TIMES MAY BE SUBJECT TO CHANGE

Saturday

11:00 am Intro to Cosplay Variants (45 Mins)

When you want to cosplay, but different reasons might keep you from doing a cosplay accurate to a character, a cosplay variant might be more your speed. I would share the different types of variants people could do (pj’s, Cowboy, casual, cyberpunk, etc) and how to make them to still show you are cosplaying the character. I’d show some examples if variants I’ve done or ones that other cosplayers have done too. Panelist: Faith Boonstra

12:00 pm Live Music IchiRocku

“IchiRockU! Inspired by the ramen shop in the beloved anime Naruto, is a dynamic Japanese rock and anime song cover band hailing from New Jersey. Since their inception in 2023, they have captivated audiences at many Anime conventions in the east coast Specializing in anime openings, endings, vocaloid, and popular Japanese rock hits, IchiRockU promises an electrifying performance that never fails to energize the crowd.”

1:00 pm Scene Practice with Aria (75 Mins)

Aria will provide interactive teaching to your convention. We will host scene practice and improv, like we have with our virtual Horizon Program with consistent success. Both classes have been adapted to serve a live classroom with adaptability on classroom size. If our classroom is smaller with around ten people, we will commit to our practice as normal. If our classes are larger, we will use a “spotlight system” which will help us maximize how many students can interact with us. In the spotlight system, a group of ten students will be called up from the classroom/audience. These spotlighted students will go through preparations for the scene practice or improv performance. While the spotlighted ten prepare, the rest of the class will do warm ups. Once the spotlighted ten have finished, we will pick another ten students who will have already been warmed up and be ready to prepare and perform.Panelist: Paw

2:30 pm Running with Toast: Improv workshop (45 Mins)

It is short form improv ie whose line is it anyway. Some of the games will be anime theme versions of classic games such as press conference(guessing game) or warm up games. You can look up these games on youtube. Most will be games that require the con-goers to be in a big circle. I will try get everyone to play. Panelist: Edison M Villa

3:15 pm Live Performance Miraidol!

Miraidol is a NYC-based, community-driven dance group dedicated to anime dance and J-pop choreography, inspired by series and artists such as Love Live! and AKB48. We bring together performers who share a love for anime culture, music, and stage performance, creating covers that celebrate fandom, creativity, and connection. From convention stages to online videos, we dance to share joy and build community.

3:45 pm The Big 3 Of Anime (45 Mins)

Naruto, One Piece, and Bleach are known as the big three of anime, but how did they get that legendary title that has lasted for more than 20 years, and which one is the best of the three? Come to this panel for historic anime lesson and a debate to determine which is the best! Panelist: East Coast Big Three

4:15 pm Q/A Guests

TBD

5:00 pm Video Game Horror Trivia (30 Mins)

Interactive questions with the audience. Panelist: SlaywithBrandy

5:30 pm Cosplay Contest

Sunday

11:00 am White Rabbit Cosplay Panel (45 Mins)

TBD

11:45 am Breaking Character Design down to Color (45 Mins)

Ever wondered why some color palettes work and others don’t? Learn effective color design through color theory and the characters we associate with it. (An entertaining discussion about dreaded color theory. Tying it in with popular characters to draw comparisons between people’s perception of the characters’ personality and their color theme. Great for beginner creatives who haven’t grasped the complexity of color.) Panelist: Alyssa Kozdron

12:30 pm Kendama (60 Mins)

A kendama is a traditional Japanese skill toy consisting of a handle (ken), a pair of cups (sarado), and a ball (tama) connected by a string. Players toss the ball into the air and perform tricks by catching it in the cups, balancing it on the handle, or spiking it onto the point. Want to learn how to play Kendama? A Kendama demonstration and workshop will be hosted by Justin Horvers. This sign up is for the Kendama Workshop to be held Sunday at Sugoipopcon 2026. Limited to 14 participants. All participants receives a free kendama! sign up here: Kendama – SIGN UP

1:30 pm Bad Fanfic Reading (45 Min)

We will be reading bad fanfictions aloud and engaging with the audience to make the experience as fun as possible. We have a plethora of fanfictions already tested on our friends and family to choose from. All the fanfictions are completely safe for work, and at most involve funny spelling errors or comedic randomness (such as, lets say, a luigi x professor snape wedding attended by teletubbies). Depending on the energy of the crowd, we might choose to call a participant up to read if anyone chooses to volunteer, or optional crowd/popcorn reading, and if not we’ll just continue to read ourselves. Panelist: Zoey Barbanel

Schedule 2026 Panels and Events