Geeking Out

So you’ve seen The Dark Knight four times in the theater and twice in IMAX. You’ve begun marking off your official Watchmen and Terminator: Salvation calendars for 2009. But until then, what’s a local geek gonna do to while away the summer? We’ve got just the event for you — a place where gameboys, gamegirls, and lovers of anime and manga can happily mingle and embrace their dorkiest pleasures. It’s the sixth annual Yasumicon, and South Florida’s largest free anime convention is doing things bigger and better than before.

This year’s special guest is Brandon Potter, best known for his roles in Black Cat, Aquarion, and FUNImation’s One Piece. This ADR direction whiz will be dropping knowledge about his voice acting career, so you should stop by if you’ve dreamed of being animated yourself. Host Aaron Pabone will be cracking wise about otaku life, and Buffalo band Armcannon and nerdcore phenomenon Benjamin Bear will rock the house. There’s also the Royal Linen Maid Café, where simpering waitresses will cater to your every PG-rated need; an anime theater, where Batman: Gotham Knight will be screened on Blu-ray; and a hot game room hosted by Noobie Games where your sick Nintendo Wii Super Smash Bros. skillz could win you cash prizes. And then there’s the cosplay coliseum, where live-action role-playing goes to a whole other level. How rabid is the cosplay scene at Yasumicon? It varies. “Some people are just casual, you know ... but some people really get into it. They, like, go to Jo-Ann Fabrics and take months to create the perfect costume,” says planning committee vice chairperson Claire Daniels, who predicts the most popular characters will be from Bleach. The three-day fiesta kicks off with a dinner party (which costs seven bucks a person) and pre-registration from 8 p.m. until midnight, at Florida International University's Graham Center and Library Auditorium, 11200 SW Eighth St., Miami. Admission is free, but parking costs two bucks. Visit www.yasumicon.com for all the event info.
Aug. 1-3, 2008