Displaying items by tag: Anime Expo

On July 2, 2015 we attended a backstage interview and photo session with Momoiro Clover Z (Momoclo) and the group KISS. This was right before Momoclo took the stage for their concert and KISS would join them to receive the prestigious 2015 “Special Commissioner’s Award” from Japan’s International Short Shorts Asian Film Festival for their music video "Yumeno Ukiyoni Saitemina" in which Sushio from the anime studio Trigger worked on by designing the characters in the animated version of the music video.

As the creator behind the award-winning light novel series, Spice and Wolf, Isuna Hasekura has quickly penned his way into the minds of anime fans worldwide through writing classic storylines focused on economics and how it influences the world. Aside from Spice and Wolf, his portfolio also includes the visual novel World End Economica, which was recently translated and published by Sekai Project. We had a chance to interview him during Anime Expo 2015 and had a chance to ask him about what shaped his work as well as his thoughts about the English translation for World End Economica.

Anime Expo’s twenty-fourth year has once again shattered attendance records, and raised the bar for Los Angeles’ most popular anime convention. Last year’s convention saw a huge increase in attendance, with special events such as the Kill la Kill special event, Sailor Moon panels and premier screenings.

After Anime Expo 2014 had concluded, SPJA President and CEO of Anime Expo, Marc Perez, had issued an open letter to attendees acknowledging the issues that plagued 2014 while vowing to do better. Though initially met with skepticism, the team behind Anime Expo certainly took the challenges head on to give fans a smoother experience for 2015; although not perfect by any means, the AX 2015 experience had improved immensely over AX 2014.

For July 4th Club Nokia plays host to both Wagakki Band and their opening act in the form of the Vocaloid IA.  This happens to be the first stateside show for both.  The two acts are part of the twenty-fourth iteration of Anime Expo in a mini-event dubbed the "Cool Japan Festival."  They couldn't have picked a better stage to debut on in the United States.  Out of all the concerts and events at AX this one was what I was looking forward to the most.

At this year's Anime Expo, Aniplex hosted a Fate/stay night [Unlimited Blade Works] special event.  A lot of guests from the series were invited and the prolific Ayako Kawasumi who voiced Saber in the Fate/stay night series was one of them. Some of her other well known roles include Mahoro Ando from Mahoromatic, Aoi Sakuraba from Ai Yori Aoshi,  Megumi Noda from Nodame Cantabile and many others. We had a chance to sit down for a few minutes and ask a few questions about her career.

During Anime Expo 2015, The-O Network had a chance to interview VisualArts/Key illustrator/character designer Itaru Hinoue whose extensive portfolio includes AIR, Rewrite and more recently her own project Holy Breaker! Famous for their heart-wrenching high school drama and magical endings, Itaru's amazing artwork has been prominently featured in Key's numerous anime and visual novels, and have been known to bring even the coldest of souls to tears. With the upcoming release of Key's CLANNAD this November on PC/Steam, find out what the multi-talented artist had to say in our sit down interview with her!

On July 4, 2014 Anime Expo/Sony Entertainment/Aniplex hosted the Kill la Kill Event during Anime Expo 2014. The doors opened and fans began to enter at 2:00pm into Main Events Hall . Once people got seated in their rows, four cosplayers dressed up as: Mako Mankanshoku, Ira Gamagoori, Houka Inumuta and Nonon Jakuzure came on stage while staffers passed out the "FreFlow" glow stick. The cosplayers were in character and began to explain how to use the FreFlow and that it would sync to the concert. Once they walked us through the syncing process, they acted as if Inumuta had taken over the glow sticks and said to keep them on, as the concert would start shortly.

As a longtime and experienced voice actor, famous for powerful 'alpha' roles such as Tidus from Final Fantasy X and Ichigo Kurosaki from Bleach, Masakazu Morita graced his adoring fans at Anime Expo 2014 as one of the Guests of Honor for K: Missing Kings' premiere. Winner of the 2007 Seiyu Award as "Best Rookie Actor," his extensive resume has led him to lending his voices in a variety of productions including visual novels, anime, video games and even live-action dubbing for series such as Disney's High School Musical as Troy Bolton. Read all about his career, as well as which of the characters he feels the most connected with, as we accompany him on a brief reflective journey through his thoughts and processes. "BANKAI!"

Behind the closed doors of Anime Expo's press conference room, the legendary Keiji Inafune shared a few thoughts ranging from childhood influences to directorial duties for his short film for Dead Rising 2. Despite being well-known for the Rockman Mega Man series, Keiji Inafune has been involved in the gaming industry for twenty-seven years and counting, including his newest creation, Mighty No. 9.

Can't make it the Anime Expo 2014 or just want to enhance your con-going experience at North America's largest anime convention with the click of a button? Then be sure to check out all of the awesome coverage that we're going to be doing over the next few upcoming weeks!

Highlights will include: an interview with the illustrious and charming duo of Tasha and Doremi from the talented female cosplay group Spiral Cats, as well as interviews with the wonderful J-POP starlet Eir Aoi (Sword Art Online, Kill la Kill) and doujin artist Luna Tsukigami!