J!-ENT’s Michelle Tymon interviews Ryo Horikawa

Ryo Horikawa holding up IAM Agency’s iPhone application

Photos and Written by J!-Ent’s Michelle Tymon

Anyone with any interest in Japanese anime and seiyuus should be familiar with the name Ryo Horikawa. If not, they most likely have heard his voice at least once. His extensive voice acting resume includes such roles as Kenta Hirono (Yume Senshi Wingman) Tadao Yokoshima (Ghost Sweeper Mikami), Takeshi Onimaru (Yaiba), Captain Falcon (Super Smash Bros. series), Reinhard (Legend of the Galactic Heroes),Natsu Tanimoto/Hermit (Kenichi The Mightiest Disciple), Heiji Hattori (Detective Conan), Andromeda Shun (Saint Seiya), and of course Vegeta from various “Dragon Ball” series.

Ryo Horikawa was born Makoto Horikawa in Osaka, Japan on February 1st 1958. Ryo Horikawa started acting when he was still a child. His debut as a seiyuu came in 1984 with “Yume Senshi Wingman” in which he got the leading role of Kenta Hirono through an audition. From then, he played various roles including the very kind-hearted Andromeda Shun from “Saint Seiya” and the very proud and cold hearted Vegeta from “Dragon Ball Z” as well as other “Dragon Ball” series. The roles that he plays are not limited to a certain type of character; he has played all kinds of roles and somehow manages to pull off each one. He’s played very soft spoken characters to very arrogant and aggressive characters; he’s played very serious roles as well as comedic roles too. In many of the roles he ends up playing the rival of the main character such as Vegeta (Dragon Ball Z, etc), Heiji Hattori (Detective Conan), and Hermit (Kenichi The Mightiest Disciple). Other than anime, he has also does dubbing from American shows and movies like “Thomas the Tank Engine” and “Dirty Harry 2”. His acting includes a lot of stage acting which he still does today; he’s also been in movies and he’s also done voices for Tokusatsu series such as “Samurai Sentai Shinkenja”.

Ryo Horikawa is indeed a very talented voice actor, but he is also an entrepreneur. Horikawa-san has his own companies called Aslead Company and IAM Agency as well as his own Seiyuu Acting School where he trains aspiring seiyuu. His school for seiyuu has multiple locations all throughout Japan. At the press conference, he showed off an iPhone/iPod Touch application that his company was making and he said that he wanted to release in the US as well. The application is an alarm clock that plays Vegeta’s voice (and possibly his other roles and there seems to be possibilities to get other seiyuu’s voices as well). He also has his own radio show on Pakedio AniRaji Channel.

A major project Horikawa-san has just done is a movie called “Asakusadou Suimutan”. It was a 99 minute movie shot completely in one shot without any editing or cutting. The story is about Honoka, a girl who lost her mother when she was very young. She is now all grown up and has her own dream, to have a debut live with her band Dream Dolls Collection at the Oedo Band Session 2010. However, something was troubling her. May 5th 2010 is Honoka’s 24th birthday and that is the age her mother died at and she has a fear that she may not be able to outlive her mother. Her relationship with her father is not a very good one on top of everything she’s feeling. Her father Koutarou has his own band and is rather well known and they will be on the same stage with Honoka’s own band. Honoka must try to outlive her mother and make her dream come true. The director of this movie is Kinshirou Ogino and other cast members include Princess Tenko, Shiho Takano, and Yuuki Itou. Horikawa-san said he would like to try to release the finished project in the US as well if he had a chance.

Ryo Horikawa’s appearance at Sakura Con was announced rather late, just about a week before the convention so it might have been a surprise for many fans at the event. Because of his late announcement, there were only a few appearances with Horikawa-san at the event. On Friday, he had a press conference and Horikawa-san often stopped to take pictures with fans while walking around the convention. At his autograph signing on Saturday, he kindly signed multiple items for his fans, took pictures with them and even agreed to be shot on video acting out Vegeta and other characters he has done. On Sunday, he held a fan Q&A panel where he displayed his English skills, answering many fan questions in English. Mayumi Tanaka was also at this year’s Sakura Con so fans were able to see two seiyuu stars together at one event.

