From Newtype Magazine's September 2007 issue page 158:
METROCON
Martial arts battles can be found all over the Tampa Convention Center when Metrocon (
sic)
comes to town. Pirates and secret agents fought Motoko Kusanagi on the
waterfront, a cosplay chess match turned into a battle royale where
Cervantes mopped the floor with Sailor Moon, and Spider Man joined
Daredevil in a battle against black-clad ninjas.
The
martial-arts demonstrations were special features of the fifth-year
Florida event. Joined by a group of swordsmen, Metrocon (
sic)
arguably had more costumed athletic action than you're likely to find
down the street at the St, Pete Times Forum during the Lightning hockey
season. Other conventions have cosplay chess matches where costumed
characters play chess pieces who have brief confrontations when one
piece "takes" another, but the martial artists at Metrocon (
sic)
turned those confrontations into all-out battles that had the audience
cheering for their favorite characters-especially when a costumed Ryoga
from
Ranma 1/2 battled with his umbrella.
The
Florida hear and humidity had fans thankful for the convention center's
air conditioning. Equally appreciated was the appearance of guests such
as Scott McNeil; the irrepressible Canadian was in perfect form during
the summer weekend, always ready to greet fans and never coming close
to running out of jokes. One of the other visitors, actor Johnny Yong
Bosch, is a trained martial artist who could have fir right in with the
fighting displays-but he expended his energy on his guitar, performing
a Saturday night set that had fans standing up to rock with his
Eyeshine band. Bosch's opening act was part of a musical double-header
of familiar and popular dub voice actors that also included Vic
Mignogna, who was a pianist and composer before he was an actor.
Mignogna joked about liking Barry Manilow tunes, performed his own
original works and brought fans onstage (
sic) to help him sing his tongue-in-cheek "Soldier A" song, about characters in anime dubs with one-line parts.
But
if you gauge an event's appeal by the number of people who want to
attend, the most popular show of the weekend was staged by fans in
gowns and masks. Metrocon (
sic) is one of the anime conventions
that's started having masked balls, and so many people wanted to go to
the Tampa dance that the line nearly extended outside the building. It
was more than a coincidence that many of the dancer's outfits looked
more anime character costumes than evening wear, of course.
text and photos** by Kevin Lillard
transcribed for AnimeMetro.com by Lolita Minako**if you wish to see the photos, buy the magazine! XD
