Review: MomoCon 2016, Day 1
What is MomoCon?
MomoCon is one of the fastest growing all ages conventions in the country. Fans of Japanese anime, American animation, comics, video games, and tabletop games come together to celebrate their passion by costuming/cosplay, browsing the huge exhibitors hall, meeting celebrity voice talents, designers, and writers from their favorite shows, games, comics and much more. This year’s festivities weren’t slacking either
MomoCon’s 2016 convention welcomed a record 28,000 gamers, fans, and pop culture enthusiasts to last week’s event at the Georgia World Congress Center. Thousands of people, many in costume, took to the streets in downtown Atlanta for a weekend of entertainment and excitement. An additional 330,000 unique viewers watched a combined 23,000 hours of live streamed panels from MomoCon on Twitch and nearly 10,000 concurrent viewers tuned in for the Smash 4 Finals taking place at MomoCon.
As I took in the sights of numerous cosplayers as Deadpool, Captain Jack Sparrow, and several vampire and hybrid demons, I was greeted by warm smiles, eclectic personalities, and badass weapons (props of course). The crowd was excited in every direction, as was I. I boldly picked up my MomoCon 2016 manual and press badge. I filled day 1 with panels and tours.
The first panel was Cosplay, Photography & Makeup. This informative panel featured tips on Cosplay, photography, makeup, and how to get started in Cosplay with an interactive Q&A session. The panelists were dedicated to helping everyone with their questions on how to bring their favorite characters to life.
The second panel was Introduction to Anime Studies. Professor Brent Allison publicized information on how scholars study anime academically, specific areas of study, current literature, and techniques to produce your own work. Professor Allison is currently working as a tenured professor of education at the University of North Georgia.
Next, I attended the Avatar History for Dummies panel. This panel explores the life, legacy, accomplishments, and downfalls of every known Avatar in the cartoons Avatar The Last Airbender and Avatar The Legend of Korra.
Later that day I attended the We Need to Talk About K-Pop panel. Hallyu? Ulzzang? What does it mean? Join sunbae Bradlyn Walker for a look into Korea’s biggest export-Popular Culture!
After that, I spent a couple of hours in the AMV room. What is an AMV, you say? It’s simple. An AMV is an animated music video. An animated clip or series of clips is set to music and/or edited to parody other animated series or even live-action film or television.
I cannot wait to do this again next year! Who’s with me?!