Guests of Honor

Jordana Robinson

March 21, 2023

Jordana Robinson started Mossbadger in 2012, when her interests in Lolita fashion and
textile design inevitably led her to want to create her own custom printed fabric and
accessories.  Her prints and designs are influenced by symbology, folklore, history, and
magic – especially fairy stories of witches and woodland creatures.  She uses a mix of
silkscreen printing and digital textile design to bring her prints to life, as well as millinery
techniques and resin casting for unique accessories needed to complete the look.  She
has shown her designs at conventions and fashion events in the United States, Europe,
and Japan.

FanimeCon would like to welcome Jordana as our first ever J-Fashion Guest of Honor!
Throughout the weekend, you’ll be able to find her at our various J-Fashion events such
as the fashion shows, the Coordinate Contest, and selling her fantastical designs at the
Trunk Show. Jordana will also be hosting interactive panels for fans of Lolita and J-
Fashion.

Website: mossbadger.com
Social media: https://www.instagram.com/mossbadger

Cherami Leigh

March 17, 2023

Cherami Leigh has been acting for over 20 years and has appeared on Friday Night Lights, Shameless, Chase, Bones, NCIS:LA and more. She also worked on Fast Food Nation, The Mist, The Hottest State, Not Cool, the Emmy winning film Temple Grandin, and played the young LeAnn Rimes in Holiday in Your Heart. She also starred in the faith-based film Beyond the Farthest Star. She has worked on over 50 video games and over 150 animated projects. Some of her roles include Curly Q and Nia in Doc McStuffins, Sae Kashiwagi in Peach Girl, Tamaki Kawazoe in Bamboo Blade, Patty Thompson in Soul Eater, Lucy Heartfilia in Fairy Tail, Cecily Campbell in The Sacred Blacksmith, Asuna Yuuki in Sword Art Online, Sailor Venus in the Viz Media dub of Sailor Moon, Plutia/Iris Heart in Hyperdimension Neptunia, Sarada Uchiha in Boruto: Naruto Next Generations and Chloe in Pokémon Journeys: The Series. In video games, she voices Rottytops in the Shantae series, Gaige the Mechromancer in the Borderlands series, Minerva in The Walking Dead: The Final Season, Rhea in Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Makoto Niijima in Persona 5 Royal and the Female V in Cyberpunk 2077 for which she received a BAFTA Award for Performer in a Leading Role nomination. 

FanimeCon is happy to welcome Cherami to FanimeCon 2023 once again after she was unable to attend last year!

Twitter: @CheramiLeigh
Instagram: @clkstar

Aicosu

March 09, 2023

Darling and Sylar, known together as Aicosu, believe that Cosplay should be cheap, easy, and accessible for everyone, and strive to make that a reality through their craft.

Aicosu (愛コス, aikosu) is a portmanteau of the japanese translation of Love (愛) Cosplay (コスプレ) or Lover’s Cosplay. Darling and Sylar formed Aicosu in 2009 after meeting at a convention. After 15 years cosplaying together they have attended over 100 conventions, made over 200 cosplays, Masters accolades, and a myriad of panels and workshops. You’re likely to see them on the Concourse, hosting Cosplay Masquerade, or stop by their table at Artist Alley and they are ready to answer any question!

FanimeCon is excited to have our favorite cosplay couple back again in 2023.

Website: https://www.aicosu-cosplays.com
Instagram: @aicosu
Tiktok: @aicosu

Kyle McCarley

March 01, 2023

Kyle McCarley grew up (but not really) in Kansas and moved to Los Angeles at age 18 to study acting. After getting hooked on playing World of Warcraft with his buddies, he co-wrote, co-directed, and voiced several characters in a fan-made online radio play loosely set in that universe. Once he finished his Theater degree at the University of Southern California, he decided to further pursue that passion in the form of a career in voice acting. Kyle’s voice can now be heard in anime, video games, cartoons, audiobooks, live action dubs, TV and radio commercials, industrial ads, and even a talking toy plunger.

