Welcome After a sell out July event, London Anime Gaming Con (LAGC) is back; bigger and better than ever, with an expanded gaming area, more VIP guests to meet and activities for you to participate in. Whether you are a regular or this is your first time to the event. I hope you have an amazing time, please read through this book for information to the event but do not hesitate to ask convention staff if you have a question! Rebecca Moriarty, Convention Booklet Editor Useful Information Cloakroom Bag/coat storage facilities are available in the expanded gaming area which is charged at £1 per item. Stage Event Sign-ups and Participation Main Stage Event sign-ups take place upstairs first to the left. Games Tournament sign-ups take place in tournaments zone in the upstairs of the gaming building. If you’re in an upstairs stage event please go to the events signups desk 30 minutes beforehand to be briefed/ordered etc. Souvenirs - Con Badges and T-shirts Want a souvenir to remember your time at the convention? Pick up con badges and t-shirts at the AL Merchandise table in the TCG/Chillout Zone until 5pm, after this they can be collected from the registration desk Social Media In this digital age London Anime Gaming Con aims to be as interactive both on and offline so make sure to follow @londonanimecon on Twitter for live updates from the event. If you want to be rewteeted? Hashtag #lagc and our press team will retweet their favourites! There is also an online scavenger hunt, more info further on in the con book. In case of an emergency.... Hopefully your time at the convention will be fun and problem free but in case something does happen please do not hesitate to call 07746 124194 or go to the Registrations Desk Downstairs Zones Open for the entire event and leads through to all other areas Reception Area Visit the Registrations desk, there to help and answer any queries you may have. Also check the clan scoreboard - is your clan winning? Anime Chillout Courtesy of MVM, screenings of old favourites and newly released animes will be shown all day. In the evening catch two Asian cinema films by Terracotta and Third Windows. After 9pm there will be karaoke. Arcade Zone (DDR Area) Heart of Gaming (HOG) bring their retro arcade to you, with all your old favourites! This is also where the DDR area and tournament will be - have you got the moves? Cosplay Chillout and Photography Cosplayers can take a break and enjoy the cosplay community. There will also be a chance to get your cosplay photographs taken here and printed by Event-Time. Downstairs Stage Watch panels from guests and industry experts, live-music starts after 5pm followed by a different themed party after 9pm each night. See the timetable for more information. Dealers & Artists In addition to the dealers upstairs, there will be two extra rooms of your favourite dealers and artists for this year. Our art exhibitors feature one a kind clothes, accessories and sketches from artists and indie sellers. If you like all things kawaii, this is the first place to go! TCG/RPG/Chillout Parallel-Worlds shall be present to put on a line-up of TCG tournaments throughout the weekend featuring YGO, MTG, Vanguard and more. Meanwhile there will be a full line-up of board gaming from GamesQuest and RPGing. You can also use this as extra chill space. Upstairs Zones Upstairs opens at 11am and closes at 8pm. This is where all the major events happen during the daytime! Event Sign-ups Desk Located in Artist Alley, go here to sign-up for main stage events including; Cosplay Masquerade, Talent Show, Dub That Anime and the Cosplay Auction. Remember to arrive 30 mins before the event starts to be briefed and ordered. Exhibitors A range of dealers selling the latest merchandise from manga, dvds and figurines grab it before it sells out! Upstairs (1-26) - 1-4: G&P Collectibles; 5-8: AnipopGam; 9-10: Canime Ltd; 11-13: Bolso; 14-15: Charming Sushi; 16: Clover Li; 17-18: Badgemonkey; 19-20: Estatic Arts; 21: Slothical Creations; 22-23: Komikslandia; 24: Matt Eyre Tattoos and Art; 25-26: Retroplushies Dan; (Downstairs 27-30) 27: Cakeinajar; 28-29: Mayamada; 30: Yelp Upstairs Stage Guest talks, game shows, panels and main events will take place upstairs. See the timetable for more information on our exciting line-up! Study Japanese If you’re passionate about anime and manga, chances are you have already studied a little Japanese language – and that’s great! Learning Japanese is a fantastic way to better understand Japanese culture, as well as gain a deeper appreciation of Japanese pop culture. But did you know there are also many practical reasons for studying Japanese? In 2013, Japanese was identified by the British Council as one of the “most vital” languages to the UK over the next 20 years. Furthermore Japan invests considerably more in the UK than any other Asian country; over 1,300 Japanese companies have invested here. No wonder Japanese was ranked as one of the top 10 languages to study in a recent survey of UK employers’ preferences! Follow Japan Foundation on Twitter @jpflondon or visit www.jpf.org.uk If you are interested in studying Japanese, the Japan Foundation London would be delighted to help you. We can give you information on institutions and private tutors local to you that teach Japanese. We have a library filled with around 10,000 books and other resources for studying Japanese, in addition to plenty of free, high quality online resources. And if you’re a school student or teacher and you want to get Japanese started at your school, we can work closely with your school to make this a reality. Visit our stand at London Anime Gaming Con and attend our Japanese language taster. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu! (We look forward to working with you!) Welcome to the Dark Side... When people typically think of Japanese fashion, they think of lace, frills, too much pink and petticoats but there is Japanese Fashion out there which appeals to a different crowd as Aisha Anime explains... The perfect example would be punk which is comprised of dark colours, stripes, buckles, safety pins (similar to goth) but has a unique twist with signature pieces setting the outfit. There can be themes for example a British twist of punk is have tartan in the outfit. Japanese punk will normally have animal traits such as cat ears, paws or attached animal ear hoods and tails. The fun thing about punk styles is you can often mix and match and make pieces to set off an outfit. Be it a flowered head dress or a plushie rucksack. Brands are not essential, it is more about portraying your creativity and character. You can often find pieces and inspiration in Camden market! On the contrast we have Gothic Lolita which is more about the silhouette, dark deep colours brought to life by the shape of the skirt or bonnet. Similar to the ‘Sweet Lolita’ counterpart, this style relies on brand pieces and handmade outfits. Since burlesque has become quite popular it is now emerging in the Gothic Lolita fashion to have high skirts and cage frames making a statement piece in muted colours. The look is about using materials and patterns to show off your shape rather than reveal skin. Gothic Lolita Bible magazine is very popular as it includes clothing patterns to make you own dresses and accessories. Often the more boutique outfit you invest in – it will have it’s own acquired signature. Since the popularity has grown so has the British talent in making Japanese inspired clothes you can find UK designers pushing these two particular styles as well as purchase directly from Japan. Gaming Zones An entire new building this year, dedicated to gaming - this building is literally next door. If you can’t find the Gaming Building then ask our registrations team and they will direct you. Open 11am to 9pm. Retro Zone Go back in time and play your child hood faves in our retro-gaming zone. Open Midday to 9pm. There are over 50 gaming setups in this room! The place for gamers to relax, and enjoy gaming. Make sure to play some of our ultra-rare consoles on display! Retrograde Gamer and Retroactive shall feature as part of this area, with a lot of retro-setups featuring rare retro consoles from abroad including the Nintendo 64DD, Panasonic Q and the PC engine Super Grafx. There will also be a number of challenges (see Gaming Tournaments page). LAN Area Top of the range gaming PC set-ups bought to you by EclipseArena. They will be running a number of free to enter gaming tournaments with top prizes including League of Legends and Battlefield 4. GAME & Ubisoft Shall be present in the publishers room with some of the latest titles available to try out. Indies Zone (Upstairs) We have a dozen up and coming independent gaming companies in attendance showcasing their latest titles. Stop by and try them out. Dance and Rockband Area (Upstairs) We will have a full professional rock-band setup along with a just-dance area for the Kinnect. Have you got the moves like Jagger? Tournaments Zone (Upstairs) With £100s of prizes up for grabs in our free to play tournaments (See Tournaments Page). There will also be a number of modern gaming setups available to drop in and play at any time. Come along and have some fun. Gaming Tournaments We have over 20 free to enter tournaments and challenges, with big prizes provided by GAME, Ubisoft and EclipseArena. Here’s the full line-up; Saturday - Dead or Alive 5, FIFA15 and Mario Kart 8 