OtakonNews

Three of the Japanese voice actors for the 2019 Fruits Basket anime will be attending Otakon 2019, and here’s your chance to meet them and get an item autographed! Through a special arrangement with our partners at Funimation, 3 Japanese voice actors for Fruits Basket, Manaka Iwami (Tohru Honda), Nobunaga Shimazaki (Yuki Soma), and Makoto Furukawa (Hatsuharu Soma) will be holding a special meet and greet session for an autograph board at Otakon 2019! This is a ticket-only event courtesy of Funimation. For details on how to attend this EXCLUSIVE, LIMITED signing opportunity, check the event web page here

Kirk’s major roles include Brandon Heat in Gungrave, Hotohori in Fushigi Yūgi, Jin in Samurai Champloo, Hajime Saito in Rurouni Kenshin, Jet Link in Cyborg 009, Don Patch in Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo, and numerous Digimon. Additionally, Kirk co-directed for the popular anime series Bleach and also serves as the narrator. In video games, he voices Number VII Organization XIII member Saïx in the Kingdom Hearts series and Shadow the Hedgehog in the Sonic the Hedgehog series. View all the guests we have announced so far on our website at: https://www.otakon.com/guest/

We are sad to announce that Fat Jon has had to reschedule his appearance at Otakon this year due to an unavoidable personal circumstance. Fat Jon has expressed his profound gratitude for the opportunity to be a part of Otakon, and looks forward to joining us in 2020. Please join with us in wishing Fat Jon all the best, and our excitement to see him next year.

Steve Bennett worked on anime in Tokyo with Noburu Furusei (New Dominion Tank Police, Lupin III, etc.) at Studio Aoehyma in the 1980s. He worked on series like Urusei Yatsura and Yamamoto, before returning to the States. Steve was with Studio Ironcat, a manga-publication company, from 1997 to 2004. He’s worked on several web comics, including The Angel of St. Thomas and Baba Bhalu. And he’s attended a zillion conventions, teaching cel painting classes and drawing on anything that moves. Steve has also done guest speaker gigs at institutions such as the Iowa Museum of Art, and the Freer Gallery of Art. Currently, Steve is working on commissioned projects. He and Nikki are starting their new adventure at www.bennettcreativeservices.com. Steve is looking forward to seeing old friends and meeting new ones at Otakon! View all the guests we have announced so far on our website at: https://www.otakon.com/guest/

Jen Cohn is best known for her role voicing ‘Pharah’ in Overwatch. She’s also the voice of 'Lord Zash' in Star Wars: The Old Republic, and of Zuko and Azula's mother ‘Ursa' in Avatar: The Last Airbender. Jen’s other voice credits include characters in Turbo, Word Girl, Assy McGee, and a bunch of versions of Grand Theft Auto. When not doing voiceovers for video games, animation, and commercials, Jen can be found acting onscreen, writing and producing, and running around New York and Paris Fashion Weeks, where she trend scouts and consults new brands. Her favorite gig is being mom to her awesome son Mickey. She lives in New York City. View all the guests we have announced so far on our website at: https://www.otakon.com/guest/

Mark your calendars, Pre-Registration for the Otakon 2019 Hall Costume Contest will go live on Saturday, June 15! The Hall Costume Contest is a contest that deals specifically with the quality and workmanship of the costume itself. There is no performance element - it is a quiet scheduled judging session where you speak to the judges and tell them about the details of your work. Awards are presented following the Masquerade Saturday Night and you will also have the option of showing off your costume in a catwalk onstage. Please note that you cannot compete with the same costume in both Hall Costume Contest and Masquerade. Find complete information here.

A Japanese bilingual singer born in New York. In 2010, nano began sharing English covers of Japanese songs on sites such as YouTube and quickly received positive response from viewers around the world. In March, 2012, nano made a professional debut with the release of a 1st album “nanoir”. “nanoir” ranked in 10th in the Daily Oricon Charts on the first day of release. In 2015, the 3rd studio album “Rock on.” Was released, which reached 4th on the Oricon Daily Charts, creating a big movement in the field of J-pop. Following the debut in 2013, nano held a first Live Concert “Remember you color.” at the Shinkiba Studio Coast, which sold out 2,500 tickets within the first day. A Zepp Live Tour followed quickly after, and nano has been actively holding concerts both in Japan and Internationally. In 2015, nano’s first concert in Germany and Taiwan took place. In 2018, a sold out concert or 2,800 people was held in San Jose, America, nano’s first concert back in home-country. nano continues to reach out beyond borders, connecting people around the world through music.

