The legendary Puffy AmiYumi makes their return to the USA starting in April making a 3 city tour stop in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Dallas. They are probably best known by their Western fans from their opening theme song in the hit animated series, Teen Titans, Teen Titans Go!, and from their own animated series, Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi. We caught up with the duo for a quick chat before their big return tour in the United States.
Debuting in 2008, DJ Kazu is an anisong and J-Pop music DJ who has sold over 1 million mix CDs worldwide. Who better to interview a DJ than our own guest interviewer, DJ Batman at Anime Expo 2016!
Taking the world by storm with their unique blend of electronic music and unorthodox performances, Wednesday Campanella also known as Suiyobi no Campanella (水曜日のカンパネラ) is made up of vocalist KOM_I, Kidefumi Kenmochi, and Dir.F. Check out our video interview with KOM_I at J-POP Summit 2016 as we find out what makes them so unique!
You've seen them at this year's PAX where fans waited in line for HOURS for a chance to get one of the four exclusive Final Fantasy XV t-shirts. Thanks to our friends at Square-Enix, to celebrate the launch of the game and to show our appreciation to our loyal readers and followers, we are giving away all four shirts! We have two of each design for a total of eight possible winners! What are you waiting for? ENTER NOW!
Hiroki Chiba began his career at Square Enix in 1993, where he assisted in the creation of FINAL FANTASY VI. He was also the Event Planner on the CHRONO TRIGGER and FINAL FANTASY series. After working on the development of the character Vincent from FINAL FANTASY VII, Chiba became the Scenario Writer and Event Director for DIRGE of CERBERUS -FINAL FANTASY VII-. Additionally, he has worked on the event scenes and the scenario for titles including FINAL FANTASY VII, FINAL FANTASY VIII, FINAL FANTASY X, FINAL FANTASY TYPE-0 and LIGHTNING RETURNS: FINAL FANTASY XIII. Since then, Chiba has continued to work on the overall direction and scenarios for many titles.
With a massive list of special guests and industry guests at this year's Anime Expo, one of the hidden guests that had everyone on their feet during Opening Ceremonies was anisong singer, Lia. She is best known for her musical works with visual novel studio Key, with her songs appearing in iconic series including Air, Clannad, Angel Beats!, and more recently Charlotte. Adding her list of works, her voice was also used for the VOCALOID character and software IA. Sit back, grab a cup of coffee, and join us as we catch up with Lia on how her recent personal life has influenced her work.
Making their American debut ahead of their tour in the USA, Silent Siren is a Japanese teen girl rock group formed in 2010. The girls' music have topped the Oricon weekly charts as well as performed at the prestigious Budokan arena. In this highly entertaining interview, see what the girls really know about each other ranging from their favorite ice cream flavors to their favorite pajama colors leading to some hilarious reactions!
Da-iCE is a 5 member dance group from Japan with a "facial deviation value of 75!" They are the recipient of The Japan Gold Disc Award for Best 5 New Artist and their latest single Paradive hit 3rd in the Oricon charts. Learn more about Da-iCE in our interview video at FanimeCon in San Jose!
FLOW debuted in 2003 with their 1st single “Blaster” and is famous for their Naruto opening theme songs such as “GO!!!” and “Remember” as well as Naruto-Shippuden’s opening theme song “Sign”.
In 2015, they came out with their 2nd Anime Best album “FLOW ANIME BEST Kiwami” and traveled to Japan, Taiwan, America, Canada, Brazil, Peru, Chile, Argentina to their first world tour “FLOW WORLD TOUR 2015 Kiwami”. Hear what they had to say as we talk to them about their first appearance Los Angeles performing in Anime Expo held at the Los Angeles Convention Center.
Kakihara is best known for portraying young male characters with a fiery personalities; Natsu from the anime Fairy Tail, Simon in Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, and Toudou Shinpachi in Yowamushi Pedal. He also lent his soft high-baritone voice to many handsome characters in Otome games (Shin from Amnesia) and Yaoi-themed anime (Akihito from Finder Series). During Anime Expo, we were lucky enough to sit down with voice actor himself and ask him about some of his current and future work.
Shoji Kawamori is known for designing Takara’s original, first-generation Transformers toys, creating and directing the bulk of Super Dimensional Fortress MACROSS, and much more. During Anime Expo, we were lucky enough to sit down with the legendary creator himself and chat a little about his thoughts on the current trends on the industry as well his current and future works including Project Next.
While in Seattle for Sakura-Con 2015, we sat down behind closed doors in a round table interview with voice actor Yoshitsugu Matsuoka who is best know for his work as Kirito in Sword Art Online, Sora in No Game No Life, and Yukihira Souma in Shokugeki no Souma; and Producer Shinichiro Kashiwada who has worked on Oreimo, Sword Art Online, and Fate/Zero.
Yuu Asakawa is a seasoned veteran who has played in various legendary titles including Love Hina as Motoko Aoyama, Azumanga Daioh as Sakaki, Fate/stay night as Rider, Akame ga Kill! as Leone and we cannot forget she also voiced as Megurine Luka from Vocaloid. What sets her apart from other voice actresses is her embracing the English language which allows her to interact with her English speaking fans. Although we missed her at Anime Expo back in 2010, we were lucky enough sit down with her at Anime on Display and chat a little about her freelance voice acting work.
Eir Aoi is household name in the world of anisong (anime songs/music). In the past we've talked to Eir Aoi about her early career when she first started and even played a video game against her. Hear about some of the exciting things she did while in San Francisco for the J-POP Summit 2015.