Tigercon in Towson, MD
Anime and video game characters filled Towson University’s student union building on October 25, 2014 for the school’s annual anime convention, Tigercon. This event has been held every year since 2008 and continues to be a big success for the hosts, TU’s anime club.
Main events included performances by the Baltimore Gamer Symphony Orchestra and the Geek Comedy Tour, the latter of whom having performed at Tigercon several times in the past. There was also an “Anime Dating Game,” a game show-styled event with cosplayers participating in-character. A total of 19 fan-run panels were also held, with topics including “Kamen Rider: A History of Riding, Justice, and Kicking,” “You Shouldn’t Buy That,” “Lupin III: 30 years since Cagliostro,” and “Sega Does What Nintendon’t.”
Tigercon also screened a number of different anime series and films, including classics such as The Cat Returns, Howl’s Moving Castle and Metropolis, along with current favorites such as Hetalia: The Beautiful World and Steins;Gate. The popular photo suite was once again run by university photographer and Japanese professor Kanji Takeno, who has made the several hundred photos of cosplayers available online to view.
While no date has been announced for a 2015 Tigercon, given the success of this year’s event it’s more than likely the anime festival will once again return to Towson University’s campus in the future.
