“Jon is a professional actor, voice actor, and touring comedian. A veteran of ten years in the world of voiceover, he has contributed his voice to every niche of the business, including everything ranging from animated series and video games to radio commercials, corporate narration, and telephone messaging. He’s perhaps best known as of late for being the voice of Jarvis, the main character in PAIN, the Playstation 3 Network’s most purchased title. He’s also been heard in over a dozen other video games, including Warhammer Tactics, High Velocity Bowling, Jack Keane, Elvira’s Monster Stack ‘N Match, and many others. On television he’s been seen in the series “The Ex-List” and Comedy Central’s “My Profile Story,” and such award winning films as Donut Shop Hero and Save Ron Jr. Jon’s also worked as a voice actor on the anime titles Dragonball Z (the most Googled anime of all time) and Ergo Proxy, and was a contributing writer for Beckett Magazine. Jon was also responsible for most of the comedy MP3s of DBZ that were circulating the internet from the late 90′s into the early 2000′s, including the very popular “Krillin Prank Call.” When not busy with other acting pursuits, he also does all the celebrity sound-alike drops for NugLifeRadio, and contributes to the independent pro wrestling scene in California, having done everything from announcing and color commentary to being a bad guy manager, and contributing to False Count Radio. He can be seen in the best selling book “The Art of Voice Acting,” as well as performing at various clubs throughout the country, speaking on his many adventures in life and the entertainment industry.

Cristina is also known for her popular renditions of anime songs on YouTube and got her first “big break” at an anime convention. Recent voice acting roles include Homura Akemi in “Puella Magi Madoka Magica”, Mio Akiyama in “K-ON!”, Alisa Bosconovitch in “Tekken: Blood Vengeance”, Kanaria in “Rozen Maiden Traumend” and “Rozen Maiden Ouverture”, and Nagisa in “Squid Girl”. Her first roles as a professional actress were Nanoha in “Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha” and Louise in “The Familiar of Zero”. Video game credits include Noel Vermillion, Nu-13, Mu-12, and Lambda in all the current “Blazblue” titles, Riven the Exile in “League of Legends”, Compa in “Hyperdimension Neptunia”, and Lian Shi in “Dynasty Warriors 7″, just to name a few. She has also recently completed her first gig as a director for the popular fighter “Skullgirls” and provided the voice of Cerebella for the game as well. Cristina currently has a few songs available on iTunes. She traveled the US with the other actresses for K-ON! and performed concerts as Mio Akiyama. She also is a host of AnimeTV and was the ASOS Brigade leader for the live action Haruhi Suzumiya season 2 promotional videos.

Angel Hearts was founded by Kie in September of 2003. She was a huge fan of J-pop and wished to have a group of dedicated cosplayers to sing and dance with. She gathered a few friends, and Angel Hearts made their debut singing J-pop songs by ZONE and Hello! Project at conventions in Southern California.

A couple members of Angel Hearts had been dancing ParaPara for several years, so when J-pop group HINOI TEAM became popular in 2005 with their covers of classic ParaPara songs, it was a great opportunity for Angel Hearts to branch out. They did their first ParaPara performance in 2006. (It is pure coincidence that there was a J-drama called “Gal Circle” that same year about a ParaPara club called Angel Hearts.)

In early 2007 the first IDOLM@STER console game was released, and Angel Hearts became instant fans — in fact, they did their first IDOLM@STER performance the same weekend the game was released. The game seemed to be a perfect setup for cosplay performances: cute girls, catchy songs, fun dances, and endless costume choices all packed into one anime-style video game.

Angel Hearts will be performing during our Masquerade Half-Time Show! Be sure to attend the Anime Conji Masquerade on Saturday March 17, 2012. Seating starts at 5:30pm and show will begin at 6pm, don’t miss it!

Known in the online community as ‘Dancing Queen’, Frances is a passionate figure collector and co-host of Anime Expo’s weekly web show, AX Live.  She, along with her impressive collection, has been featured in numerous online and print publications including LAWeekly, DannyChoo.com, and the Otacool book series.  Recently, Frances had her Japanese TV debut being featured on an episode of Culture: Japan.
Frances also runs HowAGirlFigures.com where she maintains a blog featuring figure reviews, tips for fellow enthusiasts, and sells her own handmade plushies.  She can be seen weekly, Thursdays at 7pm streaming on AX Live.

Emiko is a teacher of Japanese language and culture, and an author of educational publications to promote cross-cultural literacy primarily between the United States and Japan. At Irvine Valley College, she has been teaching online Japanese culture courses including a transferable course titled Japanese Culture Through Anime and Manga. Besides being an accomplished educator, Emiko is also a huge anime fan and enjoys attending cons. Last year, Emiko merged her passions and chaired De’Ja-Con, a mini anime convention in Irvine, to further enrich the Japanese culture and anime exposure of her students. Her new publication “Japanese Cultural Literacy Through Anime and Manga” is expected to be released later this year.

We have received many entries and have our winners and participants displayed below!  Thank you all for your hard work this year and for your beautiful artwork!

THIS YEAR’S THEME IS “MATSURI” THE JAPANESE FESTIVAL!

1st place: Giordanne Manalo

2nd place: Finni Chang

3rd Place: Daryl Basarte

Congratulations to our winners!
To see all participant submissions please see the Art Contest page.