Notable anime credits include Mikazuki Augus in Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans, Shigeo “Mob” Kageyama in Mob Psycho 100, Narancia Ghirga in Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, Hirohito Tadano in Komi Can’t Communicate, Red Blood Cell AA2153 in Cells at Work! Code Black, Koku in B: The Beginning, Ryo in Devilman Crybaby, Joe Shimamura, a.k.a. 009, in Cyborg 009: Call of Justice, Aoba Kuronuma in Durarara!!x2, Shinji Matou in Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works, Ryota Watari in Your Lie in April, Helbram in Seven Deadly Sins, Claudia Hodgins in Violet Evergarden, John Steinbeck in Bungo Stray Dogs, Iruka Umino in Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, Gran in Granblue Fantasy: The Animation, Kirii in Blame!, Joichiro Nishi in Gantz: O, Silas Norman in The Asterisk War, and Ikuya Ogura in Ajin: Demi-Human. Kyle also voiced the role of Simon in Cartoon Network’s Infinity Train, Red Son in LEGO Monkie Kid.

Kyle’s video game credits include Android 9S in NieR: Automata, Alm in Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia, Harry Potter in Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, Lugh in Redemption Reapers, Wataru in Scarlet Nexus, Hal in Astral Chain, Zeke in God Eater 3, Gatekeeper in Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Ei Sekigahara in 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim, Baron in Shadowverse, Wizard Cookie in Cookie Run Kingdom, Hyde from Under Night In-Birth in BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle, Zeroken in Disgaea 5, Haruto Higurashi in Zanki Zero: Last Beginning, Daniel in Unepic, Seilong and Kir in Summon Night 6, and various characters in Elder Scrolls Online, Final Fantasy 7 Remake, Last of Us Part 2, Legends of Runeterra, Final Fantasy XV, Tales of Berseria, God Eater 2: Rage Burst, Grand Kingdom, and Omega Quintet.

Kyle also moonlights as a board game streamer as the host of The Board & Barrel (www.bnbtable.top).

Website: https://kylemccarley.com/

Twitter: @KyleMcCarley

Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/kylemccarley

VampyBitMe

February 15, 2023

Linda Le aka VampyBitMe is a cosplayer originally from a small town in Oklahoma, who now resides in California. She was discovered by Japanese company Kotobukiya and  featured in OTACOOL 2 by Danny Choo, where her costumes became a worldwide success! Since then, she has been  featured on Marvel.com; partnered with Capcom, Bandai, DC, and other game companies; as well as featured on CNN in “24 Hours in the Life of a Worldwide Cosplayer”. She continues to travel the world for cosplay and game events, excited to talk about armor making, building Gunpla, creating new artwork, and streaming her passions on Twitch. Currently Vampy is a Host for Bandai Namco Collectables Hobby as well as the Social and Community Manager for the new first-person team shooter title GUNDAM EVOLUTION. She was recently announced as a feature Elite General Trooper Card in the latest Like a Dragon: Ishin! video game. 

FanimeCon is excited to see long-time fan favorite VampyBitMe return for another year of amazing panels, workshops, and more! 

https://www.twitch.tv/vampybitme
https://www.instagram.com/vampybitme/
https://twitter.com/VampyBitme
https://www.facebook.com/VAMPYBITME

Gilles Poitras

February 08, 2023

Gilles was born in Quebec, Canada and raised in a farm town in Northern California. He played with Japanese wooden toys bought at the corner store, watched girls at school do origami, and played various games that few of the kids knew were from Japan. In high school he became a fan of world cinema, and when he was in grad school this led him to explore what little was known in English about anime. One day at work he received a phone call from a friend who had discovered a new student club at U.C. Berkeley, Cal Animage Alpha, devoted to anime. For years he attended regularly and became irrevocably hooked on anime and manga.

He has written three books on anime and for various magazines. For several years he also sat on the senior board of Mechademia, an annual scholarly anthology of essays on anime, manga and fan culture. He has done presentations on anime for various Japan – US friendship groups, libraries, the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, conventions, librarians, the Smithsonian, and once even taught an eight week course on the subject for Pixar staff.

In his spare time he reads manga, watches anime, and researches Japan. He often visits Tokyo, a city he is so interested in that he has been called a Tokyo otaku by a friend who lived there. This eventually led to his latest book Tokyo Stroll, a guide to twenty two interesting neighborhoods to wander about in.

Gilles has been a long-time guest of FanimeCon, beloved by many attendees for his intimate knowledge of anime, manga, and traveling to Japan. FanimeCon is happy to have him join us once again for more stellar panels and events!

Website: www.koyagi.com

Twitter: GillesLPoitras

Facebook: Gilles Poitras

Mastodon: @Gilles@sfba.social