With 37 hours’ worth of events planned for Kawaii Kon weekend, there are bound to be some tough choices for anime fans to make over what to see.
Courtney Ahmed knows about those choices. She’s been Kawaii Kon’s events director for six years, leading a team that schedules everything that happens during those 37 hours and makes sure everything runs smoothly.
Ahmed suggests three highlights among the offerings this year:
“Sword Art Online: Ordinal Scale” screening and Q & A: 1:45-4:30 p.m. Saturday
The newest animated installment in the “Sword Art Online” franchise features plucky characters Kirito and Asuna and their friends jumping into yet another virtual reality game that threatens to go rogue and destroy its players. When the movie screened at Oahu theaters in March, Ahmed said, all showings either sold out or came close to drawing a full house.
After the movie there will be a Q & A featuring Kanae Ito, the voice of Yui.
“I’ve heard a lot of really great things about it — and how often do you get a chance to watch a movie and ask the people who worked on it right after?” Ahmed said.
Performances by Hanafugetsu and Luna Haruna: Hanafugetsu plays at 6:30 to 8 p.m. Saturday; Luna Haruna follows, 8:15 to 9:15 p.m. Saturday.
Hanafugetsu is a three-piece band with a rising profile, with Yuko Suzuhana on vocals and piano, Daisuke Kamihana on shakuhachi (bamboo flute) and Kiyoshi Ibukuro on koto (zither).
Luna Haruna, a 25-year-old singer and fashion model from Tokyo, has sung opening and closing themes for anime series including “Sword Art Online” and “Monogatari.”
“It’s pretty incredible that the members of Hanafugetsu will be playing at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo,” Ahmed said. “I know this is an experience I’ll never get to repeat. It’s also tons of fun to see how excited everyone gets for concerts and hear people sing along to songs completely in Japanese.”
Ask an Anime Character: noon-1 p.m. Sunday
From questions about how certain anime characters maintain their stunningly good looks to questions about whether character A and character B would make a good romantic pairing (and even an occasional real-life marriage proposal), pretty much anything goes on this panel. American voice actors will answer audience questions while role-playing some of the characters they portray. This year’s edition features six voice actors from shows including “Steven Universe,” “Avatar: The Last Airbender” and “Fullmetal Alchemist.”
“We’re one of the only cons that does it, and it’s the only event that makes me laugh so hard I cry, pretty much every year,” Ahmed said.
