Anime-ZAP! is more of a fun social event than an event focused on meeting special guests. However, a few of our favorite guests love our fans so much they want to hang out with you in Peoria!
The husband and wife team of Daniel and Jillian Coglan are full-time martial art instructors, specializing in 16th century Samurai Arts. When not teaching at their dojo, the Kojokan, they travel the United States performing and teaching the ancient ways of the most famous warriors in history.
With a combined 35 years of experience, their show is a unique blend of history, combative skill, and humor, designed to educate and entertain audiences both large and small.
Beyond their martial skills, the dynamic duo collaborated to write, direct, host, and star in a 12 episode TV series entitled, “The Way of The Samurai.”
Daniel is also an author, with several martial art articles published, and is currently working on his second full-length novel.
Meet Astro (they/them) a seasoned cosplayer with a passion for the craft that spans over 8 years. In the last year, Astro ventured into the realm of crafting their own cosplays, adding a new dimension to their creative journey. As a chronically ill and disabled cosplayer, Astro stands as a powerful advocate for the belief that everyone can cosplay, breaking down barriers and inspiring others to pursue their cosplay dreams without limitations.They can’t wait to meet and see everyones cosplays!
Kaitlyn began sewing in 2015 and embarked on her cosplay journey in 2018 with her first cosplay as Tinkerbell. She participated in her first competition at Anime Zap 2020, where she was bumped up to the experienced category and received a shoutout. Since then, Kaitlyn has competed in many competitions working her way up to Best in Masters and recently competing in the Cosplay World Crown. Her love for cosplay has only grown over the years, and she has always enjoyed competing.
Greg Ayres has been screaming into microphones for close to 25 years now! With over 376 credits to his name, he has managed to play a variety of characters that are almost as colorful as his hair. He was honored to recently return to his role of Son Goku in Saiyuki Reload Zeroin, having worked on the Saiyuki franchise for over 20 years. He can currently be heard as Po in Eminence and Shadow, As Kenta Kanzaki in The Dangers in My Heart, Yu Nishinoya in Haikyu, Chai in Shenmue The Animation on Adult swim, and a super bad demon known only as “God” in Dark Gathering. Some other recent roles include Chota Segawa in Alice in Borderland (OAV), Sho Utsumi in SSSSGridman, Frost in DragonBall Super, Geo in Sony Picture’s Starship Troopers : Traitor of Mars, Jiro in Concrete Revolutio, Ryuuou Edogawa in Doreiku, Koji Koda in My Hero Academia, and he even makes an appearance as Popuko in Pop Team Epic.
He is proud to be a part of the new “Pink Harvest” productions from Sentai Filmworks, in the roles of Izumi Sena in Lovestage, and Yabase in Hitorijime My Hero. Some other recent favorites include Nagisa Haruki in Free, and Free Eternal Summer, MonoKuma in Danganronpa, Clear in Dramatical Murder, Doug in Gangsta, Zenji Marui in Food Wars, Ganta Igarashi in Deadman Wonderland, Heihachi Hayashida in Samurai 7, and Kouichi Sakakibara in Another. Some of his all-time favorite roles include Chrono in Chrono Crusade, Kaoru Hitachiin in Ouran High School Host Club, Hideki in Nerima Daikon Brothers, Youhei Sunohara in Clannad, Yuki in The Wallflower, Leo in Ghost Stories, Satoshi Hiwatari in DNAngel, Kaworu Nagisa in the Director’s Cut of Neon Genesis Evangelion, Tomoki Sakurai in Heaven’s Lost Property, and Negi Springfield in Negima.
Of all of his many roles, his favorite will always be the real life role of “Little Brother” to voice actor Christopher Ayres. The little guy with a big Sippy Cup, and even bigger heart – who touched the world with his “Love and Laughter”.
Robert L. Mungle is a voice actor for Funimation, ADV Films, Seraphim Digital/Sentai Filmworks, and OkraTron 5000. The Right Reverend Robert L. Mungle founded The Whiskey Brothers in 1998. Since then, while the line-up has changed, it has been his outrageously loud voice that has led the group. Mungle has taken the stage everywhere from sold out theaters to seedy strip clubs. His IMDB page boasts over 100 different anime roles, from “Ghost Stories” to “Lady Death” to “Excel Saga.” He was born in Houston and you might recognize him from any of tons of anime roles, some of which include Amanojaku from Ghost Stories, Mr.8 from One Piece, Matsushita from Angel Beats, and Pedro Domingo from Excel Saga. He’s appeared in Akame ga Kill!, 009-1, Broken Blade, Gantz, Halo Legends, and many others.
Gareth is an actor, model, and voice actor based out of Texas. He is known for such Anime roles as; Ittetsu Takeda in Haikyu, Seiya Takehaya in Tsurune, Kanichi Konishi in Food Wars, Haruka Shinozaki in My Girlfriend Is Shobitch, Lizard Misty in Saint Seiya, 2D in Golden Time, Akihiro Tsukaba in Chihayafuru, Tomoaki Yamagishi in O Maidens In Your Savage Season, and Dinkuron in Log Horizon. He is also currently playing the role of Jason Lee Scott the Red Power Ranger in the upcoming release Red Rising: A Power Rangers Fan Film. When not making anime voices or acting, Gareth enjoys basically anything nerdy under the sun. So whatever it is you are into, chances are you can come up and geek out. Because there is nothing he likes more than getting enthusiastic, and making new friends!
Camron Johnson is a creator/artist/author based out of Central Illinois. His work is featured in comics, books, and trading cards with companies & licensed properties such as Marvel, Spider-Man, Upper Deck, Star Wars, Topps, IDW (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), VIZ Media (TMNT x Naruto), DYNAMITE (Thundercats, Terminator), Destro (G.I. Joe), IMAGE Comics, SKYBOUND, Hasbro, Warner Brothers, Middle-Earth (The Lord of The Rings + The Hobbit film trilogies), DC (Dark Nights: METAL), New Line Cinema, Space Jam: A New Legacy, Cryptozoic Entertainment, Adult Swim, Rick and Morty, Printed in Blood (Hannibal TV series), Massive Publishing (Assassin’s Creed), Ubisoft, Source Point Press, Perna Studios, MERC, and Legends Publishing. He is the Creator of the best-selling independent comic book series’ BONECHECK, MEDUSON, and FREEZER BURN. www.camronjohnson.com (website) @camrontjohnson (instagram)
@Camron Johnson Illustrations (facebook)