With so much talent in various fields, it’s no wonder that he is loved by so many fans all around the world and I’m sure fans in Seattle would love to see him again soon.

I had a chance to sit down with Horikawa-san at Sakura Con 2010 for an interview:

Interview Questions:

J!-ENT: Is this your first time in Seattle and is there anywhere that you’d like to go sight-seeing? I also noticed that you speak English very well. Could you tell us how you learned it?

Horikawa: Yes, it is. Seattle is actually a very special place for me. When I was young, an exchange student from Seattle was staying at my relative’s house and she taught me to speak English and I taught her how to speak Japanese in exchange. So you could say that Seattle is a place of my dreams and I’m very happy to be here. As for places to go, I have quite a few places I’d like to go to. So far I got to walk around a little bit and I had some very delicious clam chowder. I hope people don’t get the wrong idea about me when I say this, but since I love wine tasting, I would love to go somewhere that has great red wine.

J!-ENT: How are you enjoying Seattle and Sakura Con so far? Now that you’ve been here a couple of days, did you do any sight-seeing?

Horikawa: It’s really fun. Everyone here is very passionate and kind here, the guests, staff, and the attendees. It’s been very comfortable so far. I got to go do a little sight-seeing yesterday. I went to the Space Needle and the Sci-Fi Museum and they were both really fun. It was fun seeing the history of sci-fi and also seeing Jimi Hendrix’s guitars as well as some history concerning musicians at Experience Music Project as well. I wanted to go the Lake Union too but it was a little cold. If it was a little warmer, I wanted to walk down by the water. I think it was on the second day we got here, we went to Pike Place Market and I loved going there too. It was right by the water and we got to eat some really good chowder. I’ve been having a great time even though it’s just for a short time and I would like to stay longer in actuality.

J!-ENT: Did you know that Japanese anime was so big in the US?

Horikawa: I did hear of that, but I didn’t know everyone was so passionate but it makes me very happy as an actor to see that and it makes me want to work harder on my end in creating wonderful characters.

J!-ENT: How do American anime fans and Japanese anime fans differ?

Horikawa: You know, I’m not really sure. I don’t think they’re that different to be honest. The passion that the fans feel here or in Japan, Europe or anywhere I think is the same.

J!-ENT: How did you get into voice acting?

Horikawa: Well, I started acting as a child. I got into voice acting with the anime, “Yume Senshi Wingman” and before I knew it, many years have passed with me doing this business. Overall I think that when you’re playing a role, be it voice acting or playing someone on stage, I believe it’s the same thing. You’re breathing life into that role, be it through pictures or in person, or standing in front of a microphone or standing on stage.

J!-ENT: Are there any times in auditions that you went in for a certain role and instead got asked to play a different role?

Horikawa: Sometimes I get approached with roles that are very different from myself and I try to stay very open to that and lose any likes or dislikes I may initially feel and instead purely concentrate on what the character would feel or do. For example, if I was that character, what would I do in this situation or what would I feel in that situation, how would I move, etc. I try to take my first honest thoughts from the heart, so as a result I don’t really think about this role would be a bit hard for me or this role would be easy for me.

J!-ENT: Could you tell me how you got your debut role as Kenta Hirono in “Yume Senshi Wingman”? Were you offered the role or did you go audition? With the roles that followed your debut, did you get those mostly due to auditions or were you offered the roles?

Horikawa: That was genuinely and simply due to an audition. Of course there were many people there auditioning for the role so I didn’t think at all that I would get the role. But as an actor, I’ve done work on stage and TV so I thought I’d give this audition a shot as well. As I said, I didn’t think at all that I would even get the role, so I did the role naturally without too much thought. Before I knew it, I was in the final auditions and I was told “you’re the one” and I was like, “Really?”. That was the start of my voice acting career. Towards the beginning, because I wasn’t that well known yet most of my roles were due to auditions. Once my career advanced more, I was offered some roles as well.

