Anime Festival Orlando (AFO) was outstanding! It was a three day con held June 23-26 at the Wyndham Orlando Resort. AFO is “Florida’s favorite anime convention” and celebrates all things relating to Japanese animation and pop-culture. This year was the con’s first year back since COVID-19 caused it to close in 2020. It was a huge success!
Last month, Florida Comic Cons gave you “6 Awesome Reasons to Attend AFO,” and now, we’re excited to share all the reasons it was great!
Reason #1: Guests
AFO hosted a variety of voice actors like Howard Wang, John Swasey, and Brittany Karbowski.
Howard Wang
Howard Wang began voice acting in 2016. Some of his notable roles have been Xie Lian in Heaven Official’s Blessing, Langa in Sk8 the Infinity, and Mitsuo Kumatami in Life Lessons with Uramichi Oniisan. Watch this video from Bardecki of the Heaven Official’s Blessing panel with Howard Wang and James Cheek.
John Swasey
John Swasey has been acting since 1987. He is known for roles like Undertaker in Black Butler, Crocodile in One Piece, and All for One in My Hero Academia.
Brittney Karbowski
Brittney Karbowski is well known for voicing Black★Star in Soul Eater, Rimuru Tempest in That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, and Wendy Marvell in Fairy Tail.
Reason #2: Cosplays
AFO brought in all kinds of cosplayers from games and anime.
Cosplay Gallery
Reason #3: Tales of Orlandia
Tales of Orlandia is a free card game that AFO hosts. They create their own cards and encourage players to collect cards, learn to play the game, and go on quests around the con. Each year brings a new story and new cards, so players can come back every year to earn new items and have a brand new experience. To begin, each player needed to stop by the tavern to register for the game and sign up for one of three factions. Once signed up, a player can earn experience points for their faction and level up.
Reason #4: Idol Festival
The Idol Festival was phenomenal! AFO hosts an Idol Festival every year allowing idol groups to perform for fans. This year’s event was hosted by Project AppleVerse.
Need help finding conventions in Florida?
Florida Comic Cons publishes the Con Calendar, a curated calendar of upcoming conventions. Each convention listing includes in-depth info about the event like guests, artists and cosplay contests. In addition, there are lots of helpful links for things like buying tickets, registering as a vendor, and learning more about characters.
