2007 Guests

Tiffany Grant

Tiffany Grant is thrilled to make her triumphant return to Bakuretsu Con! Best known as Asuka from NEON GENESIS EVANGELION, Tiffany was the first voice actor hired by ADV Films in February 1994.

Since then, she has voiced characters in well over 850 TV episodes, OVAs & movies including Ayaka in KURAU - PHANTOM MEMORY, Marta in FULL METAL ALCHEMIST, Satella in CHRONO CRUSADE, Kome in BLUE SEED, Madame President in GOLDEN BOY, Becky in GUN SMITH CATS, Chocolate in SORCERER HUNTERS, Dug Fin in DRAGON HALF, Kaorin in AZUMANGA DAIOH, Bonta-kun in FMP? FUMOFFU, Shizuru in GODANNAR and Kuriko in MABURAHO. Tiffany also worked on the video games DEUS EX II: INVISIBLE WAR and UNLIMITED SAGA.

Ms. Grant has written the English dubbing scripts for TV series ANGELIC LAYER, SISTER PRINCESS, HELLO KITTY'S ANIMATION THEATER, MABURAHO, GODANNAR, MICHEL, COMIC PARTY REVOLUTION, AH! MY GODDESS 2 and the live-action Korean action/comedy JUNGLE JUICE. She has also adapted scripts for several of ADV's subtitled projects including fan favorite MIYUKI CHAN IN WONDERLAND and the live-action film TOKYO - THE LAST MEGALOPOLIS.

Ms. Grant has written the English dubbing scripts for TV series ANGELIC LAYER, SISTER PRINCESS, HELLO KITTY'S ANIMATION THEATER, MABURAHO, GODANNAR, MICHEL, COMIC PARTY REVOLUTION, AH! MY GODDESS 2 and the live-action Korean action/comedy JUNGLE JUICE. She has also adapted scripts for several of ADV's subtitled projects including fan favorite MIYUKI CHAN IN WONDERLAND and the live-action film TOKYO - THE LAST MEGALOPOLIS.

Ms. Grant has years of experience in theatre, commercials, industrial films, and many other odd jobs too numerous to mention. She also has an incurable Hello Kitty addiction! For more information, please visit http://tiffanygrant.eva-r.com

Scott Melzer

An anime fan since birth in 1966, Scott grew up on Speed Racer and Star Blazers, having no idea of the shows' origins.  In college he learned the truth: they were Japanese, and there were uncut versions of these shows!  And there were conventions!   Rabid otakunization soon followed.  At his first anime dedicated convention, Otakon '94, he saw fan-made music videos and parodies and was hooked.  For years, Scott was very active in the anime music video scene, both as a creator and contest director.  In 2001 he tried his hand at directing fan parodies, and the homage to fans and fandom "This Is Otakudom" was the result.  He then began running panels at conventions to introduce others to fan made films and help people make their own.  His latest video project is the fan parody, "S.T.E.A.M.: The Movie" which took over three and a half years to finish.  He is currently working on DVDs of his films and videos.

Last year, Scott was supposed to appear at Bakuretsucon, the first convention to invite him as an actual guest, but due to illness couldn't make it.  Having survived, he has promised to be here this year for several screenings and panels, and the release of the DVD of "This Is Otakudom".

Profile:
Born September 17th, 1966 in Pennsylvania.
Lives in: Central New Jersey
Got into anime near birth, became hard-core otaku in college (1984)
First convention: Sci-fi con in NYC in 1978.
First anime convention: Otakon '94.
Favorite Anime: "Kiki's Delivery Service"
School: BA from Rutgers University
Occupation: Former comic book/anime/games shop owner turned financial advisor.
Fan achievements: Several awards for music videos, staffed at numerous cons, two popular fan parodies, numerous panels at conventions.

Stephen Robert Bennett IV

Stephen Robert Bennett IV was born *&#@?! years ago at Tachikawa Air Force Base in Japan. Being an Army brat, Steve moved all over the place in his younger days, He spent his early years in Alaska and Colorado, and lived for almost eight years in Germany during elementary and junior high. The family moved back to Japan when Steve was in his teens, and while he was there he was lucky enough to land a job with Studio Aoehyma, and work under the great Japanese animator, Noboru Furusei (New Dominion Tank Police, Lupin III, etc.) During his time at Studio Aoehyma, Steve learned quite a bit about anime, and worked on such titles as Cat's Eye, the Urusei Yatsura TV Series and Only You, as well as others.