J!-ENT: What would you say was your most difficult role to date?

Horikawa: That’s a very difficult question. I think that any role is hard in its own way. Every role that I have done, I personally love. I get asked “What is your favorite role?” quite often, but I feel that if I didn’t really love the role, I can’t breathe life into the character and give them the soul they deserve. So every role that I’ve done is very precious to me.

J!-ENT: One of the most popular roles that you’ve played is Vegeta from the Dragon Ball series. Are there any characters you wish got more attention or popularity?

Horikawa: I’ve mentioned this before, but I love all of the characters I have done so I don’t ever really feel like I like one character more than another. I’m not just saying that just to say it, I really do feel this way from the bottom of my heart. Of course I know that the people who are watching my characters are going to like one character over another character and I think that’s just fine. But being on the side that acts out those characters, one of the American voice actors said this earlier as well but we’re putting the souls into the characters we act out and that’s our job and that’s how I want to keep feeling in the future as well. However in the future I may find a character that I might like even more and I’m looking forward to that.

J!-ENT: You have worked with many other seiyuu. Do you have anyone you like working with a lot and are there any seiyuu that you hang out with outside of work?

Horikawa: Well usually in Japan after we’re done with recording, all of us go out to dinner or lunch, not just the cast but the staff as well. So we do all get along outside of what programs we may be working on. I do feel that the relationships I’ve made at work are pretty deep ones. For example of course there’s Mayumi Tanaka, Masako Nozawa, Toshio Furukawa, and Tohru Furuya… so yes, there are quite a few.

J!-ENT: Have you ever heard any of the dubbed versions of your characters and if so, what did you think?

Horikawa: Honestly, I have to say that I haven’t heard any of them prior to today but I did get to hear a sample earlier and that was fun. I think the English dubs are good and I honestly want to try dubbing in English myself.

J!-ENT: If you were not in the seiyuu business, what do you think you’d be doing?

Horikawa:(Laughs) I wonder what I would have been doing. When I was a child, I really liked boats and I dreamed of being a submariner. Looking back on it now, I’m not really sure why but I liked submarines more than regular boats. It’s a really stressful job, for example the US Navy. You have to be really tough not just physically but psychologically or I don’t think you would last. I watched American TV shows involving the subject and movies for example “The Hunt for Red October” and “Crimson Tide” with Denzel Washington. I had a point in my life where I really admired people like the captains in those movies, with all of the responsibility they had to have to protect everyone. I don’t think civilians really have the opportunity to ever be in a submarine but if I ever had the chance I would love to do so.

J!-ENT: Do you have any secret talents?

Horikawa: (Laughs) It’s not exactly hidden but I guess we can make it a secret. It may not be a talent but one of my favorite things to do is wine tasting. It’s not just drinking wine, but the communication that takes place with say friends or a girlfriend… family, etc. I enjoy being able to enjoy communication with another. So I go by myself, I go with friends… and also I do like to drink. When everyone around me is happy and having a good time while eating and drinking, I feel happy as well. That is also the energy I try to bring to work as well, when everyone around me is having a good time, I’m having a good time. Outside of work, I also enjoy jogging and walking. I like to walk around and of course it’s good for your health. I do quite a bit of walking every day.

J!-ENT: At the press conference, you mentioned that you were working on a movie. Could you tell me a little more about the movie you’re working on?

