Tekko is Pittsburgh’s premiere anime, gaming, fashion, music, and Japanese pop culture convention presented by the Pittsburgh Japanese Culture Society. This year, Tekko was able to bring in 9,709 attendees, a new record for the convention. During the weekend there were many panels available to go to, including a few with the guest voice actors!

I attended most of the voice actor panels, which were Q&A’s, the screening of The Boy & The Beast, overcoming voice acting challenges, Late Panels with Pop Ramen and special guests, and one on acting. These panels were very fun to sit in on and get to know the voice actors a little better. They would make sure everyone got all of their questions answered and voices heard before they left. The voice actors were all about pleasing the audience, as long as the audience didn’t take it too far. During these panels, they would even sign a few things if they had time. Luci Christian even made it clear that no one would go home without her signature, if they came for it. Another panel I attended was Can I Use a Fork? A Crash Course in Asian Cuisine. In this panel, the speaker went over all of the main foods in all Asian foods, from Japan to South Korea and more. These panels were held all weekend, from Friday to Sunday.

On Friday afternoon, Tekko held their opening ceremonies. This event was hosted by Samurai Dan, who was a very hilarious host. This is where they introduced all of the voice actors: Bryce Papenbrook, Luci Christian, Vic Mignogia, Monica Rial, and Pro ZD (who is also a YouTuber). They brought back Charles Dunbar and Nancy Kepner. Nancy is signer/song writer, her and Charles sang a song together about Alice in Wonderland going to a convention and meeting all of her favorite anime characters. This performance was one of my favorites. They introduced the fashion guests: Saki Tachibana from BABY, the Stars Shine Bright and Alice and the PIRATES, Kamilah Jones, who started Hard Decora, Haruka Kurebayashi, Toshi Salvino, and Puvithel who is a Pittsburg based J-fashion and alternative designer. The host then announced the band for the concert Saturday night: LM.C! LM.C’s concert on Saturday night was so full of energy! It was one of the best concerts I’ve been to!

Tekko had an exhibition room and gaming room set up. There were card games going, Dance Dance Revolution, as well as a lot of Japanese games! The exhibition room had many dealers, ranging from fashion to art to anime collectables.

During closing ceremonies, they released the theme for next year, MECHA!! This theme was very well received and many people were already planning their mecha themed cosplays before we left the convention center. They took questions and advice for how they can make the convention better for next year during these ceremonies.

See you all there next year for Tekko 2019!