But finally, the family moved back to the States and settled in Virginia. Steve finished up high school, took some college courses, and ended up working at a bunch of different jobs. He worked at King's Dominion amusement park (where he met his future wife Nikki), and he also worked in a Japanese restaurant, a video store, and ended up working in construction.
About the time Steve and Nikki tied the knot (1994), Steve attended his first anime convention as a guest--Katsucon 1-- and finally remembered his true calling. He started up Studio Ironcat, a Japanese manga publisher, in 1997 and quit his construction job. Ironcat ran until 2004. Although Steve enjoyed his time with Ironcat, the job kept him too busy to focus on his own art. With the close of Ironcat, Steve was finally free to create his own comics, and get back into the artistic side of the industry. Today, Steve is busier than ever at conventions, has two new webcomics on-line ("Shakespeare Rodeo" and "Life With Steve") and is finally letting his creative juices flow!

Steve is also currently working as a character designer and artist for Scrollquest.com and Angel Of St Thomas as well.
Steve has been to numerous anime conventions over the years (too many to mention here!) and has also lent his talents to other venues, such as Loyola University in Louisiana, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Iowa Gallery of Art.

Comiku Girls

Comiku Girls is written and drawn by pirates, but since they don't like to appear in public, they let their wenches, Akiko Meigetsu and Li Izumi appear at conventions in their place. Or something like that. Maybe you had to be there. In fact, 'being there' is essential in order to understand the humor of this comic, centered on the convention lifestyle. The situations presented in the comic will be painfully familiar to anyone who has attended anime conventions - or even Sci-fi or gaming conventions. Comiku Girls tells the story of conventions from the other side of the table. The comic centers on Akiko & Li, 2 artists/otaku, and their experiences at various conventions and the occasional life between. Stupid customers, shrieking fangirls, packing for conventions, adventures in cosplaying, the people who run and attend conventions. A comic about art, anime fandom, and the ever-present fanboy!

The artists are not your typical otaku. Or at least they like to think so. Each has had a pencil in their hand since they could hold one, and have been telling stories since they could talk. Li Izumi has studied Japanese language and culture for over a decade, including a semester abroad in Akita, Japan. Akiko Meigetsu has studied Brush Painting with a Chinese artist for a year in America to complement her five years of formal study in watercolors. None of which explains their sense of humor.<

Matthew Myers

Matt launched 2EastMusic.com in November 2005 as a small business dedicated to writing music for video games. Within the last year, Matt's music has been featured in numerous handheld games, PC and online games, independent movies, as well as G4 and FUNimation TV channels. Matt is involved in the Boston area gaming and music communities as a songwriter, producer, performer, journalist and fanboy.

Anime Songwriting Workshop, www.animesongwritingworkshop.com is a music outreach program at anime and gaming conventions based on a mission of creating innovative, user-generated pop songs. The program introduces non-songwriters to the process of writing pop songs through improvisation, interactive analysis, and offering opportunities to be involved with the studio production.

Jekka Cormier

Jekka Cormier is the writer of Seraphic (http://seraphicblue.net/), a webcomic that grabbed her by the brainstem and wouldn't let go until she submitted to its monstrous demands. Since then she has been fortunate enough to meet about a million awesome people and even a few who seem to think she's kind of cool. This mystifies her to no end. You may also recognized Jekka from The Chibi Project (http://ChibiProject.com/) where she assists PatrickD in destroying cute toys by any means necessary, or perhaps you recognize her from any of the conventions she staffs, or else you've been stalking her.

Michael "Mookie" Terracciano

Michael "Mookie" Terracciano is the creator of the fantasy manga webcomic, "Dominic Deegan: Oracle for Hire." Since its humble beginnings five years ago it has received acclaim for its unique characters, addictive storylines, painful puns, awful alliteration and (gasp!) reliable update schedule of seven days a week. Want to see what's so special about a grumpy seer, a deformed sorceress, a talking cat, a rock-star bard and a matronly archmage? See for yourself at www.dominic-deegan.com!

Upcoming Events
July 24th - FYE Anime Event
Sept 1st - Panel Reg Closes
Sept 1st - Pre-Reg price $45
Oct 1st - AMV entries due