Horikawa: The Japanese title is “Asakusadou Suimutan”. Asakusa is a part of Tokyo, “Dou” is referring to city hall and “suimutan” is a bit hard I believe to translate into English. “The Tale of my Sweet Dreams in Asakusa” is what I’m thinking about translating it into. This is a story about human conflict between a father and his daughter and the love that they ultimately have for each other despite their differences. The movie is going to be 99 minutes long, shot in one cut with no editing. So the camera is going to be running that whole time without any cutting and of course that is one of the challenges in this. Movies are usually shot in scenes, then edited and then put back together so it takes days to finish. Since the camera is going to be running for the whole 99 minutes, it’s going to be done in one day but of course this in turn calls for a lot more concentration and it calls for a lot more work from us the actors and the staff. We’ve already started rehearsals and I think that that’s going to be the hardest part, so if we don’t keep doing rehearsals over and over and getting everything down perfectly it won’t work. Of course while in rehearsals, there are times where we’re all practicing separately but we’re going to have to put everything together on May 5th when we’re going to shoot. That’s going to be extremely hard. Also for the 99 minutes, there’s going to be music playing during some of the parts and those songs are going to act as cues as to where each of us are supposed to be during a certain part so rehearsal is extremely important. This is all going to be very difficult, but I believe that that’s also what makes it worth doing and I’m excited to do it.

J!-ENT: Are you going to be releasing the movie in the US as well?

Horikawa: If possible, I would like to release it in the US and we are trying to take steps towards that. I believe the film will premiere around September in Japan and after that I would like to try to get the picture released in the US as well.

J!-ENT: You and Mayumi Tanaka have worked together quite a bit on the “Dragon Ball” series and you’re both currently here at Sakura Con. Were you able to do anything like sight-seeing with Ms. Tanaka since you’ve been here?

Horikawa: I didn’t get to go anywhere with her but the other night… (laughs) once again we’re all really good friends. The other night we were in the party room and we were having fun and she was spinning plates, and her son is here as well so we were all hanging out. We didn’t really get to go anywhere but we already see each other all the time so it’s not that big of a deal.

J!-ENT: You were so kind to all of your fans that came to see you at your autograph signing here at Sakura Con. You signed multiple autographs, took pictures and even recorded videos for all the fans that came to see you. How did it feel to see so many fans outside of Japan admire your work so much?

Horikawa: I said this earlier but when those around me feel happy, I feel happy as well. They all seemed really happy and seeing that is very encouraging for me as well. Seeing all these fans that are happy with the work that I do, I feel that I need to work even harder with my roles and really put my heart into it so I can do an even better job. I am very thankful seeing that here, in Japan, anywhere.

J!-ENT: If we were to look in your MP3 and or CD Player right now, what would we find? Or simply, what is your favorite kind of music?

Horikawa: I’m not actually sure what I have in there right now but as for my favorite kind of music, well as I mentioned earlier, there’s Jimi Hendrix and American music in general has always had an influence on the youth of Japan. I’m actually in a band right now and I really like rock music… let’s see, I also like the Rolling Stones, The Beatles and classic rock.

J!-ENT: You mentioned an interest in guitars and that you were in a band. Do you play guitar?

Horikawa: No, I sadly do not play guitar. I can play the keyboard a little bit, but not enough to call myself a keyboardist. This randomly goes back to an earlier question of what I might have been doing if I wasn’t an actor… maybe I would have been in JASDF (Japanese Air Self-Defense Force)… maybe not because I’m a bit weak. I might have been in the restaurant business as well.

J!-ENT: For every interview, we have a section called word play which I give you five words and you give me your definition for those words:

Horikawa: 1. Love: That’s deep… My children and my family. When I say “my children”, I mean my students. I run a school that specializes in classes for aspiring seiyuu.
2. Success: Keep on going, success is something that you keep striving for.
3. Seiyuu: Acting, to act.
4. Anime fans: I love them all.
5. Sakura-Con: Fantastic.

J!-ENT: Lastly, do you have a message for all of your fans all around the world?

Horikawa: I am very grateful. What I’m grateful for is to be able to meet all of these people who are so passionate and love not just my work but anime in general. All of this is a lot of encouragement for me to work harder and to keep doing this work. I think I’ll be doing this job until I die, because I love this job and all the fans that are watching. I want to thank everyone for always watching and I hope that I can return again soon and see everyone again.

