This month marks the debut of Lansing’s first anime convention, Shuto Con (Shuto means “capitol city”).
Co-founder and chairwoman, Stefanie Shall is a longtime anime enthusiast, convention aficionado and artist.
“I have been going to conventions as an attendee and as an artist for a little less than a decade. I recently moved up to Michigan and wanted to start my own [convention],” Shall said.
When creating Shuto Con with her husband Joe, Shall wanted to incorporate interactive elements and showcase the passions of dedicated artists and hardworking, amateur costume designers in ways she hasn’t seen at other conventions around the country.
“For our Con, what I [am doing differently] from other Cons in the area, is a thing called interactive cosplay,” Shall said. “When
attendees come to a convention, they usually dress up as their favorite anime and comic characters. I want to encourage people to do whatpeople in Japan do and actually act out their characters.”
Beyond simply embodying characters through elaborate costuming, participants have a chance to duke it out with other characters and play battle in an appointed interactive zone, safely monitored by a martial arts practitioner.
| Shuto Con: Anime Convention Lansing Convention Center March 25-26 Membership passes $25 day, $35 weekend shutocon.com |
“Our weaponry is handmade with foam water noodles. It’s very soft when you get hit with it,” Shall said.
Other attractions include the artist alley, the video game room and panels on topics ranging from costume creation to the basics of speaking Japanese along with special guests. The guest of honor, Michelle Ruff, is a Michigan native and works in Los Angeles as a voice actor who won the 2009 SPJA Best Actress Award for her role in Cartoon Network’s “Bleach” as Rukia Kuchiki.
While Shuto Con is an event for all ages, it does have adult events scheduled at night that are 18 and up.
“Late, late, late at night we have [rated R] showings behind closed doors,” Shall said. “We [also] have an anime dating game that we have scheduled.”
In keeping with her focus on community, Shall teamed up with the Lansing Food Bank. When attendees come to pick up their Shuto Con membership badges (admission to the event is gained by purchasing a membership) they are asked to donate non-perishable food items, with an emphasis on packaged items.
While the Shalls are hard at work finalizing all the details of the debut event, 2012 is already on their minds.
