uWu Con: Day 1 Recap
Geek Network had the incredible opportunity to once again host the panels for the second year of uWu Con. This year was once again filled with multiple food vendors, colorful and vibrant cosplays, and of course amazing celebrity talent.
uWu Con stepped up their game this year by doubling the number of food vendors, to hit any type of fans’ taste buds the variety ranged from bao buns to Japanese-style curry, to poke bowls, delicious pork stuffed onigiri, and flawless takoyaki.
The international snack stands were also outside in the food court, to sell chips that you can only get in other countries such as squid flavored lays, ketchup lays, crabs, and chicken lays, plus international sodas. From these little snack stands the absolute favorite would have to be the dehydrated chili-flavored soft-shell crabs.
With a second con or a sequel, if some would like to call it, you have the room to expand. Like last year the con was spread out between two buildings, however, this year the buildings were conjoined which still added ample space but gave that intimate con feel. With the con being spread between two connecting buildings it added the convenience of being able to enjoy the nice AC in the Arizona heat and eliminated the process of having to go through two separate security checkpoints.
Now a bigger building meant that the con had the opportunity to add even more vendors! The vendors also had their own flair to offer congoers and collectors alike. As a staple Zia Records was there selling manga, anime figurines, video games, and other trinkets. The Gaming Zone was there to sell plushies, offer prizes in their claw machine, and put them on the globe with their famous “mystery bags.”
The other vendors also did their part and offered different and unique items. The items went from custom artwork/prints to doshi pillows to kimonos, shirts that offered original artwork, retro video games, region-locked video games, stickers, coasters that had your favorite anime character etched on them, and who could forget custom-made lightsabers, that yes you could design.
Who wouldn’t want to build their own lightsaber especially when the majority of the cast of Star Wars: Rebels were part of the celebrity talent for the con.
The weekend saw the cast of Star Wars: Rebels (Vanessa Marshall, Tiya Sircar, Steve Blum, Taylor Gray, Dante Basco, and Mary Elizabeth McGlynn.) Very rare American appearances from some Japanese voice actors such as Kana Ichinose, Nobutoshi Canna, and Ryo Horikawa. Plus many more. The highlights from Friday were Kana Ichinose in which she interacted with American fans, and spoke about her career, and upcoming shows she will be appearing in, and what it’s like being a Final Fantasy fan, and joining the video games series now.
The Naruto panel featured Kirk Thornton, David Lodge, and Mary Elizabeth McGlynn. This panel focused on how these voice actors each found their voice, and how they got cast as their respected characters, such as how David Lodge is almost an identical voice to his Japanese counterpart as Master Jiraiya.
Lastly, the Demon Slayer panel ended up being a very intimate panel, with no moderator and just the stars Jonah Scott, and Kirk Thornton sitting down chatting with their fans, answering all their questions, and making sure to take their time to spend time with all of them. For more coverage stay tuned for our day two coverage…!
Dani Barroso
In my spare time, I like to go on long walks with my dog Chewie, go to concerts, read comics, watch spoopy movies, and if time permits play some video games with the guys. For more about me, and my random adventures follow me on social media!
