The Sporting Life: MTAC Another World Edition

MTAC 2025 returns to Nashville April 18–20 with an isekai fantasy theme, packed with anime guests, cosplay, contests, music, and fan-fueled cultural celebration.

The Middle Tennessee Anime Convention (MTAC) — Tennessee’s largest anime convention — returns this April with a weekend-long extravaganza. It will be held at the familiar locations Sheraton Music City & Embassy Suites Nashville from Friday, April 18 through Sunday, April 20, 2025.

2025’s Convention: “MTAC: Another World” is the 23rd Middle Tennessee Anime Convention, styling this year’s convention around fantasy anime, especially the isekai subgenre of fantasy in which a character is suddenly transported from their world into a new or unfamiliar one.

MTAC is an annual Nashville-based community celebration of Japanese animation and culture, including costumes, music, gaming, and so much more, and operates entirely on a volunteer basis. The event features a spectacular mix of celebrity guests, artists, industry professionals, feature events, professional speakers, fan discussion panels, workshops, Q&A sessions, vendors, contests, and more. Major Events include a Cosplay Contest, Ramen Eating Contest, Anime Music Video Contest, Electronic Dance, Lolita Tea Party, Otaku Ball, Risque Cosplay Contest, J-Fashion Show, Lip-Sync Contest.

Established in 1999, MTAC has been an annual mainstay in the Middle Tennessee community, with thousands of attendees and guests coming from the region and beyond. Throughout the years, MTAC has featured several special guests covering a variety of aspects of anime and media. MTAC also lives up to being Music City’s Anime Con by hosting top-notch musical shows with talent both local and foreign. MTAC also gives back to the community which hosts it by assisting local charities in drives at the convention, as well as donation drives during the year.

This year, MTAC has announced five voice actors as their special guests, who will be available for autographs, panel discussions and other activities throughout the weekend. They are Alexis Tipton, Lauren Landa, Natalie Van Sistine, Ricco Fajardo, and Robert McCollum.

Alexis Tipton has been voice acting since 2008 and has loved every minute of it! She can be heard in over 450 anime, video game, and foreign live action film dub projects. Lauren Landa is a voice actress born and raised in Los Angeles. In the last 15 years her voice has been in over a hundred different anime and video game titles, playing the voice of many beloved characters. Natalie Van Sistine is a voice actor, audio engineer, and writer who currently lives near Dallas with her dog, Nico.

Ricco Fajardo is an actor whose performances have been seen in many ways: on stage, film, commercials, industrials, voice-over, animation, motion-capture — if it involves the body and voice, he’s done it. Robert McCollum has been working in anime for almost twenty-five years, voicing more than 300 roles

For more information, and to register, check out their website: mtac.net

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