Displaying items by tag: anime expo 2015

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!

Along with Tomoyo Kurosawa, PONY CANYON brought up-and-coming high school voice actress Yumiri Hanamori to Anime Expo 2015. Known particularly for her roles as Sachiko Umemoto in Ace of the Diamond, Chiaya Misono in The Rolling Girls, and Uri-tan in Etotama, Yumiri has provided a breath of fresh air to the voice acting community in Japan through her considerable talents as she looks to leave her mark on the industry. Join us in this sit down interview as we find out about her roles in the Yuki Yuna video game, as well as who the "Matcha Green" is in her life!

As part of the upcoming tide of talent in Japanese voice acting, Tomoyo Kurosawa has played roles including Natsuki Koyama in Welcome to THE SPACE SHOW as well as Otome Arisugawa (Aikatsu!), Miria Akagi (The IDOLM@STER Girls), Kumiko Oumae (Sound! Euphonium) and Itsuki Inubozaki (Yuki Yuna is a Hero). Find out what the charming young voice actress had to say briefly about her first time in L.A., school life in Japan and about her role in Yuki Yuna!

With the success of visual novel games rising in the West, a collaboration between Degica Co., Ltd. and ixtl will be bringing one of the most acclaimed visual novels, Muv-Luv, to fans via Kickstarter later this year.

In preparation for their upcoming concert at Anime Expo 2015, there will be a special Momoiro Clover Z event at the JW Marriott/Platinum Ballroom on Day 0, Wednesday July 1 from 7-9PM. It will feature the proper steps and techniques so fans can learn about otagei and follow along with the lovely members of Momoiro Clover Z during their concert. Concert ticket holders will get priority seating. In addition, there appears to be a "special guest" at the screening too!