Ryo Horikawa’s Official Blog: http://ameblo.jp/ryo-horikawa/
Ryo Horikawa’s Old Official Blog: http://yaplog.jp/horikawa-ryo/
Ryo Horikawa’s Aslead Company Website: http://www.aslead-voice.co.jp/index.html
Ryo Horikawa’s I AM Agency Website: http://iamagency.jp/index.htm
Ryo Horikawa’s Seiyuu School Website: http://www.iam.tv/index.html
Ryo Horikawa’s Radio Show Website: http://www.pkdio.jp/
Ryo Horikawa Wikipedia Page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryo_Horikawa
Official site for “Asakusadou Suimutan”: http://a-suimutan.com//
Official Blog for “Asakusadou Suimutan”: http://suimutan.otaden.jp/

Mayumi Tanaka a Big Hit at Sakura Con 2010

Mayumi Tanaka posing with a Luffy Cosplayer

Article and Photos by J!-ENT’s Michelle Tymon

Luffy from Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece is one of the most unique, energetic, and funny characters you’ll ever see in an anime/manga series and to provide the voice for such a character, I don’t think anyone could play it as well as Mayumi Tanaka. Mayumi Tanaka is one of the most well known seiyuu in Japan to date, with a list of roles including Luffy from One Piece, Krillin from the Dragon Ball series, Koenma from Yu Yu Hakusho, Wataru Ikusabe from Mashin Eiyuuden Wataru and Kanna Kirishima from Sakura Wars just to name a few of her major roles. Recently, she was a guest a Sakuracon 2010 and the fans were rather excited to see her.

Mayumi Tanaka at the Sakura Con 2010 Press Conference

Mayumi Tanaka was born on January 15th, 1955 in Tokyo, Japan as Mayumi Abe. She graduated from Aoyama Women’s Junior College. She had always liked acting, resulting in her becoming a stage actress and eventually a seiyuu. Her roles as a seiyuu mostly consist of those of energetic boys, and she rarely plays girl roles. Among those boy roles, many of them happen to be short (and sometimes bald: ie: Chibita from Osomatsu-kun, and of course Krillin from Dragon Ball). Besides stage acting and being a seiyuu, she also does narration work, one of her most recent and popular narration roles being for the popular quiz show, “Quiz! Hexagon 2”. She has also done Japanese dubs for American movies, one in particular she mentioned and demonstrated at Sakura Con was her version of Babe the pig from the movie “Babe”.

Mayumi Tanaka holding the devil fruits that fans made for her

Mayumi Tanaka was definitely a fan favorite at the convention and all of her events were rather packed with fans. On the first day of the convention, she did a live voice acting stage performance with the Seattle area voice acting group, Dream Catchers where she of course acted out Luffy along with Pazu (Castle in the Sky). As Luffy, she reenacted one of the most memorable and emotional scenes in the beginning of the series with Shanks. She also performed the opening theme to Sakura Wars, “Gekitei (Geki! Teikoku Kagekidan)” and then an original song of hers called “Watashi Amaryllis (I’m an Amaryllis)”. After seeing her perform live, I can say that she may be small in stature, but she has a very powerful voice and an amazing and energetic stage presence. During an intermission, we got to see her son, Kousuke do some juggling and other performance tricks while wearing an official Zoro costume that he borrowed from Kazuya Nakai himself (Kazuya Nakai is the seiyuu for Roronoa Zoro from One Piece). The energetic hour and a half performance ended with Mayumi Tanaka performing the One Piece opening song, “We Are!” with the Dream Catchers.

Mayumi Tanaka posing with the One Piece Cosplay Group

Mayumi Tanaka singing with the One Piece Cosplay Group

On Saturday, she held a fan panel where she answered various questions concerning her roles as well as performed various fan requests. Most of the questions the fans asked had to do with One Piece, which she seemed to enjoy as well. She was also asked about the rest of the One Piece cast quite a bit and she mentioned that not only did their characters get along, but they were all very good friends in real life and outside of work. She mentioned that there were numerous times that even if certain cast members were done recording and had to go to other engagements that a lot of the time they would come back after that engagement was done and they would all hang out until the next morning. Towards the end of the panel, a fan asked her if she would join her and the rest of the “One Piece” cosplayers for their photoshoot and she agreed. About an hour after the panel, Mayumi Tanaka showed up outside to take pictures with the group of One Piece cosplayers and took plenty of pictures of them as well. Throughout the convention, fans also mentioned that she would come up to them if they were One Piece cosplayers and ask to take pictures with them. Fans were definitely excited to see her. A couple of fans even made life sized replicas of the devil fruit for her and Eiichiro Oda, the creator of One Piece.

