The fourth and final event of the July Fourth weekend is Kurocon (Kurotsukicon). Kurocon, you ask? Don't worry if you've never heard of it; I hadn't either until earlier this week when a friend told me about it. There's a Canadian eventer (slang for a person who goes to Japanese events, generally musical in nature, and generally a lot of them) who goes by the name of Kurotsuki. As Anime Expo was not taking place this year he decided, perhaps jokingly, to make his own event. Things kind of ran from there, a bunch of people jumped on board, industry joined too, and voila, here we are.

Kurocon takes place on July 4-5 on Twitch and Discord. It's a very, very packed Saturday with all four events taking place on that day. Who needs fireworks?  Kurocon itself will start at 8AM PST

Kurocon has the benefit of having absolutely no corporate pressure. This is a con headed by one dude who goes to anime events. He doesn't have to answer to a bottom line, doesn't have to worry about putting up big numbers, and doesn't have to appeal to a certain demographic. He can do whatever the hell he wants. This is reflected in some of the panels that will be held on Discord like "Don't work in the video games industry in Japan," "A Brief History of Vtuber Economics," and "How to go to anisong events." Kind of looks like fan panels, right? Well, you're not too far off the mark. This event is pretty much a for-fans-by-fans event. I flew to Japan just to see Aqours for the xth time. I think I'll be in good company here.

For such a small con it's going to have some fairly big-name guests. Singers ASAKA, ZAQ, and angela will all be on hand. Sekai Project and DENPA will have industry stuff for you to sink your teeth into.

All things considered, this is a pretty kick ass event especially when you take into consideration the financials, or lack thereof. It has also been in existence for a whopping one month. My only sadness is that I'll be at work for half of it.

I doubt I'll be able to use some of the very-relevant knowledge I'll be picking up (tips on traveling Japan for cheap and more info about going to events is always appreciated) this year given the state of the world but next year I'm going to do my best to go hard.  

Please visit https://kurocon.org/ for details, the schedule, and more.