with £55 in GAME gift vouchers for the winners. - Smash WiiU during the daytime is a 1v1 paid tournament with a cash pot prize, in the evening is a 8 player free for all with a pair of LAGC tickets for the winner! - Retro Challenges on this day are Super MonkeyBall, DOA3, Akai Katana, PGR4, MK64 and Powerstone. Ask in the Retro room for prize info. - In the LAN Zone; League Of Legends 5v5, the winning team will get a London Anime & Gaming Con (LAGC) ticket each for the Summer and RIOT points. Sunday - Ultra Street Fighter IV, Halo: Master Chef, Marvel v Capcom 3 with £55 in GAME gift vouchers for the winners. - Smash WiiU is a 4Player tournament with a pair of LAGC tickets for the winner. - Saturn Bomberman 8Players free for all in the evening with a pair of LAGC tickets for the winner. - League Of Legends: 2v2 held in the Eclipse Arena with a £100 grand prize up for grabs. Battlefield 4 shall also be held with a pair of LAGC tickets for the winner. Both Days - DDR on both days; A pair of LAGC tickets as prizes for Saturday, £50 prize for Sunday’s special sight-reading tournament. - Trials Fusion and Just Dance contests on both days sponsored by Ubisoft with game prizes. Drop in to their stall in the publishers room and record your best time/score before 4:30pm to enter. Sign-Up Information - Sign-ups take place usually upstairs outside the tournaments room. Exceptions are the retro challenges and LAN tournaments which take place in their own rooms. - All tournaments allow you the option to bring your own controller - All sign-ups open at 11am for every tournament at the start of each day. - Signups close 30 minutes before the tournament starts (see the timetable) - A lot of tournaments will have specific rules, please ask crew for more info There’s also a number of modern set-ups to drop in and play friends and other convention attendees casually. Cosplay Community Cosplay Contest Winners LAGC July 2014 Cosplay is an important part of LAGC, one which we intend to continue to develop and grow around the UK. Part of this is working with an array of cosplay guests from around the UK, including talented online cosplayers whose popularity could break the internet and contest winners who have brought home Gold for the UK. For cosplay guest Chiquitita Cosplay, LAGC is her local convention and one she has attended for many years,“It may seem smaller than some of the larger expos out there but that’s what makes it special. Over the years I have seen it grow - especially in the amount of cosplayers attending. It really brings the community together” Stacey Rebecca Cosplay Masquerade, Sunday 3pm. Sign-ups take place in Artist Alley Outside of the convention, AnimeLeague who runs London Anime Gaming Con host meets all around the country from picnics, pub crawls, and gaming nights often working with other companies to get cosplayers discounts for attractions such as The Heart of Gaming. If you thought there were no one in your area with the same interests as you AnimeLeague are sure to prove you wrong! Sign up to our free forums www.animeleague.com Starting as an attendee, Chiquitita like many of our guests, now uses her talent (professional seamstress) to encourage others to get involved and improve their cosplay skills. She will be holding a sewing workshop at Saturday, 2pm. Other key workshops to attend include Props - check our time table for full details. If you are already suited and booted in your cosplay then why not enter our cosplay masquerade? Jess Banks, Cosplay Organiser encourages both new cosplayers and veterans to enter, “it will be an experience you will never forget, our contest gives you the ability to display your diverse skill set and talents”. Additionally enter our Cosplay Auction, 7pm Saturday to raise money for Games Aid. Chiquitita Cosplay Battle of the Clans As you enter London Anime Gaming Con you will be asked to choose a clan - Wicked Wizards, Mecha Pirates and Shonen Heroes, once decided go and collect a free con badge from TCG/Chillout Zone to signify who you represent. Earn points for your clan over the weekend to help them towards victory! Points are calculated by who wins events: game tournaments, the selfie photo challenge and crewing during the weekend. TCG tournaments give 15 points to the winner, medium events on stage such as Dub That Anime give 30 points, while large events such as the Cosplay Masquerade and Talent Show and so forth give 45 points. Bonus points are awarded throughout the event, so make sure to enter tournaments, events and challenges to help your clan to victory! When you receive clan points, you will be handed a voucher by a member of senior staff, take these to registration in exchange for stickers to add to the