other performer, or YouTube personality does as much for his fans as Caleb does.

He continues to produce new content on a weekly basis and is looking to expand his YouTube reach. He recently has released a new original album titled “In One Breath”, reaching a top 10 position on one of Apple’s iTunes charts.  Peace, Love, and Metal!

Cole Feuchter is a voice actor based out of Dallas, Texas. Most notably, you can hear him as Yoshio Asakura (ISHIDA & ASAKURA), Naoto Hamasaki & Archer Springfield (CAMP BUDDY), Lenga Valentine (FULL SERVICE), Lascivion (MISTER VERSATILE), The Divine Speaker (THE DIVINE SPEAKER), Fàn Lí/Zhú Yīn/Dù Kāng/Zhong Li Quan (HEROES OF MYTHIC MIGHT) as well as various character in other mobile games such as SOUL LAND RELOADED. He can also be heard in the anime dubs of THE SAINT’S MAGIC POWER IS OMNIPOTENT, THE CASE STUDY OF VANITAS, THE TITAN’S BRIDE and AKUDAMA DRIVE.

Cole is also fluent in Japanese, earning his degree at the University of North Texas, and outside of voice work, he is also a content creator and was even one of the creators for GAMESTOP TV, frequently featured in the “All-In” segments.

If you want to learn more about Cole, you can check out his Twitter @LordAzria or his website at colefeuchter.com

GHOST GiRL GOODS is a kawaii and Harajuku fashion inspired clothing brand from Toronto, Canada. They work closely with the following Japanese brands; 6%DOKIDOKI, NUEZZZ, and HYPER CORE, and have done various collaborations with them. The brand slogan “BE STRANGE. FEAR THE NORM.” encourages others to fear blending in and let their true colours shine, no matter how bright they are! A collection of fun characters reside in GHOST GiRL HQ, which include the 5 monsters who you may even see on various products.

The GGG dynamic duo is looking forward to visiting Anime St. Louis for the first time and hopes you enjoy their colourful fashion, hype energy, and fun panels! 

www.ghostgirlgoods.com

www.instagram.com/ghostgirlgoods

Hard Decora brings you comics, apparel, and accessories inspired by alternative fashion and the need to be aggressively cute! 

Insta- @hard_decora 

TikTok – @harddecora

FB – @hard decora

Jason Charles Miller is a critically acclaimed and highly accomplished musician and voice actor. As a voice actor, Jason has appeared in over 100 animated series, anime and video games. Highlights include Halo Infinite, Fire Emblem Heroes (Múspell), Avatar: The Last Airbender, The Legend of Korra, World of Warships: Transformers (Optimus Prime), Neverwinter Online (Drizzt Do’Urden), Gundam: Iron Blooded Orphans (Aston), Genshin Impact, Lost Ark, Star Trek Online, Attack on Titan (Gelgar), World of Warcraft, Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Chivalry 2, Kingdom Hearts III, Mafia III, Final Fantasy VII Remake, Final Fantasy XIV, Hearthstone and the Street Fighter series (Guy).

A life-long Dungeons and Dragons enthusiast, Jason hosted the Geek & Sundry show Starter Kit, has appeared on Critical Role (Garthok), is the host and creator of On Tour With Dragons, which appears on the official Dungeons and Dragons YouTube channel, and is the Dungeon Master of The Gaxx Pack, a weekly D&D adventure on the GaryConLive Twitch channel. Jason is also the co-host of Bardic Inspiration, a weekly D&D songwriting show sponsored by Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms on the CNEGames Twitch channel.

Jason’s music has been featured on such TV shows as True Blood, The NFL Today, The Deadliest Catch, Wicked Tuna, WWE Smackdown, AEW Dynamite, The Legend of Vox Machina and Critical Role (theme song composer). Video game soundtrack enthusiasts would recognize Jason’s singing voice from the theme song for Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers, from Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance’s ‘Rules of Nature’ and multiple songs in Cyberpunk 2077. He is also the singing voice of Ra’s Al Ghul in D.C. Superhero Girls. Jason has written songs with Billy Ray Cyrus, Rickey Medlocke [Lynyrd Skynyrd], Charlie Starr [Blackberry Smoke], Ben Moody [Evanescence] and has been awarded 2 gold records (for the Queen of the Damned and The Punisher soundtracks) and 1 platinum record, for co-writing the song ‘Cruisin’ for a Bruisin’ for Disney’s Teen Beach Movie. He is also widely recognized as the founder of the rock band Godhead and has toured around the world opening for Linkin’ Park, Disturbed, Slipknot, Rammstein and Ozzy Osbourne.

