Anime Convention Schedule (long)
Kevin Lillard
Day weekend in July. Evangelion: Death and Rebirth and End of Evangelion
will be shown in the 2000+ seat Main Events Room at the Baltimore Convention
Center, courtesy of Production I.G., one of Otakon's guests this year.
Traveling from Japan to Baltimore from that company will be Mitsuhisa
Ishikawa, co-founder of the studio, and Xebec; and Hiroyuki Kitakubo, a
director at Production I.G. (who was a guest at Anime Expo last year).
In addition, Yoko Kanno, one of the top composers of anime and popular music
in Japan, is scheduled to appear at Otakon. Kanno has come to prominence as
the composer for films that include Macross Plus, and series such as Vision
of Escaflowne, Brain Powered and Cowboy Bebop. Additional Japanese guests
scheduled to appear at Otakon are Shinichirou Watanabe, director for Sunrise
Studios, Japan, who directed Cowboy Bebop and Macross Plus; and Mari Iijima,
who was the voice of Lynn Minmay in the original Macross series and is
planning to release a new music CD in July. Previously announced as Otakon
guests are voice actors Crispin Freeman, Michael Brady, Tiffany Grant,
Rachael Lillis and Lisa Ortiz; translator Shin Kurokawa; Fred Schodt, manga
historian and author; Chris Beveridge, who runs the Anime on DVD web site;
artists John Staton, Robert DeJesus, Steve Bennett of Studio Ironcat and
Adam Warren; Rob Fenelon, Space Cruiser Yamato fan; and Neil Nadelman, fan
turned professional translator.
Otakon will use at least four hotels to house anime fans, having filled two
hotels before the end of April.
The Banzai Anime Klub of Alberta has announced the sixth Animethon, to be
held July 10-11 at the Grant MacEwan Community College in Edmonton, Alberta,
Canada. They plan to stage 8 viewing rooms showing a total of 192 hours of
anime.
This summer's Anime Expo in Anaheim, California, the last one to be held at
the Anaheim Hilton and Towers (see below), has announced a group of guests
which includes several voice actors and artists. One of the voice actors is
Mayumi Iizuka (appearing Saturday only), Mew in Hyper Doll, Kasumi and Pippi
in Pocket Monsters, Sakuya in Shin Tenchi Muyou, Marty Lenforce in Slayers,
Uchida Yukari in Tenkyuu no Escaflowne and Aoi Matsubara in To Heart. The
best known of the voice actors is Mari Iijima, the voice of Lynn Minmay from
the Super Dimensional Fortress Macross television series. Iijima may release
her first English-language abum, with songs she wrote, at the California
convention.
Another musician who will be at Anime Expo is Yoko Kanno, composer of anime
music and for several J-Pop albums: Song to Fly, and Grapefruit and Dive,
the debut and follow-up albums of Maaya Sakamoto (Escaflowne's Hitomi). Her
most recent anime-related work is the soundtrack for Turn A Gundam,
currently airing on television in Japan. Ms. Kanno is appearing as a guest
of AnimeVillage.com and Bandai Entertainment.
The artist guests for Anime Expo include Yasuhito Kikuchi, director of the
Pretty Sammy OVAs, the first El Hazard television series and the television
series Kurogane Communication; Mika Akitaka, designer of mecha for Gundam
Zeta, War in the Pocket, Gundam 0083, Martian Successor Nadesico and the
creator of Galaxy Fraulein Yuna; Kazuko Tadano, character designer and
animation director for the Sailor Moon and Sailor Moon R television series,
as well as the Sailor Moon R motion picture; Yutaka Izubuchi, mechanical
designer for the Patlabor series, the Gundam series and the television
series Gasaraki; Toshihiro Kawamoto, character designer for the Sunrise
series Cowboy Bebop, the OVA series Golden Boy and the human cast of Gundam
0083: Stardust Memory and Gundam: The 08th MS Team; Mika Akitaka, creator of
the Galaxy Fraulein Yuna series, the "MS Girls," and mechanical designer
whose credits include Gundam 0083, Gundam 0080, Gundam ZZ, the Silent Mobius
films, Martian Successor Nadesico and the OVA series Virgin Fleet; Hiromi
Matsushita, animation director for Sailor Moon, the original Vampire Hunter
D, Guyver, SD Gundam, Granzort, Wataru and Wataru 2; Hiroyuki Ochi
(appearing Friday only), director, creator and character designer on Sol
Bianca II and Armitage III, character designer on Hakkenden, production
designer on Genesis Survivor Gaiarth and animator on AD Police Files; and
Sachiko Kamumura, character designer on the City Hunter series, the fantasy
series Heroic Legend of Arslan, the television show Mama's a Fourth Grader,
and the PlayStation game Mystic Dragoons. The first guest of honor announced
for Anime Expo was Akio Takami. His most recent work was as character
designer and animation director for the Steam Detectives television series.