clan points chart at registration. Here you can keep track of who is winning the war! Make sure to participate and get fully involved with convention activities to help your clan win! Stay tuned for the Clan Battle Showdown, Sunday 6pm, Upstairs Stage where clan points are totalled and clan leaders take part in bizarre, wacky challenges to decide the ultimate champion! Saturday Highlights J-fashion Show, 1pm Upstairs Stage: From London to Tokyo, you will feel transported onto the streets of Harajuku as attendees strut their stuff in an array of styles from Lolita, Visual Kei, Steampunk and Gyaru. Photo left: Himezawa How to Create Manga with Mayamada, 2pm, Downstairs Stage: Creators of the popular manga and t-shirt series Samurai Chef will be passing on their knowledge and advice to budding artists of all levels – not to be missed! Talent Show, 4pm Upstairs Stage Forget X-Factor or The Voice. AnimeLeague’s Got Talent is where it is at! Can you sing or dance? Perhaps you have a more unique talent. Whatever it is, enter and show it off! You could be the next big thing, with previous winners now regular performers at the convention Abridgers Blind Reading, 5pm: Special guests the Abridgers treat us to a blind reading, these funny dudes will be sure to have you laughing off your seats by the end Voice Actress Q&A, 5pm Upstairs Stage: Christine and Cristina take to the stage to answer all your questions from how they got in the industry, favourite roles and everything in between! The Kut, 8pm Downstairs Stage: Back by popular demand, this feisty all girl trio inspired by the likes of Nirvana, have played at the 2012 Olympics, were voted 3rd in MTVs best unsigned band. You can check out other live music from classical-geek tunes from Kerri Veck (3pm) and Formby (7pm) 9pm-1am, Party ft DJ Jakazid, Baka Punk and J-Pop Go play our favourite tunes from Kyary, Perfume and Psy as well as chiptune and gaming tracks. Ensue raving and glow sticks! GAME Tournaments Zone - Over £1,000 worth in prizes to give away over many tournaments throughout the weekend. Fame and bragging rights will be assured to each winner as they go up on the Community Hall of Fame complete with award certificates. Cosplay Panels: Throughout the weekend our cosplay guests will share the expertise and provide top tips on a variety of subjects from sewing to prop making! Sunday Highlights Signing Session, 12- 2pm Chill/TCG Zone: All the way from Los Angeles, voice actresses Cristina Vee and Christine Marie Cabanos to sign your merchandise and maybe take a few selfies! Afterwards check out their Q&A 4pm, Upstairs stage Cosplay Blind-Date, 1pm, Upstairs Stage: The classic dating show...with a twist. All questions asked and answered in character! Once the couples are matchmade, we then send you off together in to the sunset.... or to the bar... Abridgers Q&A, 2pm Upstairs Stage: Prepare for an hour of fun and laughter with these top YouTube stars who humorously redub classic anime series such as Naruto, DBZ. Starring MasakoX, X (photo bottom right), ElieMonty (photo left). Cosplay Masquerade, 3pm Upstairs Stage: Enter our cosplay contest for fun or to win our grand prize of £100 plus £50 from giftvoucher from 8bitplanet! Photo right: Shadow Phoneix Cosplay Pub Quiz, 4.30pm, Downstairs Stage: Who will be the King of the Nerds? Test your geek knowledge in our pub quiz. Featuring rounds on both anime, gaming, music as well as some general knowledge. Get your friends together, grab a beer and join in the fun! Dub That Anime, 5pm, Upstairs Stage: Hosted by the Abridgers, the aim of this event for those who have never seen it before is to dub a short clip of our choice live on stage. The funnier the better. In fact, think abridging on a smaller scale. Clan Battle Showdown, 6pm, Upstairs Stage: You have been earning points for your chosen clan all weekend. With over 300 points up for grabs in this event, this showdown is the decider in who will emerges victorious! Come along and help Cosplay Burlesque, 7pm Upstairs Stage: Dancers Dixie Rocket, Mojo Jones and compeer Marcus Gill take to the stage for a one off performance, and a first for UK conventions expect to see your favourite comic characters come to life on stage, as well as some confetti! Photo left: Dixie Rocket by Andrei Guiamoy Don’t forget Cosplay Stars Q&A, 12pm, Upstairs Q&A ask the top cosplayers from around the UK how they got started and for tips and advice. Guests of Honour Christine and Cristina are known friends outside of the recording studio and have worked on many anime and gaming titles together from Madoka, K-On, Squid Girl, Skull Girls and Maji. We can’t wait to meet these lovely ladies and wish them a warm welcome to the UK! Cristina Vee