From left, Dominique Combs and her son Kingston (plus other son Asher, not pictured) speak to anime voice actor Peter Kelamis, special guest at the Pittsburgh Anime Fest convention at the Cranberry DoubleTree Hotel in Marshall Township on Sunday. William Pitts/Butler Eagle

MARSHALL TWP, Allegheny County -- Hundreds of anime, manga and comic book fans — many of whom dressed as their favorite characters -- descended upon the Cranberry DoubleTree Hotel for the Pittsburgh Anime Fest on Sunday, Feb. 1.

Aside from the usual merchandise and artwork sales, guests were treated to karaoke, a trivia contest and a costume contest.

Longtime anime voice actor Peter Kelamis was one of the guest panelists at Sunday’s convention, and his booth attracted plenty of attention.

“Everybody’s been awesome. I think it’s been a really cool turnout today. A lot of smiles on people’s faces,” Kelamis said. “It’s my first time in Pittsburgh. I'm a huge hockey fan, so, for me, coming into Penguins territory was kind of neat.”

Many of those who attended were first-timers, such as Stellen Segu and Maxim Cygnarowicz, who say they are planning to head to a larger convention in Cleveland in March.

“We came to this to test the waters to see if we like this kind of convention,” Segu said. “It’s great. The people here are nice and I like seeing the costumes of people.”

“A lot of people have said this was their first convention and that’s really great to hear,” Kelamis said. “They get exposed to it. They realize it's not intimidating and they're all kind of fun.”