Oh, hello blog! Long time no see! It’s been a minute! But you know what’s been three years? Kami-Con HAI! Once again, those crazy kids over in Birmingham, Alabama are back in the Rocket City to thrown down with an anime con. Only this time? It’s in July! Specifically, July 25th thru the 27th. While I kinda miss it being in the cooler months of years prior, it turns out that this was the time slot Kami-Con wanted all along. Gives them more time split evenly between the Birmingham and Huntsville shows. Can’t blame them there! But I can blame them for allowing me to inflict upon you all 5 panels. Five! It’s gonna be a busy weekend, so let’s get into it for what I’ve got for you:
Final Fantasy XIV Fan Panel-stival (7/25/2023 aka Friday, at 5PM in the Panel Room)
If you have been following my panel work for the past ten or eleven years or so, you’d know that I’ve been into the critically acclaimed MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV. And that I’ve been doing panels about the video game for just as long! Hell, I’m even going to GATEway FATE in St Louis later this year to throw down some bespoke FFXIV panels alongside Anna and Tobias!
But at Kami-Con HAI this year? It’s the classic Final Fantasy XIV Fan Panel-stival. It’s our smash-cut combo of a retrospective of Final Fantasy XIV before, and what you can expect from it in the future. And since the next Live Letter is the Thursday before the con, the panel is going to be as current as it could possibly be! Oh, and I kinda browbeat the con-runners into letting me have the panel this year… So you FFXIV sickos better show up so I can prove that this was a good idea!
The Pain Train! Video Clipshow Madness! (7/25/2025 aka Friday, at 9PM in the Panel Room)
There once was a man named David Merrill, who was King of the Stupid Clip Shows! He had fame, power, and wealth Japanese cartoons, short films, weird commercials, and other goofy clips beyond your wildest dreams! Before they hung him from the gallows (he’s fine), these were the final words he said (that I made up: “My fortune is yours for the taking, but you’ll have to find it first. Also, if you run your own stupid clip show don’t call it Anime Hell.”
So, I did and it’s called The Pain Train. It was there all ten years of Hamacon, and you can even see it at Momocon and other cons too sometimes. This time you can find it at Kami-Con HAI Friday night, just like when Hamacon always had it! It’s that nice and nostalgic? Also, it’s really more ages 16+, and not 18+. Just FYI.
Anime Backtrack: When Isekai Was Good (7/26/2025 aka Saturday, at 1PM in the Panel Room)
Sure, any ol’ idiot can get smacked upside by a truck and land into a magical world… But back in MY day? You had to work for it! In the snow! Uphill, both ways! That’s the kind of isekai anime we’ll be talking about in THIS panel! (Also, stuff like The Vision of Escaflowne and Magic Knight Rayearth. You get it.)
Science SARU: Beyond Dandadan (7/26/2025 aka Saturday, at 8PM in the Panel Room)
Started in 2013 by acclaimed anime director Masaaki Yuasa, Science SARU has wasted no time becoming one the anime studios at the forefront of standout Japanese animation. But also American animation? How does THAT work? Well, I guess you’ll just have to show and find out!
Underrated Anime Gems (7/27/2025 aka Sunday, at 3PM in the Panel Room)
Kick back with us from the OSMcast and friends as we regale you with the coolest anime you have never heard of. Unless you have. In which case, you’ll be able to go “Yes their anime tastes are immaculate, and good.” Or not! But chances are, you’ll come away with more anime to look into than before you walked in.
Oh, and it’s in Main Events versus the much smaller Panel Room. And on Sunday. At 3PM, pretty close to before the con poofs and turns into a big ol’ pumpkin. So uh, please tell you friends to come find out about anime that I cannot shut up about.
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