Megacon 2026 Day 3
After an action packed day 2, I returned for Megacon 2026 Day 3. What did I do to follow up on such an incredible day? I hyper focused on the few things that I hadn’t done yet. There were some downsides to this though as you will see in a moment. I’ll talk about what I did focus on in a moment. First let’s look at what I saw on Day 3.
Due to my hyperfocus, I didn’t get a lot of pictures on the sales floor or in the halls. But I did want to draw attention to how crowded it was. Megacon 2026 Day 3 was a Saturday and this convention is infamous for its crowds on that day. The large clusters of people also made it much more difficult to get photos. As for the ones I did get, they feature DIO from Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure and an astronaut in a shuttle that moved. I’m always impressed by people who are able to create objects and machines that can move. I’m not sure if I would ever be able to pull something like that off.
One of the Best Panels I have Ever Attended
I only was able to attend one panel during Megacon 2026 Day 3, but it was well worth setting almost everything aside for. If you have read my other posts in this series, you might see some familiar faces. But I’ll list everyone in the picture above anyway, because there was an incredible amount of talent on that stage.
From right to left, I saw: Jennifer Hale, Angela Sant’Albano, Aliona Baranova, Jennifer English, and Erika Harlacher. And what an all star cast for a panel. The line was long and I didn’t want to risk missing this group answer questions and talk to one another. So I waited for over an hour and was rewarded with a near front row seat. Best of all, unlike the panel the day before with Jennifer English and Aliona Baranova, the MC was not problematic at all. In fact from what I heard, it sounded like she works with Jennifer Hale to help people reach their potential.
After this panel, I really wish I had gotten a chance to meet Jennifer Hale because this panel could have been a Ted Talk with her as the featured speaker. Not that the others didn’t contribute, but I have a lot of respect for Hale after hearing her speak about what she is doing to make sure that there will always be new generations to talent in acting.
I have not played Resident Evil Requiem yet, but I kept hearing during the panel how Angela had an incredible performance for her first foray into Video Game Voice Acting. I have already mentioned Jennifer English and Aliona Baranova and how incredible and kind they were when I got a chance to meet them. But when did I meet Erika you might be asking. Well you are about to find out.
Meeting Erika Harlacher
Earlier I mentioned that much of my time during Megacon 2026 Day 3 was taken up by one task. That one task was getting to meet Erika Harlacher. So the moment I arrived at the convention, I went straight for her line. Unfortunately a lot of other con goers had come up with the same plan. I waited in her line for a good two hours of my Saturday. And I regretted none of it. Being trapped in a line with other con goers is an experience unto itself. And its a chance to make friends. But that isn’t why you are reading this. So let’s talk about meeting Erika.
After that long line, I first read a sign warning that there was one sensitive topic not to bring up while talking to her. And I watched her streams enough to understand immediately. I won’t mention what I didn’t discuss with her, but if you follow her content, you already know. Instead I got a chance to ask her about the book she is getting published. And her eyes lit up. The same way mine do whenever anyone asks me about my work. I told her that I was eagerly awaiting it being published so I could read it. Given what else was likely going through her mind at the time, I hope this made her at least a little happy.
Before I took the above picture with her, I also asked when she and Sarah Miller Crews, the voice of Lumine in Genshin Impact would be streaming more Kingdom Hearts. The two had played through Kingdom Hearts 1, Chain of Memories, and Kingdom Hearts 2 so far. But they had stopped during the strike. She told me that in addition to having conflicting schedules, she needed to find a way to play the next game in the series, 358/2 Days. It hasn’t been remade on any of the modern systems so it made sense why they had waited so long when you take all those factors into account.
Wrap Up
All in all, while it might appear that I did little during Megacon 2026 Day 3, I accomplished a lot. The panel was the highest priority of every panel I wanted to attend during the entire event. And Erika had been near the very top of the list of voice actors I have wanted to meet for years. This had been her first convention outside of California by her own admission.
There was only one more day of Megacon 2026 left, and I had accomplished most of what I wanted by then. So what new surprises were in store for the last day of the event? Well you will have to read that post to find out.