Kayleigh is a decorated Voice Actress, Worldbuilder, and Artist from a cornfield in Illinois. She is best known for playing the fan favorite character Yuta Okkotsu in the hit anime movie Jujutsu Kaisen 0, as Pina in Netflix’s highly successful BEASTARS, and as Testament in the classic fighting game Guilty Gear Strive. She is one of few Transgender women in professional voice over blazing a new path in the realm of acting for anime, cartoons, and games. Her most striking attribute is her ability to portray a vast range of characters masculine, feminine and further, as well as just being an overall goof!

Kiba Walker is a voice actor and performer based out of Dallas, Texas. His most notable roles in anime are in Haikyuu!! (Koganegawa/Komi), Tomodachi Game (Manabu), The Heike Story (Kiyotsune), My Hero Academia (Cider House Leader), How the Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom (Brad Joker), Black Clover (Paplo), The Titan’s Bride (Caius Lao Bistail), HoriMiya (Tanihara), Sasaki and Miyano (Kouhai), 86: EightySix (Marcel), Junji Ito Collection (Tsukano), Back Arrow (Gote), BOFURI (Christmas Rose), Edens Zero (Younger Foote Brother), Magatsu Wahrheit Zuerst (Jade), Saint Seiya (Scylla Io), Kono Oto Tomare (Naoya), Case File Kabukicho (Diana), Skate Leading Stars (Irie), Ishida and Asakura (Oppai-seijin), Cautious Hero (Kebono), and Cells at Work!! (Mumps Virus).

You can also hear him in Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card, Garo Vanishing Line, Fruits Basket, One Piece, The Case Study of Vanitas, Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Die Neue These, Lupin III: Prison of the Past, Radiant, The Saint’s Magic Power is Omnipotent, Sorcerous Stabber Orphen: Battle of Kimluck, Zombie Land Saga Revenge, and more.

In video games, you can hear him in Genshin Impact (Xu Liuishi), Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands (Long Bronzed Gilbert), Contra Returns (Pulse Williams), GYEE (Caius), Camp Buddy (Keitaro/Yoshinori), Full Service (Sota), Earthlock (Amon/Gnart), and more.

Kiba is also a full time drag performer, under the name Salem Moon, and has also directed and written for English dubs of anime.

Kira Buckland is a voice actress born and raised in Alaska and currently based in southern California. She is best known as the English voice of “Jolyne Cujoh” in her favorite series, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean.

Some of Kira’s popular video game credits include NieR: Automata (2B), Genshin Impact (Kuki Shinobu), Soulcalibur VI (Talim & 2B), BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle (Heart), River City Girls (Kyoko), Street Fighter V (Falke), Fire Emblem Heroes (Eirika & Katarina), Ace Attorney: Spirit of Justice (Trucy), Tales of Zestiria (Edna), Danganronpa 2 (Hiyoko Saionji), Danganronpa V3 (Kirumi Tojo), Disgaea 5 (Seraphina), Dead or Alive 5 & 6 (Honoka), Dislyte (Brynn), Persona 5 Strikers (Kuon Ichinose), and many more.

Anime credits include Kakegurui (Mary), Demon Slayer (Mitsuri), Edens Zero (Rebecca), YashaHime: Princess Half-Demon (Setsuna), JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Diamond is Unbreakable (Reimi), Komi Can’t Communicate (Makeru), Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle (Princess Syalis), Tower of God (Yuri), Magia Record (Iroha), Love Live: School Idol Project (Umi), Accel World (Kuroyukihime), Blue Exorcist (Izumo), Sailor Moon (Mimete), Hunter x Hunter (Zushi), and ReZero (Beatrice). Kira’s other interests include coffee, cats, classic rock, fighting games, and Pokemon GO. She is also the founder of the Voice Acting Club, a community linking voice talent and content creators around the world.

Twitter: KiraBuckland

Instagram: killercoffeequeen

Facebook: KiraVoices

Twitch: msziggystardust

Lulu Van Hoagland’s work focuses on mental health and emotional struggles. Eyes, tears, and detached body parts abound in an attempt to explain invisible pain in a visible space.

