Behind the Scenes: Cincinnati Comic Expo Insider on What’s New at Anime Ohio
Fans of anime and dark comedy shows in the Cincinnati area rejoice! If you’re wanting to get out of the summer heat this weekend and love anything from Demon Slayer to Helluva Boss, the Sharonville Convention Center is hosting the perfect event for you!
‘Anime’ refers to a specific type of Japanese film and television animation, and you might have heard the names of some of the more popular outputs, like Naruto, One Piece and Studio Ghibli. In the words of one of the Anime Ohio organizers, Matt Bredestege, “If you’re a fan specifically of anime, and a fan of pop culture too, hopefully this is the one stop shop that you can go to to try to get a fix in for the weekend.”
Anime Ohio was the brainchild of the organizers of the Cincinnati Comic Expo; in particular, founders Andrew Satterfield and best friend Matt Bredestege, who I spoke with about the convention. He comments on how Anime Ohio was created:
“One of the things that we realized after a few years of being at the Cincinnati Comic Expo, which is a broad range and celebration of all types of pop culture, was that people were asking for more anime and we had a lot of anime exhibitors there. So we thought, you know what? Let's start an event and a convention just based off of anime! And 2018 was our first Anime Ohio show. This convention is our seventh year. ”
Their first hurdle was finding a guest or two to headline the event. This year, Anime Ohio has six guests: all from the cast of the animated dark comedy Helluva Boss. Matt explains, “We’ve seen it a lot the last two years, both Hazbin Hotel (set in the same universe) and Helluvah Boss. There’s a huge crowd-following for those popular series, and a bunch of them just so happened to be with one agency, so I reached out to book some of the cast as a group. And even if convention-goers are not fans of Helluva Boss, our guests do have other acting credits or other roles dubbing anime.
“So yeah, for our Helluva Boss cast, we started off with Brandon Rogers, and then we followed that up with Erica Linbeck and then Faye Mata, James Monroe Iglehart and Morgana Ignis were added to the guest list, and our last one was Georgie Leahy.”
Besides guests and panelists, another important factor for Anime Ohio are the vendors. Between two rooms at the Sharonville Convention Center, there will be close to 180 exhibitor booths and artist tables spread throughout the building.
“We have a lot of independent artists. These are artists that either make fan-work, publish their own anime/comic or they’re independent crafters at home, meaning they might make jewelry, buttons, stickers, plushies, etc. We have a variety of those, but also exhibitors,” says Matt, describing the difference. “Exhibitors are those that either have licensing or they can mass produce stuff, whether it be mugs, t-shirts or, you know, collectibles and figurines. Some have dvds, blue-rays or manga as well, or feature more obscure types of anime that are hard to get ahold of.”
That’s not all! There are also other activities and events going on, including a gaming room and a maid café. Matt comments, “If shopping isn’t your thing, we wanted something for people to do. One of the big things that we have is our panel room, where the guests can answer questions, and also our workshop room, where fans previously applied to host and talk about things, like cosplay outfits or analyzing shows on a deeper level. And yes, another activity we do have is the maid café, where the performers will entertain and give an experience. The gaming rooms feature free-play video games and systems, tournaments running throughout the weekend, as well as tabletop gaming.”
And if you still have the energy for more, there is another new addition this year: voice acting. An outside organization has built a soundproof voice acting booth where fans will be able to pay a fee to record themselves saying different lines, which will be mixed with some special effects and background music. As Anime Ohio’s website says, “you can really feel like you’re in that anime of your dreams!”
If you’re planning on spending the day there, food options are available in the form of Sharonville Convention Center’s kitchens right off the main hall, as well as concessions and a food court area downstairs.
Maps of the building and show floor are available on the website, and will also be available as large signs at the convention itself, as well as schedules of events. The hours for each day differ: Things kick off at 4:00pm on Friday and last until 9:00pm that night. The show floor reopens on Saturday at 10:00am going until 7:00pm, and then Sunday has a slower start at 11:00am, with festivities ending at 4:00pm that day.
Best part about organizing a convention?
“That’s a loaded question, that is,” Matt laughs. “It’s just the experience. I’m an adrenaline junkie, so it’s just the excitement building up of ‘Oh my God, this is all coming together. This is gonna be a great show’. It’s all memorable, both the big and small moments. People always want to hear about celebrity interactions and things that garner attention, like when Adam West was with us and I had to drive him back and forth between the hotel and the Convention Center; he was singing show tunes and that type of stuff.. But it’s also cool, you know, being on the loading dock while 180 exhibitors offload their trucks full of wares.
“It can also be a lot,” he reflects, “Sometimes it takes 14 months to plan this. As soon as I can get our dates for next year, that’s when I’m reaching out to an agent to try to book guests. We’re also trying to think about what will still be popular, or predicting what will be the buzz the upcoming year. That’s what it’s about, for me, it’s answering, ‘What is going to excite our fans?’
“At the end of a convention weekend, I always love seeing the responses on social media saying, ‘Wow, I had a blast; can’t wait for next year.’ Regardless, I enjoy people having an experience that they can come away with, something that they can tell their friends about. Something that they will hopefully remember for a long time.”
Tickets to Anime Ohio 2025 are sold online only, and you can find those and more information on their website.