Previously, Takami worked on Bakuretsu/Sorcerer Hunters, Dancougar, Sonic
Soldier Borgman, M.D. Geist, Patlabor and Martian Successor Nadesico.
Also planning to attend Anime Expo, but not as guests of honor, will be
voice actor Akira Kamiya; representatives of Studio Hard and Madhouse
Studios; independent film director Scott Frazier; and three members of the
English-language Star Blazers voice cast: Amy Howard, voice of Nova; Ken
Meseroll, voice of Derek Wildstar; and Eddie Allen, voice of Desslok. Anime
Expo will hold the U.S. theatrical premieres of four films: Perfect Blue
from Manga Entertainment; Spriggan from A.D.Vision; Tenchi in Love 2
(American Title: Tenchi Forever), courtesy of Pioneer Entertainment; and
Nadesico: The Prince of Darkness, courtesy of Xebec Studios. All films will
be shown in the Anime Expo film room in full stereo surround sound.
G-Fest, in Burbank, Calif in July, is very close to matching the definition
of an anime convention - except that it's devoted to Japanese monster and
science fiction movies. Along with the emphasis on Godzilla movies, G-Fest
promises to have several anime guests: Fred Ladd, who produced the American
versions of Astro Boy and Kimba the White Lion in the 1960's; Peter
Fernandez, who provided voices for Speed Racer and Star Blazers; and William
Winckler, who produced the U.S. version of Tekkaman.
Singers and voice actors Mari Iijima and Apollo Smile will be the main
guests at the Canadian National Anime Expo, held in conjunction with the
national comic book and science fiction conventions in downtown Toronto,
Ont. Voice actors from the English-language Sailor Moon series also are
expected to attend the Canadian event.
Guests at the Shin and Kai convention in Great Britain in August are artist
Fred Perry; Helen McCarthy, award-winning author of anime guides; Steve
Kyte, award winning artist in the manga style; and Jonathan Clements, editor
of Manga Max magazine.
There will be two anime conventions over the Labor Day weekend in the U.S.
AnimeFEST returns to the Dallas-Fort Worth area in 1999, with plans for a
Friday-through-Monday event at the Holiday Inn Select DFW Airport North.
Gilles Poitras, author of The Anime Companion, the US Anime & Manga Report,
the Anime & Manga Shopping Report and the Librarian's Guide to Anime and
Manga, wil be a guest at AnimeFEST. Also, AnimeIowa has confirmed its dates
for Sept. 3-5, 1999 and its location as the Collins Plaza Hotel at Cedar
Rapids, Iowa. Hiroshi Aro, creator of Futaba-kun Change, will be a guest of
honor at AnimeIowa.
Artists Ippongi Bang, Mio Odagi, Shinpei Itoh and Reijiro Kato are on the
guest list for Nan Desu Kon in Colorado in September. Also scheduled to be
at that convention are voice actors Juliet Cesario and Scott Simpson, the
English-language Belldandy and Keiichi of Oh My Goddess; Tiffany Grant, the
English-language Asuka of Neon Genesis Evangelion; Amanda Winn Lee and her
husband, voice actor Jason Lee. Animator Scott Frazier, computer game
designer Mark Baldwin, artists from Studio Ironcat and Panther Comics, and
Robert Miles of the Bay Area Anime Society also are expected to be at Nan
Desu Kon.
The surprise hit of last year's Anime Weekend Atlanta was the appearance of
non-anime guests from the Space Ghost Coast to Coast show on the Cartoon
Network. Now, two of those people - George Lowe, the voice of Space Ghost on
Cartoon Network, and C. Martin Croker, set designer, animation director and
the voice of Zorak and Moltar - have been added to the guest list for AWA V.
Also, just as they promised last October, the Japanese guests from 1998 will
be back for the 1999 convention. That includes Ippongi Bang, Hiroaki Yab,
Rejiro Kato and Shinpei Itoh, the creator of Moldiver and Hyper Dolls
(published by Studio Ironcat). Amy Howard, Nova in Star Blazers, is
scheduled for her third consecutive appearance in Georgia. Howard will bring
another cast member from Star Blazers, Tom Tweedy ("Mark Venture") to AWA V.
