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Sohei Niikawa Interview @ NIS America Reunion Press Event 2013
Written by Jason Young
We recently had a chance to attend NIS America's 2013 Reunion Press Event in San Francisco and had a chance to interview NIS America President Sohei Niikawa to ask him a few questions about Sony's PlayStation 4 announcement and the future of the Disgaea series.
2013 NIS America Press Reunion Event: "Black Rock Shooter Is Still in Development"
Written by J. M. Alcala
On February 21st, NIS America (NISA) held their annual Press Reunion event in San Francisco. For NIS themselves, 2013 marks two important milestones for the company: NIS will be celebrating their twentieth anniversary come July while one of their flagship series, Disgaea will be celebrating its tenth anniversary. Of course, not to be overshadowed by Sony's PlayStation 4 announcement from the previous day, NIS President Souhei Niikawa was on hand at the event to not only pledge support for the system but to also mention that NIS has begun to develop for it as well.
Toshio Furukawa (古川 登志夫) Interview @ SacAnime 2013
Written by Theodore Mak
Featuring a number of well-known Guests of Honor, including veteran Japanese voice actor Toshio Furukawa, SacAnime's Winter 2013 convention was a fantastic way to start off the New Year. Famous for his powerful male roles, including Ace from One Piece, Piccolo from Dragon Ball Z and Roy Campbell from Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops, Furukawa was gracious enough to find some time to sit down with us in a last minute interview and answer a few questions regarding his career as a voice actor and along with his role as a teacher in voicing acting.
SacAnime's Winter 2013 convention marked the beginning of a new era for the organization as they transitioned into the Sacramento Convention Center. Not only did they expand their convention however, but this time they featured a star-studded lineup, including Japanese voice actress Mai Aizawa. Known for her roles as Minene Uryuu in Mirai Nikki and Natsumi Murakami from Mahou Sensei Negima!, we had an opportunity to sit down with Mai and ask her a few questions about her career and future projects.
We got some great interviews during Anime Expo this year but it was completely unexpected that we got to do an impromptu interview with voice actor Daisuke Kishio! He is probably best known for his roles as Van Flyheight from Zoids, Kaname Kuran from Vampire Knight, Souichi Negishi from Detroit Metal City and Noel Kreiss from Final Fantasy XIII-2!
J-Pop Summit Festival 2012: Real Escape Game X Evangelion
Written by J. M. Alcala
One part scavenger hunt and one part 'choose your own adventure' narrative, Real Escape Game is real-life activity where groups of people are given an objective, follow and decipher clues, and work together to 'escape' from a threat. With having staged two previous events with much success, the group behind Real Escape Game planned something special for the J-Pop Summit Festival in San Francisco, especially since San Francisco is home to Viz Media, Inc., home of the popular series Neon Genesis Evangelion.
We recently had a chance to check out up-and-coming Asian American JPOP sensation Kylee Saunder's (Kylee) show at the JPOP Summit Festival in San Francisco on Sunday, August 26th. Before catching her live, we found out about her professional history and how it felt for her to perform in Japan through a short interview*.
Japanese pop music idol duo ClariS has caused a huge stir in Japan and has caught the attention of mainstream media for starting their career when they were only in junior high school. While the pair have not revealed their true identities, they are best recognized through their illustrations drawn by popular artists often from the anime titles they are involved in. Their music has appeared in popular anime series such as Ore no Imouto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai, Puella Magi Madoka Magica, and Nisemonogatari. Learn more about the duo and find out how they feel to have their first album "Birthday," released in the United States (iTunes, Amazon)! If you're a fan, definitely do not miss The-O Network exclusive with ClariS's FIRST English interview!
Anime heavy metal band ANIMETAL USA shredded their way through the Los Angeles Convention Center during Anime Expo 2012, and we had a chance to sit down with them this year. Our resident staffers, Salvador Mateos, Jason Young and Theodore Mak talked to the group about their history and their inspiration for creating heavy metal covers of various anime songs including “Pegasus” and “Rock Lee.”
Tamiyasu Tomoe (民安 ともえ) Interview @ Anime Expo 2012
Written by Jason Young
This year MangaGamer brought acclaimed eroge voice actress Tamiyasu Tomoe with them to Anime Expo 2012 as an industry guest. Tamiyasu's extensive resume includes her role as Yayoi in OVERDRIVE's Deardrops and as Rin/Riki/Sasasegawa in KEY's Little Busters!. Tomoe was gracious enough to sit down with our resident staffers, Benjamin Chu and Jason Young, to give us the lowdown on her career as a voice actress and who would win in a dispute between Rin and Yayoi!
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The-O Network’s Jason Young and Theodore Mak had a chance to interview Japanese pop singer LiSA at Anime Expo 2012. LiSA, who is widely known for her work as the singing voice for Angel Beats!’s Yui and Fate/Zero’s opening “Oath/Sign” has released two Oricon-charting albums Letters to U and Lover"S"Mile to date, making her an up-and-coming J-pop sensation. We explore her love for Disney and her impressions of being in America for the first time in her career. Make sure to also check out her video shout out to The-O Network readers at the end!
This year's FanimeCon had an exciting line of guests and panels including Japanese designer Shigeto Koyama. He has worked on popular series such as Heroman, Panty & Stocking, Gurren Lagann, Evangelion, and Eureka Seven. Check out what he had to say as we discussed a little about his work on the popular mecha anime Star Driver along with some of his current works that he was unable to talk to us about during our previous interview!
Kia Asamiya is an unique artist who has worked on American comics such as Batman and X-Men. Back home in Japan, he has work on popular manga titles like Silent Mobius and Martian Successor Nadesico. While at this year's FanimeCon, we caught up with the man and discussed briefly about some of the differences between American and Japanese works and also a little about his current titles in Japan. Read also about his future projects such as the possible continuation on Silent Mobius!
Stereopony's been rocking the faces off of Japan since 2007 and we had the chance to be de-facificed ourselves at this years Sakura-Con. If you've enjoyed Mobile Suit Gundam 00 or Darker Than Black, you would probably recognize their music. These three girls have definitely made their mark in the J-Rock and anime world and there's no sign of them slowing down. Our very own Roger Lee sat down with them and talked a little bit about their career, their struggles, and the support they've received from fans friends and family alike.