Displaying items by tag: Anime Expo

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.”

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!

Japanese artist Alpha made her first visit earlier this year to Anime Expo 2011 held in Los Angeles. Alpha is an illustrator for the visual novel company, Akabeisoft2 and has worked on the award winning game, G-Senjou no Maou (G線上の魔王). While some may have never heard of Alpha, a legion of American fans lined up to meet her at MangaGamer's booth.

Hear what Alpha had to say about her experience at Anime Expo, a little about how she got started into the industry, current projects she is working on, and a special message for all her American fans!

One of the largest anime convention in North America is sure to attract some of the best cosplays from all around. Check our gallery now!

http://www.t-ono.net/Gallery/Cosplays/Anime-Expo-2011/

Japanese all female group Kalafina, made their second American appearance at Anime Expo from July 1-4, 2011. Consisting of vocalists, Keiko Kubota, Wakana Ōtaki, and Hikaru Masai, the group was originally formed to perform music for the anime adaptation of Kara no Kyokai (The Garden of Sinners), but their unique musical styling has lead them continue to this day. Their more recent music has appeared in the popular series, Puella Magi Madoka Magica. Hear what this trio had to say in our brief interview!

The new girl on the block, Japanese singer Maon Kurosaki made her first American debut in Los Angeles at Anime Expo 2011. Kurosaki-san started her career relatively recently in 2010, but she has provided her musical talents for some popular anime series such as High School of the Dead, and Toaru Majutsu no Index II. Kurosaki-san's growing popularity has landed her a spot this year at one of the world's largest anime themed concert, Animelo Summer Live held in the Saitama Super Arena in Japan. Hear about how Kurosaki-san started from working at an idol café, to her professional debut in our brief interview!

The internet sensation Hatsune Miku is well known around the world. Originally a musical voice synthesizer program named Vocaloid 2, fans have created a whole subculture of music, artworks, and even a 3D live stage concert. See what the creative team, Crypton Future Media's CEO Hiroyuki Itoh and Producer Wataru Sasaki had to say in our brief interview as we caught them at the end of day!

People may have seen Shinji Katakura clad in a black ninja outfit sketching at the MangaGamer booth during previous years at Anime Expo.  For those who might not know, Katakura is a character designer at the Japanese game company, OVERDRIVE that has produced many well-known visual novel titles such as Kira☆Kira (キラ☆キラ) and Edelweiss (エーデルワイス).  All of the games that Katakura has worked on has been released worldwide with English translations.  See why he's back in our brief interview with him at Anime Expo 2011.

Amongst the various guests that appeared at Anime Expo, illustrator Kazue Yamamoto, who is also President of visual novel company Denbonosu, made a surprise visit at MangaGamer's booth. Yamamoto-san is probably best known for her works on the Izumo series. She was also a Guest of Honor previously at Anime Expo 2005. We got to briefly chat with her during her break and hear what she had to say!

This year was North America's largest anime convention, Anime Expo's 20th anniversary. To celebrate, the convention decided to bring back some of it's more popular guests and otaku blogger Danny Choo was one of them. It's been a year since we last interviewed him (you can read our past interview here), hear what's it like for an otaku blogger who is now an entrepreneur working with some of the biggest names in the business!