Last weekend Anime USA returned to the Hyatt Regency Crystal City, Virginia. Fans of anime (Japanese animated films), manga (Japanese-style comic books), and similarly styled video games attended symposiums, shopped, played games, and socialized with other fans of the genre.  

First we begin with the costumes: Mallory Phillips cosplayed as Marin Kitagawa from “My Dress-Up Darling.”  Characters in this manga-turned-anime property themselves dress up as characters, for instance wearing elfin ears, as did Mallory.

We next met cosplayer Maja, who was Ena from “Project Sekai,” and Key, who cosplayed as Xiao from “Genshin Impact”—each representing characters from the Japanese and now Chinese video game world respectively. Key spoke of her admiration for the global cultural awareness that Anime conventions celebrate.  We also met David Gallo as Tsukasa and Robert Adams as Hanoko, both stern warriors from the manga series “Hanako” which became anime. Cosplayers Skye (who was Ganyu as maid from “Genshin Impact”) and Peep (who was Meryl from “Trigun Stampede”) also enjoyed the opportunity to meet other individuals with the same anime interests.  

Performers were present as well. Ayla Almee, who appeared in the anime showcase “IdolUSA,” was clad in green costume and goggles as “Froppy,” or Tsuyu Asui, from the anime series “My Hero Academia;” she also models and came with photographers. For those unfamiliar with the series, “My Hero Academia” is a popular show and manga book series about a child born without supernatural powers in a world where they are common.  

We also were introduced to Molly Searcy, a voice actress in many anime titles, including her voicing Mako Reizei in “Girls und Panzer.” (Mako is a student at a high school where the main team sport is “tankery,” fighting with classic Panzer or  tanks!) Texas native Molly also stars in “One Piece,” the on-going story of a child who accidentally starts on the path of becoming King of the Pirates. The story is about his efforts to assemble a crew, particular as to who will be the final crew member. Molly is also a stage actress, having taken on such challenging roles as Lyubov Ranevskaya in Chekhov’s “The Cherry Orchard” and as evil Nurse Ratched in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.”

In addition to a gaming room and shopping opportunities (we learned there is a version of Monopoly with the theme of the famous—some would say classic—“Sailor Moon” anime), anime also has a serious side. Examples included an exhibition on Japanese dolls and arts and crafts as well as a symposium on the Japanese tea ceremony, a hallmark of Japanese culture. Scholarly presentations about the literary aspects of anime were also on offer. Brent P. Newhall gave a particularly engaging presentation on the aforementioned “Genshin Impact.” This is an anime-themed open world video game which features a multi-year plot played out over the exploration of the various regions of its fantasy world, as secrets of that world’s past are gradually revealed. Lecturer Newhall finds compelling links between Genshin Impact and Norse mythology, with Irmin mirroring the Germanic hero Siegfried, Rhinedottir taking on the role of the wily King Gunther (also from the “Nibelungenlied” saga), Deinsleif as the traitorous Hagen, Abyss Sibling in Princess Kriemhild’s shoes, and even presence of the Valkyries, which Brent compares from Wagner’s operatic “Ring” cycle, not from the medieval “Nibelungenlied” directly.

  Clearly, this annual conference offers something for anyone who is even slightly interested in anime, fantasy, or science fiction (indeed, one panel was called “So Much Star Wars”!).  The cultural aspects are engaging as well, as when one enters through a classic Shinto Torii gateway in a Northern Virginia hotel.  We eagerly await next year’s Anime USA convention!