By Juan Ibarra/campus editor
After a successful “Kimchi Kon” a few weeks back, campus events were taken to another level with the fourth annual “South Campus Anime Convention” April 11 and 12.
With a slew of events scheduled over the course of two days, the anime convention had something for everyone: Arts and crafts, video game tournaments, cosplay contests and even a Disney-themed panel.
The biggest draw of the convention was the freedom for attendees to cosplay, a practice of dressing up as characters from all areas of entertainment.
South student Marcos Zamora dressed as the superhero Deadpool and explained how he frequents conventions for fun but also uses his cosplays as a way to spread positivity.
“Sometimes St. Jude’s may contact me or other cosplayers to do charity events,” Zamora said. “There are so may charity cosplayers out there.”
Multitudes of cosplayers attended the convention, but there were also a few different companies advertising their products and services.
Art studio Lv. 23 Studios and its founder Laney VanDertuin were in attendance and had a portfolio book available for possible clients.
“We like to go to different conventions and be able to talk to all the different people,” VanDertuin said. “Perhaps if there is an artist who is willing to stop by, we can give them a bit of encouragement or advice. In general, we try to do stuff that people love and help make them smile.”
Anime club president Quentin Jackson has been at TCC since the first anime convention was hosted and has helped bring the event together every year since.
“Watching it grow is just amazing,” Jackson said. “It’s a great feeling because so many people are getting to see what we’ve done and how much effort we have put into this.”
Since the original convention, the event has grown from small spaces and a few rooms to mostly taking place in the entire SSTU building on South Campus.
Previously, the space had not been big enough to house all the attendees and has required the growth to occur naturally every year.
“It’s something passionate for us,” Jackson said. “You get to see the best parts of everybody come out during this convention. I’d say this is the biggest turnout yet. This convention shows how much students want to come together and make something big happen.”
