Peace and Blessings! This is Tobi, and in the coming weeks, I will recap my time at Anime Milwaukee 2026! I had a great time this past weekend, but since I went alone, I wish I had my fellow Religiously Nerdy crew with me I hope that one day we can all attend a convention together! I also didn’t cosplay on Day 1, which was unusual because I’ve cosplayed every day at cons since 2015. I had to work in the morning, so I was just too lazy to cosplay afterwards lol. I did wear a Zelda t-shirt, though! This is officially my 32^nd con to date (I’ve become a seasoned con goer). Anyways, here’s my recap!

I arrived in the late afternoon, grabbed my press badge, and then attended the Women in Voice Acting panel. The panel included Mallorie Rodak, who’s best known for her role as Frieren in Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, Sarah Roach, who’s known for her role as Meryl Stryfe in Trigun Stampede, Natalie Van Sistine, who’s known for her role as Yor Forger in Spy x Family, Felecia Angelle, who’s known for her role as Mona Megistus from Genshin Impact, and lastly Kelsey Cruz, who’s known for her role as Elfaria Albis Serfort in Wistoria: Wand and Sword. This panel was great! The panelists shared stories on how they got into voice acting, what their current hobbies are, funny moments on their journey, and obstacles they had to overcome when trying to get voice roles. I love to see voice actors be nerds themselves and nerd out on the anime they currently work on. Many of them were also actors, starting from when they were kids and acted in school and church plays. Several of them had pitfalls in which they were told that because of their body size, they weren’t cast as the main role but instead played the “funny best friend” or the “mom”. Several of them pursued other paths like massage therapy and electrical engineering, thinking that they needed a more stable job, but ultimately went back to what they love, which is acting. Several of them are singers and sang some songs to the audience, which was fun! Notably, Felecia shared a story about how, for four years, she was not able to get a voice acting role. But during those years, she found community with other voice actors and kept on trying even when the COVID-19 lockdown started. The bottom line is that, besides these setbacks, it all worked out for them.

Next, I got some autographs from members of Studio Orange! I got one from Nanami Higuchi, who was the screenwriter of Beastars, Yoshihiro Watanabe, the producer behind Leviathon and the associate producer on Beastars and Trigun Stampede, and from Akie Lishi, the director of episodes 3 and 6 of Trigun Stargaze. Nanami Higashi loved my Zelda t-shirt and gave me a free Beastars print! Here are the pictures below:

Afterwards, I attended the 40 Years of Courage: A Zelda History Panel. I’ve been a huge fan of Zelda since a friend from high school introduced me to the game Zelda: Twilight Princess. However, I never finished the game because my Wii could no longer read disks Apparently, this also happened to one of the panelists, so I’m not alone lol. Anyways, the panel went through all of the Zelda games, manga, and books that have come out during the last 40 years. They also talked about the live-action Zelda movie that will be coming out in 2027 and what they anticipate. We’ll see if Link actually talks in this movie lol. I was impressed by how much knowledge the panelists had, and they are younger than I am! I don’t even know how they were able to play all the games. I’m still playing Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and I have had the game for almost 6 years lol. Anyways, feel free to follow one of the panelists here @the_starry_knight_cosplay.

Lastly, I attended the panel, Beyond Bocchi: An Overview of Girl Rock Bandime. Bandime are anime where the main plot features a band where instruments are played. I was so excited for this panel because I recently watched the Bandime Rock is a Lady’s Modesty and want to watch more anime like it. The panelists first talked about Bocchi the Rock, which is the most well-known Bandimes out there, and then delved into other anime such as K – on!, Girls Band Cry, and the whole Bang Dream! franchise. I also like that the panelists talked about each band’s real-life counterparts and showcased popular songs that they performed. For example, the band Bandmaid is behind the music in Rock is a Lady’s Modesty. I highly recommend checking them out! I have now added all of these Bandimes to my list!

Overall, Day 1 was fun! I heard the life experiences of women voice actors, met the creatives behind some of my favorite anime, and nerded out on Zelda and Bandimes. Did you attend Anime Milwaukee? Feel free to share your thoughts! Stay tuned for more recaps and voice actor interviews in the coming weeks!