Socials: Instagram @luluvanhoagland

Oriana Perón is a cosplaying, costume, and fashion designing, drag queen. She has been cosplaying since 2006 when this nerdy hobby turned into a passionate career. Oriana has studied theatre and costume design at Indiana University and continues her studies with a focus on fashion design, metalsmithing, and jewelry. Recently, Oriana has produced and performed her Drag Race and Drag Show events at Ohayocon, Anime Magic, AnimeNext, C2E2, Matsuricon, and ACEN. Oriana currently lives in Bloomington, Indiana and is a producer and host for her shows, “World of Fantasy” and “World of Gayming” at The Back
Door. Her favorite thing is dressing up like cartoon moms and sending memes to all her friends. Oriana looks forward to conventions coming back and seeing all her friends and fans again! You can find Oriana online at:

www.orianaperon.com
www.instagram.com/orianaperon
www.etsy.com/shop/OrianasDesigns

Since its launch in 2011, J.fashion brand Pop Princess strives to embody the pastel sweet and gothic coexisting within, each design lovingly handmade with thoughtful intention to ensure one feels as unique as they are: a work of art. The designer strives to uphold artisan values of slow fashion with thoughtful intention, creating inclusive designs for the LGBTQIA community and giving back to fight social injustice.

Socials: Instagram @ pop.princess.designs

Pros and Cons Cosplay are twin Master-level cosplayers from the Midwest who have a strong understanding of cosplay construction, cosplay competition and diversity and inclusion. They have competed and won numerous awards for cosplay craftsmanship and performance and focus on complex builds with multiple design elements including needlework, foamwork, wig styling, and intricate detailing. They are dedicated to making the cosplay community a safe and inclusive space for all, and work personally and professionally on developing inclusive cosplay contest policies, educating the community on bystander intervention techniques, social justice and inclusion in the cosplay and costuming community.

Social Media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/

IG: Instagram.com/prosandconscosplay

Website: https://meetprosandcons.com/

Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/prosandcons

Wig-Wig Cosplay is an award-winning cosplay duo out of Minneapolis, Minnesota. WigTall and WigSmall have been cosplaying together since 2013 and have enjoyed traveling the country with costumes in tow. In 2019, they were the Team USA representatives for the International Cosplay League in Madrid, Spain, where they won first place in the duo category! They are best known for their combination of technical sewing and fabrication skills with entertaining performances. Their list of self-taught specialties includes sewing, leatherwork, foamwork, wig-styling, propwork, silk painting, and many more. Alongside competition, they have been judging craftsmanship and performance as well as working to promote and assist cosplay departments and competitions. When not in the greenroom, Wig-Wig Cosplay has a passion for learning new techniques and skills, and they love sharing their knowledge and experience with the community.

Photo credit: dondolcephotography

Yaya Han is a cosplayer, designer and author. She discovered cosplay in 1999, when it was still a small, quirky section of the geek-fandom. Armed with a used $40 sewing machine, Yaya threw herself into making costumes headfirst, and quickly absorbed the heart and soul of costume design and creation. To this day, Yaya has made 400 personal costumes in every fandom genre imaginable, as well as her own original designs. Her long-standing consistency of creating intricate and lavish costumes has made her a craftsmanship Icon and beloved competition judge in the cosplay world, and inspired countless people to get into cosplay.

Over the years, Yaya has played a pivotal role in introducing cosplay to the mainstream audience and shaping it into a commercial industry. She has been a Guest Judge on 3 seasons of TBS TV Network’s “King of the Nerds” competition show, starred in the Syfy TV Network’s Docu-Series “Heroes of Cosplay”, and been interviewed by countless magazines, books, newspapers and online media outlets.

Yaya’s current focus is on making tools and materials more available to the cosplay community, through collaborations with global creative companies. She designs Yaya Han branded cosplay sewing patterns for The McCall Pattern Company, which are distributed worldwide. JOANN Fabric & Craft Stores carries the “Cosplay by Yaya Han” line in key categories of fabric, trims and EVA foam in all of their 860 stores and online. She helped launch a sewing machine for BERNINA and partnered with Dremel to bring rotary tools to JOANN stores.

In 2020, Sterling Books published Yaya’s self-written book about the evolution of modern cosplay called “Yaya Han’s World of Cosplay,” in which she also chronicles her life story of being born in China, raised in Germany and coming to America as a teenager and setting her life’s work in motion through the discovery of cosplay. The book is available worldwide wherever books are sold.

Commercial ventures aside, Yaya often participates in charitable projects involving cosplay, and strives to be a positive force in the community. Through hard work, unmatched passion and infectious enthusiasm, Yaya has helped cosplay gain respect and integrity as an art-form in the fandom world and art communities, and her decade long campaign for creativity has helped raise Cosplay to the standards we know today. Everyday, Yaya continues to pave the path for the beloved art and lifestyle we know as Cosplay.

Website: yayahan.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/yayacosplay
Twitter: @yayahan
Instagram: @yayahan
Youtube: @yayacosplay