Brick City Anime Festival is a two-day, first-year anime and cosplay convention in Ocala, Florida at the World Equestrian Center. Although a brand new convention, there was an incredible turnout of attendees! Special guests, captivating programming, and marvelous cosplay competitions drew in crowds of people and made this inaugural event memorable.
Last month, we gave you ‘3 Great reasons to attend Brick City Anime Festival 2022.’ In this blog, we give you three reasons why Brick City Anime Festival was a remarkable experience.
Reason # 1: Remarkable Voice Actors!
Brick City Anime Festival featured a variety of talented voice actors. Florida Comic Cons caught up with three of them: Bryce Papenbrook, Cherami Leigh, and Stephanie Nadolny.
Bryce Papenbrook
Renowned voice actor, Bryce Papenbrook (top left), is widely praised for his voiceover roles within animation. He voices popular characters such as Inosuke in Demon Slayer, Eren Jaegar in Attack on Titan, Cat Noir in Miraculous Ladybug, Makoto Naegi and Nagito Komaeda in Dangan Ronpa, Rin Okumura in Blue Exorcist, Kirito in Sword Art Online, and many more! This was Bryce Papenbrook’s first time back at a Florida convention since 2019.
Cherami Leigh
Cherami Leigh (top right) made quite an impact as well. She was last in Florida in 2018. Brick City attendees welcomed her back with excitement. Her most famous roles include Lucy Heartfilia in Fairy Tail, Sailor Venus in Sailor Moon, Aisa in One Piece, Patty Thompson in Soul Eater, and Sarada Uchiha in Boruto: Naruto Next Generations.
Stephanie Nadolny
Our Dragon Ball fans were elated to meet Stephanie Nadolny (bottom), voice of young Son Goku and young and teenage Son Gohan.
Reason # 2: Remarkable Cosplayers!
Between the Brick City Anime Festival attendees who dressed up and the professional guest cosplayers, there were some truly memorable outfits to see!
Cosplay Music Video
Cosplayers showed up with their best work at Brick City Anime Fest. We compiled a video to share some of our favorite looks!
@floridacomiccons Some of the AMAZING cosplays we saw at Brick City Anime Fest this past weekend! #animecosplay #cosplay #brickcityanimefest #brickcityanimefestival
Cosplay Gallery
Nocedo Photo was able to capture some of the outstanding attendees who cosplayed! Here’s a look at some of their costumes.
Cosplay Guests
There were seven featured cosplay guests at Brick City Anime Fest. @Sofiiiiagomez (top left), @Abradorable (top right), @Justyeliz (bottom left), @Takeo.cos (bottom center), @Pikauchu (bottom right), @Manatcosplay, and @Super.snips hosted costume contests and panels over the weekend when they weren’t chatting with convention attendees. These professional cosplayers’ attention to detail in their art becomes even more apparent in person.
Reason # 3: Remarkable Vendors!
Brick City Anime Festival was filled with enticing vendors! Two vendors that made their way into our spotlight are Tinker’s Caravan and Darwin Rose Studio.
Tinker’s Caravan
Tinker’s Caravan designs affordable 3D props and stenciled canvases. Tinker began by helping his friend repair a 3D printer and the rest is history. This year, Tinker’s Caravan sponsored the Saturday Craftsmanship Cosplay Competition at Brick City Anime Festival. Winners were selected using computer programming to calculate the most points awarded for Design, Creativity, and Craftsmanship.
Darwin Rose Studio
Darwin Rose Studio is a local Florida artist that creates anime and video game merchandise. Popular products they offer are stickers, buttons, and pins. They began by creating art for Pokemon, Soul Eater, and Breaking Bad, but now offer art from almost any anime you can think of!
“I’m really proud of finding my balance between production quantity and quality.” –Darwin Rose Studio
Upcoming cons
Bold City Con is in Jacksonville, FL this weekend, February 25th-27th. Read all about why we’re excited to go in our ‘4 Big Reasons to Attend Bold City Con’ blog!
Get all the info on all the cons throughout the year at our Con Calendar. Here’s a preview of March, 2022:
SW-Florida Con in Fort Myers on March 6
SW-Florida Con is a pop culture convention in Fort Myers, Florida on March 6, 2022. The event is at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. Convention hours are Sunday 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Tickets are $20. Kids 11 and under are free per paid adult, additional children are $10. Click here to get tickets.
Collective Con in Jacksonville on March 11-13
Collective Con 2022 is an anime convention held in Jacksonville, Florida on March 11-13. And, the three-day event is at the Jax Expo Center at the Jacksonville Fairgrounds. In addition, convention hours are Friday noon – 6 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. – 6 p.m., and Sunday 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Click here to get tickets.
MYCON in Orlando on March 26
MYCON is an all-fandom convention in Orlando, Florida on March 26th, 2022. The Saturday event is at Avanti Palms Resort and Conference Center. Convention hours are 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. for the showroom and 10 a.m. – 7 p.m. for panels. Click here to get tickets.
FT-Lauderdalecon in Fort Lauderdale on March 27
FT-Lauderdalecon is a comic and pop culture convention in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on March 27, 2022. The event is at the Embassy Suites Hotel. Convention hours are Sunday 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Click here to get ticket.
