UlasanAnime.com – Returning to Chicago for Anime Central (Acen) this year was an easy decision, not just for the local culinary delights like Pequod’s pizza or Italian beef, but primarily for the impressive lineup of voice actors: Tadokoro Azusa, Tanaka Rie, Kubo Yurika, and Ichinose Kana. The inclusion of Ichinose Kana as the fourth-billed headline guest seiyuu indicates a particularly exciting event.
Ichinose Kana, known for her main character voice in the popular anime “Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury,” is a relatively new presence in the convention scene. Her career has seen a steady rise since her involvement in “Darling in the Franxx,” and her natural vocal tone is noteworthy. For those who follow seiyuu careers, Ichinose is certainly one to watch. Her voice can be playfully compared to an alternate-universe Itou Miku. This weekend provided an opportunity to see more facets of her personality beyond the few radio shows and streams where she has appeared. It’s also worth noting her frequent pairing with Suwa Ayaka, which further piqued interest.
Ichinose and Kubo Yurika’s presence at Acen was a collaboration with Sekai Project. While the full details of this partnership are more complex, the core reason for their appearance was to promote “A Light in the Dark,” an indie Taiwanese visual novel. The game was receiving a Japanese dub for its console releases in Japan in April, with international releases slated for Steam only. This felt somewhat unusual, as the original no-dub version of the game was released on Steam in 2018 after Sekai Project published it. However, as the saying goes, one shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth, or in this case, perhaps a gift deer.
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The panel featuring the original Love Live Muse member (Kubo Yurika) and her “Gwitch” companion (Ichinose Kana) served to showcase the game and included some variety segments with the voice actors. The author hadn’t seen Taka (the interpreter) since before COVID, but he was present to interpret for Kubo Yurika, while Sujay handled Ichinose Kana’s interpretation, with Chris moderating. This setup was quite special. In addition to the panel promoting the Sekai Project game, each guest had their own individual panel. The author live-blogged Ichinose Kana’s panel on Twitter. Kubo Yurika’s panel was, in a word, “cringe,” though not entirely bad, with Lisle leading the session. The “cringe” aspect might not be the best descriptor, as the intention was likely not to make anyone feel bad about their questions or personal stories shared about Love Live’s impact. However, the author hoped for a smoother flow and better reception of these interactions. A suggestion for future panels would be for attendees to write down their questions and practice them beforehand to gauge their impact when spoken to a larger audience. While the author has attended many seiyuu panels at conventions, this particular one fell below the expected standard, though it was still considered a relatively good experience. Moments where Kubo Yurika commented on a fan’s shirt or called a question “dumb” provided fans with unique, priceless memories.
Similar engaging interactions were experienced with Tadokoro Azusa and, to some extent, Tanaka Rie. The author shared a personal anecdote about Tanaka Rie from NYAF 2008, linking to a blog post detailing the experience. Finally being able to present her with flowers, gifts, and receive an autograph was a fulfilling moment. While Tadokoro Azusa’s second panel was an option, it always conflicted with Kubo Yurika’s, and the author wanted to avoid the stress of navigating between different venues within the Hyatt on a Saturday. The music programming at Acen was somewhat disappointing, and there wasn’t enough time to fully engage with both the seiyuu program track and other events. The author also missed performances by KPP and Moe Shop, only catching Moe Shop during the opening ceremony. While a younger version of the author might have tried to attend everything, the current priority was sleep to catch the “Bocchi the Rock” stream at 4 am local time. Taku was also present, but his situation was understood.
For Tadokoro Azusa, the author went the extra mile, preparing a binder and shikishi (autograph boards) with notes. While the crowd was supportive, the author felt there wasn’t an ideal moment to present these items, perhaps due to a lack of advance planning. Focusing more on this aspect might have been beneficial. The limited preparation time meant that all the data entry for the shikishi had to be done on Saturday morning. Unfortunately, Acen’s logistical issues, specifically blocking entry to upstairs panel areas between 9:20 am and 9:55 am, caused many attendees to be late for the panel. Despite this, a significant portion of the preparation was completed in advance, resulting in a satisfactory outcome.
Sujay also went above and beyond for Tadokoro Azusa by organizing a “fan panel” featuring scripted segments. The most engaging segment involved Sujay presenting English slang terms for Tadokoro Azusa to guess their meanings. Whether Tadokoro Azusa is the most “derp” among the “Millions” (many of whom are quite quirky) is debatable, but the interaction was delightful. Hearing her react to words like “weebs” or learning the meaning of “no cap” (which she promptly applied) brought great amusement to everyone. Tadokoro Azusa’s other panel was a standard Q&A, which was mostly as expected. What stood out was the guests’ honesty and straightforwardness, particularly noticeable from Japanese guests like Ichinose Kana and Tadokoro Azusa. A memorable moment occurred when someone presented Tadokoro Azusa with a printed poster of a specific screenshot (shown in the tweet below), which they all signed. It was a humorous gift that likely served its purpose as a unique memento.
The author enjoys when the “fan” aspect of a fan convention truly shines, especially when it leads to successful outcomes. In this regard, the author also assisted in coordinating communications for the flower stand for “A Light in the Dark,” liaising between Acen, Sekai Project, and the Love Live! community that wished to contribute. This coordination was largely done in advance, with the Love Live! fans handling their usual arrangements. On the day of the event, the author helped manage the flower stand with Sekai Project and got some morning exercise. Additionally, a small set of gifts was prepared for Tanaka Rie, with the cost shared among friends who also admire her. These extracurricular activities unfortunately took time away from pursuing more autograph sessions or close-up interactions with other guests.
Despite these commitments, the author was able to attend autograph sessions for the “Spy x Family,” “Vanguard,” and “Vinland Saga” teams, obtaining items from these prominent animators, which felt appropriate for an anime convention. Attempts to get items from Tabata were less successful due to high competition and scheduling conflicts. The author also purchased the Acen 2023 “Vinland Saga” hoodie, finding it a peculiar item for sale, questioning its appeal beyond dedicated fans of the series. It was a thin hoodie rather than a T-shirt and quite expensive, with the hope that Acen sold a sufficient quantity. A Boomslank phone cover was also acquired, and it was good to reconnect with the creative team behind it after a long time.
It was generally a positive experience to see many familiar faces from the US convention circuit this year. Last year, attendance was still somewhat inconsistent as many people were hesitant to return to conventions, but it seems things are improving. Mask usage at Acen 2023 was notably low, estimated at 10-15%, which is still higher than the general trend in Chicago, where it hovers around 1-5%. Regrettably, someone known to the author contracted COVID-19 at Acen, similar to the previous year, although it was unclear if the infection occurred before or during the convention. With the year nearing its halfway point, it remains uncertain if the “new normal” allows for conventions to operate in a “revenge mode.” However, some events are clearly making a strong comeback. The author muses about resurrecting the eventing sticky post. Regardless of convention attendance, the author is traveling enough to maintain their UA Gold status, even with many trips being for non-event-related reasons. It’s not even June, and the travel fatigue for 2023 is already significant.
PS. Food-wise, a visit to an Italian Beef establishment for dinner marked one of the more adventurous outings of the year. It was a great experience. Pequod’s for delivery, however, was considered mediocre, and a return to Gino’s East for delivery is planned for the future.