Mayumi Tanaka taking pictures of the One Piece Cosplay Group

Mayumi Tanaka signing a Luffy poster for a fan.

On the last day of the convention, she had an autograph signing. The line for the signing was so long that the Sakura Con staff had to cut the line off to try to get everyone already in line through because they only had an hour. Tanaka-san personalized most of the autographs and was happy to take pictures with her enthusiastic fans. Despite the efforts of getting everyone through within an hour, only about half of the people in line were able to get an autograph. Tanaka-san and her staff tried to see if they could get a little more time so more people could get through the line, but because the next autograph session starting, the Sakura Con staff had no choice as well. For the people who were not able to get an autograph, Tanaka-san shook everyone’s hands and apologized to as well as thanked each person individually.

The autograph line for Mayumi Tanaka

Tanaka-san expressed numerous times that it was unbelievable that so many people in the US not only had such a strong interest in anime like One Piece, but had such a strong interest in her since she only speaks Japanese and all of her roles are done in Japanese. She said that she was flattered and honored to meet so many enthusiastic fans and the fans were more than happy to have a chance to meet her and interact with her. She mentioned that in Japan, most of the anime fans seemed more introverted in a way and she was happy to see that so many fans in the US were so enthusiastic about their love for anime and her work. She seemed to have a great time in Seattle and I’m sure the fans in Seattle are hoping for her to return soon.

Sakura Con 2010 was Another Huge Success

Mayumi Tanaka posing for some pictures with the One Piece Cosplay Group

Sakura Con 2010 took place on April 2-4 2010 and was another great success. Since 2006, the annual anime convention has been held at the Seattle Convention and Trade Center. The mostly stormy weather throughout the weekend didn’t stop thousands of anime fans in their costumes to attend. This year’s attendance hit 18,000+. Of course most of the attendees came dressed as their favorite anime characters, video game characters, and various other costumes.

The escalators leading up to the main area of the convention were packed all weekend and because of the high attendance, some people who didn’t pre-register had to wait around 5 hours just to get a one day pass. But that didn’t discourage the fans. This year Sakura Con managed to bring in some big names from both the Japanese anime industry and the American anime industry. Big names from the Japanese anime world included Mayumi Tanaka (the famous seiyuu known for roles like Luffy from “One Piece”, Krillin from the “Dragon Ball” series, Koenma from “Yu Yu Hakusho” etc), Ryo Horikawa (another famous seiyuu who voiced Andromeda Shun from “Saint Seiya”, Hattori Heiji from “Meitantei Conan”, Vegeta from the “Dragon Ball” series, etc), Tsuyoshi Nonaka (known for his work for the mechanical design for “D.I.C.E” as well as the mecha design in various sentai and tokusatsu series), Noizi Ito (character designer and artist for the “Shakugan no Shana” novels and the illustrator for the “The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya” series, etc), and Takahiro Yoshimatsu (animator and character designer for titles like Jubei-chan, TRIGUN, and TRIGUN Badlands Rumble”, etc).

The American anime industry guests this year included Vic Mignogna (American voice actor known for roles like Edward Elric from “Fullmetal Alchemist”, Broly from “Dragon Ball Z” etc), Troy Baker (American voice actor known for his roles as Abel Nightroad from “Trinity Blood”, Frank Archer from “Fullmetal Alchemist” etc), Brina Palencia (American voice actress known for such roles as Juliet in “Romeo x Juliet”, Yin from “Darker Than Black, etc), Richard Epcar (American voice actor who has done Batou in the “Ghost in the Shell” series and his roles in “Robotech”), and Todd Haberkorn (American voice actor who has played Watanuki from “XXXholic”, Kono in “Darker than Black”, etc). For a full list of the 2010 guests, check out: http://www.sakuracon.org/programming/guests.php

