OtakonNews

The HELLCATPUNKS fashion brand takes inspiration from the 1970s London fashion scene, including punk rocker styles like bondage pants, and resizes them into a more modern style. HELLCATPUNKS went international with an exhibition of their girly-punk style in London in 2008. Since then, the brand has expanded far beyond Japan, and their clothes are now available in 30 international stores. See our entire guest line up here

In light of current conditions, we recognize the need for more time before making the decision to register for this year. We are extending our "early bird" rate to May 11th, to coincide with our Badge Mailing deadline. Click here to find all the current information and options for registering for Otakon 2020.

Mary Elizabeth started as a voice director of Anime dubs with Cowboy Bebop, Digimon Tamers, Wolf’s Rain, Naruto and Naruto Shippuden and Glitter Force. She then moved on to dialogue directing for original animation and is currently voice directing She-Ra: Princesses of Power, Star Wars Resistance, Tangled: The Series and Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz as well as 4 new shows that have yet to be announced. She also directed the VO on Billy Dilley’s Super Subterranean Summer and Penn Zero: Part Time Hero for Disney. She has directed the 6 Naruto Movies and received the SPJA award for best director for her work on the series. She has also voice directed many video game titles which include Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, World of Warcraft, Heroes of the Storm, Diablo 3, Afro Samurai and Silent Hill. Steve Blum’s unmistakable deep, raspy, yet sometimes silky smooth voice has landed him a career full of incredible, iconic characters. He’s been the Voice of T.O.M. the robotic Promo host from Toonami (on Adult Swim) since 2000, and a pro Voice Actor for over 30 years. Best known as Spike from Cowboy Bebop, Zeb from Star Wars Rebels, Wolverine from X-Men Cartoons & Games, Starscream from Transformers Prime, Tank Dempsey from Call of Duty, Grunt from Mass Effect, Subzero and others from Mortal Kombat X and 11, Amon from Avatar: The Legend of Korra, Shoe and Sparky from the Boxtrolls feature film & thousands of other beloved characters from shows, games, commercials and movies like Bumblebee, Solo, Rogue One, Incredibles 2 and Shazam. His huge vocal range has made him one of the most sought after voice actors on the planet. He even holds the current Guinness World Record for most voices in video games and has since 2012!

Our thoughts are with those affected by the COVID-19 Novel Coronavirus and we want our members to know we are closely monitoring the situation as it continues to develop. At this time, Otakon 2020 is planned to go on as scheduled, July 31-August 2, 2020. We are not taking this matter lightly and are monitoring daily updates from the CDC and the World Health Organization, and continue to work with Events DC, the Walter E. Washington Convention Center and our hotel partners to provide a safe place for our attendees to enjoy everything we have to offer this year. If changes to the event need to be made we will keep this page updated with any details. We look forward to seeing you in July.

Kill la Kill, Octopath Traveller, Demon Slayer: Kimetso no Yaiba, and Persona 5 Royal are but a few of the credits for prolific voice actor Laura Post. In addition to appearing in numerous anime, she has also voiced her talents in American animation productions and appeared in numerous video games. As if her extensive voice work isn’t enough, she has also directed English dubs for high-profile projects Little Witch Academia, Pokemon: Twilight Wings, and more. Join us in giving her a warm Otakon welcome! See our entire guest line up here

Manami Matsumae is a video game music composer famous for her work on the original Mega Man. After working at Capcom, she went freelance and composed for games like Shovel Knight. Her solo album, Three Movements, released in 2017. She is a founding member of Brave Wave Productions. View all the guests we have announced so far on our website at: https://www.otakon.com/guests/

Takahiro Izutani is a video game composer and guitarist. He has lent his expertise to soundtracks for games like Metal Gear Solid 4, Bayonetta, Bayonetta 2 and Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. Outside of games, he has collaborated with many artists on music and music videos, including Ayumi Hamasaki. In 2014, he joined Brave Wave Productions as a member and in 2017, he released his first solo album, Lingua Franca, under the artist name Dugo. View all the guests we have announced so far on our website at: https://www.otakon.com/guests/

Harumi Fujita was born in Osaka, Japan. After graduating from music school, she joined Osaka-based SNK in 1983, where she composed for Mad Crasher. She moved to Capcom shortly thereafter, where she worked on iconic franchises like Ghosts ’n Goblins, Bionic Commander, Chip ’n Dale, Final Fight and Mega Man 3. She became independent going into the 1990s, and worked on titles like Tomba!, PULSTAR and BLAZING STAR. More recently, she composed for Spidersaurs with WayForward. Today, Fujita enjoys travel and working on music for games and other media with her son, who is a mixing engineer. View all the guests we have announced so far on our website at: https://www.otakon.com/guests/

Alexander Aniel is the co-founder of Japanese music label Brave Wave Productions. Originally from San Francisco, he moved to Tokyo in 2007 partly out of a passion for games and travel. At Brave Wave, he assists artists such as Manami Matsumae, Harumi Fujita and Takahiro Izutani in getting connected with game developers around the world, and well as attending various international events such as High Score. Alex also works for Limited Run Games as Business Development Manager for Japanese developers/publishers. View all the guests we have announced so far on our website at: https://www.otakon.com/guest/

New for Otakon 2020 - Installment Payment Option for Full Weekend memberships! This year we are offering the opportunity to divide your membership fee payment up across 4 months. The price for this option is $100/membership, $25 paid on registration and then $25 will be charged to your card on the 15th of the following 3 months. Visit the regisitration page here for more details.

Artist Alley at Otakon 2020 registrations for Unlimited and Professional Row tables are curently being accepted. Standard table registration for the Artist Alley at Otakon 2020 opens, Wednesday, December 18th at 7pm EST. Updated rules for all table types can be found at Otakon.com under the Artist Alley section.