A VERY LIMITED number of VIP and Preferred Seating concert passes go on sale June 1 at 1:00pm! Watch social media and the Concerts page for how to purchase. So what concerts are we talking about? Friday 7/26, 4PM: Bradio Friday 7/26, 8PM: The Tribute to Nujabes (composer for Samurai Champloo) w/MINMI, Fat Jon, Substantial, Marcus D, Shing02, and EyeQ Sunday 7/28, 12PM: Diana Garnet & nano

Washington D.C. native Diana Garnet is a rising star in the J-Pop and anime music scene, lending her dynamic, powerful vocals to many anime and game titles. A highly accomplished vocalist, Diana got her start winning “Best Foreign Singer of J-pop” in televised singing contest, Nodojiman The World: Spring 2013. She recently also took home the title of “Best Female Singer” from another televised singing competition, The Karaoke Battle. Her striking tone, expansive range, and formidable arsenal of techniques along with her unique perspective as one of the few foreign entertainers in the industry, come together to create a force to be reckoned with in Japan’s music scene. View all the guests we have announced so far on our website at: https://www.otakon.com/guest/

Stephanie Panisello came to Los Angeles on vacation, and never left! Her thirst for adventure, passion for acting and love of video games has lead her to appear in over a dozen titles including: Doom, Evil Within 2, the Final Fantasy franchise, Blade 2: The Return of Evil, the Batman theme park ride Knight Flight as Poison Ivy, and the cinematic trailer for Shadow of the Tomb Raider as Lara Croft. View all the guests we have announced so far on our website at: https://www.otakon.com/guest/

ATTENTION DJs!! ONE WEEK LEFT!! How would you like a chance to blast your awesome mixes at Otakon's highly popular Ota-Dance? Well now's the time! DJ applications for 2019 have now officially been opened to the public, so click the link below to sign up and show us what you've got! https://www.otakon.com/activities/dance/ All Applications must be submitted by May 4th

ATTENTION DJs!! How would you like a chance to blast your awesome mixes at Otakon's highly popular Ota-Dance? Well now's the time! DJ applications for 2019 have now officially been opened to the public, so click the link below to sign up and show us what you've got! https://www.otakon.com/activities/dance/ All Applications must be submitted by May 4th.

BRADIO is a funky band formed by Takaaki Shingyoji(Vo), Soichi Oyama(Gt), Ryosuke Sakai(Ba). Their music covers a wide variety of music genres such as Rock, Funk, R&B, Blues, and Latin. Those who love danceable funk music like Bruno Mars, Michael Jackson, Earth Wind & Fire must listen to BRADIO. BRADIO was formed in a concept of adding a nice touch to entertainment. Led by the drum and bass which plays different sounds to each song, Vo SHINGYOUJ’s attractive soulful shout and sexy falsetto fascinate all the FUNKY PARTY PEOPLE.

Serena and Roxanne are best friends and training partners out of Syndicate MMA in Las Vegas, NV. Serena is the first pro MMA female fighter with autism and Roxanne is a two season The Ultimate Fighter contestant. They are both huge anime fans and have attended Otakon in their youth. Roxanne is known for wearing cosplays to her weigh-ins. Roxanne lived and taught English in Japan where she also trained and fought professionally before returning to the USA to compete on TUF 18. Throughout her life she has trained in Taekwondo, Kenpo Karate, Judo, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and Muay Thai. Serena has trained in Taekwondo, Boxing, Muay Thai, Wrestling, and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Both women are instructors in BJJ. Both women are inspirations in a male dominate sport.

Ellyn began her acting career at the age of 12. She is a classically trained actress, voice actress, director and writer, whose career spans film, television and stage. She has voiced hundreds of characters in Games, Animation and Anime. Ellyn began with Robotech. She is Agatha of the Elite 4 in the Pokémon Generations”. She plays Elena Gotti in the new “LupinIII Blue Jacket Series” and other characters also. Some of her other roles include: Mrs. Tashio in "Skipbeat”, Masaki Kurosaki, Ichigo’s Mom in “Bleach”, Miyuki Goto Rossario in “Noein”, Rossario in “Wrinkles”, which she starred in with Martin Sheen and Matthew Bodine, and many more. Legendary Actor RICHARD EPCAR – is one of the hardest working men in show business, having voiced over 500 characters in Games, Animation and Anime. Best known as the voice of BATOU in Ghost in the Shell, The JOKER in several Batman games including INJUSTICE: GODS AMONG US (Fighting Game of the Year!) RAIDEN in MORTAL KOMBAT, ANSEM in KINGDOM HEARTS, JOSEPH JOESTAR in JOJO’S BIZARRE ADVENTURE, JIGEN in LUPIN the THIRD and AKUMA in STREET FIGHTER V, and many more. View all the guests we have announced so far on our website at: https://www.otakon.com/guest/