The Los Angeles based, veteran and legend in the industry has appeared in over 100 anime and gaming titles. The ultimate magical girl, her roles include Sailor Mars (Sailor Moon), Homaru (Puella Magi Madoka Magika) and Nanoha (Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha). Cristina’s other notable roles include Mio (KON) and Kanaria (Rozen Maiden). Additionally she has voiced on popular games including Skull girls, Blaz Blue, Tekken and League of Legends. Cristina has even dabbled in some directing. Not only can she act but she has an incredible voice with songs available on I-tunes, perhaps we will get to hear it over the weekend? Don’t Miss! Saturday, 3.30pm - Cosplay Photo Shoot, Garden Photo shoot for those cosplaying characters Christine and Cristina have voiced or a series they have starred in. Saturday 5pm - Voice Actor Q&A, Upstairs Stage Ask the ladies anything (within reason!) Sunday 12pm-2pm Signing Session, Chill/TCG Zone Get an autograph and photo with our special guests Sunday 4pm - Voice Actor Q&A, Upstairs Stage Ask the ladies anything (within reason!) Christine Marie Cabanos Los Angeles based Christine has quickly soared in the voice acting industry showcasing her talent playing the lovable title roles in both Madoka in Puella Magi Madoka Magica, and Squid Girl. Most recently she played quirky side kick Mako in Kill La Kill. We expect more big things from her in the future and can’t wait to see what she has in store for us next! Cosplay Burlesque Dixie Rocket and Mojo Jones enlighten us about the new hybrid Cosplay- Burlesque The word burlesque comes from the Italian ‘burla’, meaning to mock or make fun of, in its purest form burlesque is about taking a concept and making the audience look at it in an entirely different way, Mojo explains. Cosplay burlesque gives performers the ability to take a character and portray them in a new light; from an emotional Dalek to an evil Disney princess. It is all about playing with people’s expectations and emotions to create something between the sublime and the outlandish. A love for Burlesque runs in the family for Mojo, her grandmother was a professional burlesque dancer; however Mojo didn’t see burlesque in her future, “I never thought it was something I could do as I lacked confidence”. Things changed when a friend held a charity show and Mojo was invited to be involved. “Realising I could combine my geekiness with burlesque I got hooked. I joined a troupe and put myself out there for bookings”. Dixie Rocket, photo by Andrei Guiamoy Burlesque found Dixie Rocket two years ago during a show at Madame JoJo’s “It was love at first sight”. Inspired by what she had seen, Dixie Rocket immediately began lessons, progressing quickly she now too is getting regular bookings. For those interested in starting burlesque, the ladies strongly recommend finding a burlesque class or local group in your area. For those living in London, Dixie Rocket recommends the website Burlesque Baby. Most importantly, the women advised the key to a successful performance is finding a character you love and knowing the story you want to convey ensuring to be as creative, outrageous and always thinking outside of the box. When asked what they love the most about cosplay burlesque Mojo beamed, “The audience reaction. There is nothing like being on that stage and telling a story they aren’t expecting”. Dixie agreed, adding that she loves the combined community that Cosplay Burlesque brings together. Everyone has their own opinion, and sometimes misconceptions of what burlesque really is. Our talented performers reiterate and clarify that in their eyes burlesque in no way demeans women, instead quite the opposite highlighting the empowerment, confidence and celebrating the array of talent it brings. In fact the ladies have found their confidence has soared since performing, finding that the audience not only admires the performer’s body but their skill, creativity and the ability to story tell. It is an art that truly appreciates and revels every type of shape, age gender. Perhaps Burlesque could teach the world a thing or two? The ladies want to keep a few surprises but hint that Final Fantasy, Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy may come to life on stage, so don’t miss Mojo Jones and Dixie Rocket’s first ever joint performance accompanied by compeer, Marcus Gill at 7pm, Sunday, Upstairs Stage. Mojo Jones by Monster Photography London Anime Con cordially invites you to the wedding of Ricky and Leanne Ceremony 7.30pm, Upstairs Stage Reception 8pm, Anime Chillout The pair met first met at LAGC, where there love blossomed. Ricky eventually surprised Leanne with a romantic proposal on stage. It seems only right