Central Iowa is hosting its first-ever “GalaxyCon Animate!” this weekend, a convention similar to ComiCon but this event is devoted to animation, anime, cosplay and video games.
Mike Broder, president and founder of GalaxyCon, says they have a long list of celebrated voice actors who will be in Des Moines to meet legions of fans.
“Monica Rial is the number-one woman in anime,” Broder says. “She has the most credits in the industry in history. I think she has the Guinness World’s Record.”
He says millions of followers of anime and animation around the globe will recognize the voices of the two dozen actors who are appearing at the three-day Iowa gathering.
“Josh Keaton, who’s the voice of Spiderman, who’s the voice of Young Hercules, Green Lantern in the cartoons,” Broder says. “We’ve got a bunch of anime guests. We’ve got the main cast of Ruby, which was another big cartoon.”
In addition to the voice actors, GalaxyCon is bringing in about a dozen professional cosplayers. They’re performance artists who dress in elaborate costumes and make-up, representing characters from anime, video games, TV and film.
“They’re going have booths where they’re being in costume and they’ll take pictures with people,” Broder says. “They’re selling prints of their work and then they’re also walking around, taking pictures with people, and they’re hosting costume contests, cosplay contests, they’re doing workshops, panels. There’s a lot of events that are happening around this and all the guests are doing Q-and-As.”
The event runs today through Sunday at the Iowa Events Center in Des Moines. Broder is hoping for ten-thousand visitors through the weekend.