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Animazement to Host Voice Actors Hiroaki Hirata, Ryusei Nakao, Keiko Han
posted on by Kevin Yuan
North Carolina's Animazement convention announced that it will host voice actors Hiroaki Hirata, Ryūsei Nakao, and Keiko Han, A-1 Pictures director Masuo Ueda, and mechanical illustrator and designer Hidetaka Tenjin at its 2017 convention.
Hirata's many anime roles include Sanji in One Piece, Benny in Black Lagoon, Mutta Namba in Space Brothers, Sha Gojyo in the Saiyuki anime franchise, Kotetsu T. Kaburagi in Tiger & Bunny, and Klein in Sword Art Online. He started his own agency in 2012.
Nakao made his anime debut in 1965 and has since voiced many notable roles including Frieza in Dragon Ball Z, Baikinman in the Soreike! Anpanman franchise, Isami Nishimura in Touch, Caesar Clown in One Piece, and Kurotsuchi Mayumi in Bleach.
Han has been voice acting as early as 1966. She starred in Mobile Suit Gundam as Lalah sune, Saint Seiya as Athena, Sailor Moon as Luna, and The World Is Still Beautiful as Sheila. Her daughter, Megumi Han, is also a voice actress.
Ueda began working at Aniplex since 2003, and currently serves as its chairman. He became President and CEO of A-1 Pictures in 2010, and is also the director of The Association of Japanese Animation (AJA).
Tenjin is a illustrator and mechanical artist whose works include Macross Zero, Aquarion, Noein - to your other self, Hellsing Ultimate, and Macross Frontier. He also drafted mechanical art for the Gundam and Space Battleship Yamato franchises. He started his career drawing the Macross' signature fighter, the VF-1 Valkyrie, for a fansite while he was in college. This later led to work for the official publications Macross Chronicle and Space Battleship Yamato Fact File. He is also a voice actor, having played roles such as Rafael Banderas in GARO: The Animation and Goreinu in Hunter x Hunter.
Additional guests include American voice actress Linda Young, NPO Animator Supporters founder Jun Sugawara, rakugo comedian Someta Hayashiya, samurai actor performers The☆Jacabal's, shamisen musician Sho Asano, taiko drum musician Taishi Yamabe, YouTube vloggers Rachel and Jun, educator JP Yates, and visual-kei band Noiz.
The convention will take place at the Raleigh Convention Center from May 26-28.
Thanks to ravegrl for the news tip.