Many events took place at this year’s Sakura Con including a concert with the J-Pop groups HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR and Dazzle Vision, panels with all of the guests, the world premiere of the movie “TRIGUN Badlands Rumble”, a masquerade ball, cosplay contest and fashion show as well as an AMV contest and karaoke contest. The “TRIGUN” movie played at Sakura Con 2010 before even premiering in Japan, so it brought many fans who wanted to see it throughout the weekend. It was shown one time each day of the convention and there was a line each time to see it. There were no bags or any electronic devices allowed into the room since it was the world premiere. Also, there were no English subtitles available at the showing, which caused some viewers to leave however most of the fans agreed that it was a great movie. Attendees could also enjoy the 24 hour theater rooms that played various anime and Japanese live action movies. They could also go to “The Wired”, which is the Sakura Con gaming area that included various arcade games (like DDR, Guitar Freaks, Drum Mania, Street Fighter, etc), a retro gaming room (where people could play NES, SNES, N64 games), a console gaming room, a Microsoft Game Testing room, and the Rock Band performance Stage. Artist Alley was also back at the con this year and allowed various artists to showcase their talents and do original art pieces for attendees as well.

Of course one of the highlights of an anime convention is the Exhibitors’ Room and Sakura Con 2010 didn’t disappoint. They had a huge room with over 100 vendor booths where attendees could buy their favorite anime DVDs, manga, anime goods (plushies, keychains, charms, cosplay goods, clothes, just to name a few), yaoi, hentai, and pretty much anything else an anime otaku could ask for. Uwajimaya and Kinokuniya were some of the big name exhibitors there as well as FUNimation and Japan Files. Pink Gorilla Games was also present and sold various Japanese and American retro games and provided some Japanese arcade games that fans could enjoy in the exhibitors’ room as well. Along with the various anime and video game related booths, there were booths featuring information on Japanese culture, living in Japan, and Asian arts like the JET program, and Meito Shodo-Kai Calligraphy Association.

Sakura Con 2010 provided a great experience for long time anime fans and new anime fans alike. With so many activities to enjoy around the clock and so many great guests to interact with, Sakura Con 2010 was a huge success. It’s grown so much over the years and continues to grow into one of the biggest anime conventions in the US. Anime fans in Seattle are surely anticipating Sakura Con 2011 and beyond.

Sakura Con’s official website: http://www.sakuracon.org
For some more photos I took at this event, check out: Michelle Tymon’s Sakura Con 2010 photos
For videos I took at the event, check out: http://www.youtube.com/user/gshock99
TRIGUN Badlands Rumble official website: http://www.trigun-movie.com/

Sakura-Con 2010 announces new guests!

Seattle, WA 02-04-2010 - ANCEA (Asia Northwest Cultural Education Association) is proud to present the thirteenth annual Sakura-Con April 2-4 at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center in Downtown Seattle Washington. Sakura-Con is the Northwest’s first and largest convention devoted to Japanese animation (anime), comics (manga), gaming and Asian culture (established 1998). It is the destination event for an expected attendance of over 18,000 fans, industry leaders, celebrities, and artists.  Sakura-Con is one of the largest events of it’s kind in the United States-ranking in the top 5 for attendance.

ANCEA is proud to present Tsuyoshi Nonaka, Yasuhiro Imagawa, and Yutaka Minowa. Look forward to more exciting guest announcements in the coming weeks. Visit www.sakuracon.org for full details.

Tsuyoshi Nonaka is a Mechanical designer known for his work on D.I.C.E. (TV) and Shin Mazinger Shogeki! Z-Hen.  This will be Nonaka-San’s first Sakura-Con.

Yasuhiro Imagawa has directed several unconventional updates of classic Japanese robot stories, such as Giant Robo, Mobile Fighter G Gundam, and most recently, Shin Mazinger Shogeki! Z-Hen.  He also wrote scrips for Pet Shop of Horrors, Violinist of Hamelin, Berserk and Harelya II Boy.  This is Imagawa-San’s first Sakura-Con.

