Tis the beginning of con season here in Atlanta and what a way to kick things off with MomoCon. A con (short for ‘convention’) that started off really small at Georgia Tech and for some time it was free. Now, they’ve grown almost as big as DragonCon and have been attended at major hotels and the Georgia World Congress Center. It also has gotten a lot better than most cons here in Atlanta and it’s still growing.
So what a way to start the beginning of the con season; by being around amazing cosplayers, anime fans, manga, video games, j-pop/k-pop, and friends. I’ve been able to see some amazing artists like Shayla Hall, Shawn Crystal, Alyssa Lewis, and Marcus Williams. I got to view their amazing artwork and talked to them about being in the industry and what it holds for inspiring artists. I also had the chance to meet a really cool YouTuber and cosplayer Blikku, who’s really bubbly and super friendly. She gave some really cool insight on how to start cosplaying, the in’s and out’s of the industry, and how to be consistent on being a YouTuber and growing an audience. I really enjoyed being at her booth, she was loads of fun.
Now when it came down to doing interviews, I got to do 2. I had the honor of speaking with Erica Mendez, voice actor of Ryuko Matoi from KILL la KILL, and Pac from Pac-man. I also interviewed Zach Collison who voices Steven from Steven Universe. The interview went well with both and I learned a lot about both voice actors and the industry.
Erica Mendez started voice acting at the age of 13. She stated that her boyfriend was voice acting so she decided to do it with him as well. She started her career doing a voice match for Pac-man, but also did Labyrinth of Magic, and Lalaloopsy. But what really put her on the map was KILL la KILL as she voiced the main character Ryuko Matoi (even though she was supposed to be Mako’s little brother, but she got the main role instead). She’s a huge fan of anime and would like to do a voice over in a Final Fantasy game or film. Some of her favorite voice actors are Cree Summer, Steve Blum, Lauren Bailey, and Troy Baker among others.
Now with Zach Callison… Man, this kid loves Mass Effect. Off the bat, the interview started off with Mass Effect and he did mentioned that he, “Would love to do a voice over in that game.” He’s been in the industry for 11 years and started voice acting on a radio show called Adventure in Odyssey. He really enjoyed the radio show and from there he pursued it. So when it comes to singing songs from Steven Universe, his most requested songs are “Cookie Cat” and “Giant Woman” but his favorite song is “Stronger Than You” (which is my favorite too). The only reason why it’s his favorite is because he doesn’t have to sing it, but said Estelle (the voice of Garnet) has an amazing voice. Zach has been to 15 cons so far and has no plans of stopping, or as he energetically put “I found my people!” I tried to get him to give up some spoilers about Steven, but he couldn’t really spill any beans. He just said, “You’re in for a big surprise in the next couple of weeks!”
As the con came to an end on Sunday, everyone was still browsing around, getting that last bit of shopping in at the dealer’s room, testing out video games, or taking their final pictures in their cosplay. It was a lot of fun for the beginning of the con season. If you guys want to start off you summer con season right, I would suggest MomoCon: awesome staff, awesome people, awesome place, just all-around awesome!
-TBZ