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This year’s judges represent a cross section of anime expertise – spanning the realms of creation, criticism, and commerce. Learn more about the judges assembling this year’s nominees.

After consuming anime for over 25 years, Andrew started up Otaku Spirit Animecast podcast with his brother, Chris. Connecting with fans from California to Japan, their goal has always been to break from the mold and serve a community with a positive and entertaining view of the fandom they loved so much. With over 1200 anime titles under his belt and passing 700 anime reviews recorded, Andrew has enjoyed giving every show a chance and never falls on the 3-Episode Rule.

 she has run numerous panels at East coast conventions both alone and with her fellow AWO hosts, on a variety of topics such as BL/yaoi, Black Jack, Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, and building plastic model kits. In both the podcast and convention panels, she attempts to balance detailed discussions of individual works and the industry with accessibility to new viewers, and is hopefully successful at least some of the time.

Sloan The Female Otaku discusses topics rarely touched upon in the anime community, while keeping it fun with cosplay music videos and the occasional Fate/Grand Order banter. Sloan is also a script writer for Frederator’s Get In the Robot anime YouTube channel, and a journalist for Honey’s Anime.

Gerald has been watching anime since he grew eyeballs, which happened some time in the early ’80s. He started his anime journey with Robotech (which he has since disowned) and has been avidly watching more series since. He still owns his original VHS copies of Gall Force and Akira only because no one else wants them, but he swears they’re part of his “collection.” Gerald, along with co-hosts Clarissa and Daryl, started the Anime World Order podcast in 2006, making it one of the longest-running anime-only podcasts out there. He has also worked as a writer for Otaku USA since its first issue (skipping a few years in between). He can still be found talking about anime and video games on Twitter at @Gerald_AWO desperately hoping someone will respond.

Andrea Caprotti is a Puerto Rican animator and illustrator based in Austin, TX. She is currently a 3D Animator at Rooster Teeth, working on titles such as RWBY, Red vs. Blue, and Gen:Lock. She is a well-versed, second generation anime fan who grew up watching Portuguese and Spanish-language anime reruns on local TV. She has lived in Japan, speaks four languages, likes to draw cute anime girls, and is a sucker for slice of life.