Yutaka Minowa is a character designer and animation director who works almost exclusively with Madhouse, one of the premiere Japanese animation companies. His work is most notably recognized in the Yoshiaki Kawijiri movies he has designed characters for, among them Ninja Scroll and Vampire Hunter D:Bloodlust.  He’s also worked as character designer and/or animation director for many popular titles including Outlaw Star, the Animatrix, and many, many more. This is Minowa-san’s second Sakura-Con.

 Priority entrance to concerts and main events is offered to all members also reserving a Sakura-Con affiliated Hotel room during the 2010 convention. See www.sakuracon.org .

Sakura-Con 2010 announces multiple new guests!

ANCEA (Asia Northwest Cultural Education Association) is proud to present the thirteenth annual Sakura-Con April 2-4 at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center in Downtown Seattle Washington. Sakura-Con is the Northwest’s first and largest convention devoted to Japanese animation (anime), comics (manga), gaming and Asian culture (established 1998). It is the destination event for an expected attendance of over 18,000 fans, industry leaders, celebrities, and artists.  Sakura-Con is one of the largest events of it’s kind in the United States-ranking in the top 5 for attendance.

ANCEA is proud to present Troy Baker and Vic Mignona as the newest to the line up of special guests for Sakura-Con, which also includes Chis Patton, Richard Epcar, Luci Christian, Brina Palencia, Kent Williams and Todd Haberkorn. Visit www.sakuracon.org <http://www.sakuracon.org>  for full details.

Troy Baker is a multi-talented voice actor and performer. Troy has voiced such memorable characters as  Abel Nightroad in Trinity Blood, Frank Archer in Fullmetal Alchemist (TV), Nagi Springfield in Negima! Magic 101 (TV), and Alphonso in Gunslinger Girl (TV) and many more. Troy has multiple video game roles to his credit, including: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2″ (VG), Kanji in “Persona 4″ (VG), Sol Badguy in “Guilty Gear 2: Overture” (VG), Yuri Lowell in “Tales of Vesperia” (VG) and more.  This is Troy’s first appearance at Sakura-Con.

Vic Mignogna is a voice actor and performer of such renown he hardly needs introduction. Vic has been in more than a hundred and fifty shows and video games, known for such roles as Edward Elric in Fullmetal Alchemist, Tamaki Suou in Ouran High School Host Club, Fai in Tsubasa Chronicle, Dark in DN Angel, Kurz in Full Metal Panic, Broly in Dragonball Z, Ikkaku in Bleach and many more. Vic is also a professional music composer / singer / producer who has written and produced hundreds of songs for TV, radio and CD. This will be Vic’s third Sakura-Con.

The Hsu-nami and Soul Candy join High and Mighty Color and Dazzle Vision for our musical guest line up for Sakura-Con 2010.

“The Hsu-nami” a World/Progressive/Instrumental Rock band are the first ever “Er-hu prog rock group” in the world. Their music features fusion of metal, psychedelic, prog rock to funk, incorporating the use of an amplified ”Erhu”, a Traditional two-string bowed instrument that is often used in Chinese classical music and folk ensembles, takes the place of lead vocals. Hsu-nami’s music was also featured in the 2008 Bejing Summer Olympics. This is Hsu-Nami’s first Sakura-Con.

Soul Candy is a Seattle-based band consisting for 4 talented musicians that bonded through their love of music and anime. After performing at various local cultural events and building a strong fan base Soul Candy released their much anticipated debut EP, ‘Soul Candy’ in 2009. As the four member band from Seattle call their music “otaku rock,” the EP will appeal to many fans of Japanese animation.  This is Soul Candy’s first main stage appearance at Sakura-Con. Priority entrance to concerts and main events is offered to all members also reserving a Sakura-Con affiliated Hotel room during the 2010 convention. See www.sakuracon.org <http://www.sakuracon.org> .