NoBrandCon

annual animé convention continues to grow in popularity

Ian Jacoby, photos by Chase Wirth |

    No Brand Con is the Chippewa Valley’s own haven for costume-wearing, brunch-eating animé lovers.  The convention, which started in 2002 at the university, has grown steadily over the past few years until it now hosts a variety of animé actors, live-action weirdness, and some guy wrapped in duct tape. It has grown incredibly, and the No Brand Con website alleges that both the Ramada Inn and Greentree Inn are both full already! This year’s festival features Robert Axelrod. Besides having the coolest show biz name ever, he’s best known for playing muscle-bound-badass, Lord Zed on the television show, The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Joining Axelrod will be Jason Griffith (Sonic The Hedgehog, like literally, he plays Sonic the Hedgehog,) and Tiffany Grant (multiple animé series too numerous to mention). The guests (as always) are only half the story; the real fun is had in seeing regular people sharing in a common love. This is where No Brand Con really shines. There are the obligatory costume contests and marches, but there are also surprisingly creative venues to show your love of all things manga and animé. Perhaps the best of these is the music video contest. Fans are given the opportunity to splice music and animé together in a flurry of Japanese-inspired awesomeness. Oh, and there’s the unofficial mascot of No Brand Can. I guess it’s some guy named, Duct Tape Man who, apropos to his name, runs around covered in duct tape. Sounds sweaty.

    NoBrandCon • April 24-26 • Ramada Convention Center, 205 S. Barstow St., Eau Claire • 598-9215 • www.nobrandcon.com