the pair should tie the knot there as well! Over the years AnimeLeague has helped raise thousands of pounds for numerous charities. This year we are supporting Games Aid which provide gaming equipment for children in long term hospital care. It is a great cause (can you imagine life without your PS4?) We please ask for you to donate anything that you can, every 1p counts! There are loads of ways you can help even if you are strapped for cash. The number one method is by entering the cosplay auction, go up on stage and let the crowd ‘bid’ for you for fun or a service e.g cosplay tuition or a head massage! (it is not as scary as it may sound and is lots of fun!) Holly Marie King who entered previously said, “I was both surprised and shocked at how much people bidded, an interesting and unpredictable event. It is a great way to make new friends as well as raise money for a great cause”. Philippa Allen, who went for over £150 at the last event added “It is great when it turns into a bidding war between 2-3 people”. The cosplay auction takes part Saturday, 7pm Upstairs stage. Can I take a selfie? Earn points for your clan by taking part in our selfie scavenger hunt! The clan in first place will win 150 points, second place 100 and third 50! Take a selfie: 1. With a Puella Maji Madoka Magica Cosplayer 2. Eating noms from the cosplay cafe 3. With something super kawaii 4. With your clan leader 5. Partying like its 1999 6. Making a heart with a new friend 7. Derping 8. Taking part in a con activity 9. Using a selfie stick 10.With an enforcer of the law 11.Oscar style 12.Hot Dog Legs 13.Wig hair (you know, the after effects of when you have taken your wig and wig cap off) 14.With a Naruto and Bleach cosplayer 15. Building a pocky tower Once you have a selfie tweet it to @Londonanimecon followed by the number in the selfie scavenger hunt and # your clan; #wickedwizards #mechapirates #shonenheroes Example: @londonanimecon number 7 #shonenheroes Stay Snap Happy By attending the event you will undoubtedly be blown away by the amazing cosplay and fashion on display. Likely you will want to take a photo to remember, show others just how amazing your weekend was or even take part in our selfie scavenger hunt but whether your a pro-tog or selfie snapper it is important to not get carried away and remember to remain respectful at all times. Here are a few tips! - A phone isn’t a license to shoot, just like those huge cameras you see on the red carpet aren’talways ask permission you will get a much nicer photo. Taking one without, is not candid. - Avoid shot stealing, the convention is 8+ hours a day, waiting an extra minute while someone takes their photo first, won’t hurt you! - If someone is eating, not fully in costume or taking a break, come back later or politely ask when they are free for a shoot. - Do not touch a cosplayer (or any attendee) or prop without their permission - they will likely be uncomfortable with this and you may even be at risk of breaking their costume that they worked so hard at! Remember Cosplay doesn’t equal consent! Conventions: 2015 Don’t you wish you could attend more conventions? Or maybe you’d like to find an event closer to home? Well, fear not, for Animeleague is expanding out across the UK and Ireland for 2015 with several brand new events! Each of these events will have everything that London Anime & Gaming Con has to offer. So, get your calendars out and mark these dates down in your diary; Check out their websites for all the latest info today. 6-7 June: Ireland Cosplay Con, Dublinwww.irelandcosplaycon.com 4-5 July: London Anime & Gaming Con - www.londonanimecon.com 22-23 August: Cardiff Anime & Gaming Con - www.cardiffanimecon.com 3-6 September: Alcon in Leicester- www.alcon.org.uk 3-4 October: Bristol Anime & Gaming Con - www.bristolanimecon.com Meet Up Made lots of friends at the convention but worried how long it will be until you will see them again? Or perhaps you want to meet some people with the same interests as you closer to home. Did you know that we run, on average, almost a meet up every weekend all over the UK in every major city? Head over to meetups.animeleague.net for the latest news and to find your area’s local meetup now. Of course, Animeleague also has it’s own 24/7 online forum, chatroom and radio station. So you can enjoy the community at home as well. Get to know others, make friends and otherwise have a good time with fellow anime fans, cosplayers and geeks at www.animeleague.net Kitty and Katie - Gangnum Style Signing Page Collect autographs from guests and messages from fellow attendees! Don’t forget to attend voice actors Cristina Vee and Christine Marie Cabonos signing session Sunday 12pm-2pm, TCG/Chill Zone