Also, Crusher Joe voice actor Michael Brady and ADV Films voice actors
Tiffany Grant, Brett Weaver, and Jessica Calvello are scheduled to be at
AWA. And, Peter Fernandez, producer of the U.S. Speed Racer show back in the
'60's and the voice of both Speed Racer and Racer X, will be at AWA V.
Both Lynn Minmays known to hard-core anime fans could appear at Robocon 99
in Orange, Calif., along with much of the English-Language Robotech voice
cast. Mari Iijima, the Japanese Minmay, and Reba West, the American Minmay,
are on the guest list at the Robocon web site. In addition, there will be
voice actors Melanie MacQueen ("Lisa Hayes"), Tony Oliver ("Rick Hunter"),
Eddie Frierson ("Lynn Kyle"), Paul St. Peter ("Zor Prime") and Greg Snegoff
("Khyron"), among others. Those involved in the conversion of the three
original Japanese series into Robotech who are slated to be at Robocon are
Scott Bernard. dialogue director; Arlon Ober, composer of the Robotech
soundtrack; and Carl Macek, producer and story editor.
After making her anime convention debut at Anime Central, voice actor Rachel
Lillis will head to the second Neko-Con in Virginia Beach, Va. in November.
Lillis is the English-language voice of Utena from Revolutionary Girl Utena,
and Misty and Jessie from the Pokemon U.S. TV series. Additional guests at
Neko-Con include Hiroyuki Kitazume, character designer for Moldiver, Mobile
Suit Gundam, Gundam ZZ, Char's Counter Attack, Combat Mecha Xabungle, Relic
Armor Legaciam, Megazone 23 Part 3, Bastard, Genesis Survivor Gaiarth and
Maiden Fleet; Scott Frazier, freelance animator specializing in the anime
style; Toshifumi Yoshida, executive producer at Viz Video who will serve as
the master of ceremonies for the cos-play; Elin Winkler and Pat Duke,
publishers at Radio Comix; voice actor Michael Brady; online fan Steve
Pearl; and Jeff Thompson of The Right Stuf, the Iowa-based anime
distributor.
For next year: Anime Expo will move to a different hotel and grow by one day
in 2000. The Anaheim, Calif. convention will be a four-day event, from June
30-July 3 of next year, and will be held at the Disneyland Hotel, a short
distance from the 1999 site.
Katsucon likely will be the first anime convention in the U.S. in 2000.
They'll run from February 11-13 in the same hotel as 1999, the Hyatt Regency
Crystal City in Arlington, Va. The second anime convention in the U.S. in
2000 could be Animazement, announced for Raleigh, N.C. on March 10-12. The
date for the third annual event in "The Triangle" was announced on the final
day of the 1999 convention.
As decided by an online fan vote, Sakura-Con is the new name for the anime
convention held in the Northwest that was called Baka!-Con. Sakura-Con
likely will be held the first weekend of April 2000. AnimeIowa will be held
on Sept. 1-3, 2000 and Anime Weekend Atlanta is set for Oct. 6-8, 2000.
1999 Conventions
July 2-4 Otakon, Baltimore, Md.
July 10-11 Animethon, Edmonton, Alberta
July 16-18 Anime Expo, Anaheim, Calif.
Aug. 13-15 Comic Market 56, Tokyo
Aug. 27-29 Canadian National Anime Expo, Toronto, Ont.
Aug. 28-30 Shin and Kai, Heathrow, U.K.
Sept. 3-5 AnimeIowa, Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Sept. 3-6 AnimeFEST, Dallas, Texas
Sept. 18-19 Cartoonist Festival, Brest, France
Sept. 24-26 Nan Desu Kon, Lakewood, Colo.
Oct. 8-10 Anime Weekend Atlanta, Duluth, Ga.
Oct. 15-17 Robocon,Orange, Calif.
Oct. 15-17 Anime USA, Falls Church, Va.
Nov. 5-7 Neko-Con, Virginia Beach, Va.
Nov. 5-7 AyaNext, Birmingham, U.K.
Previous 1999 events:
Feb. 12-14 Katsucon, Arlington, Va.
Feb. 19-21 Anime '99, Rotterdam, Netherlands
March 13 Miner Con, Golden, Colo.
March 19-21 Animazement, Raleigh, N.C.
March 19-21 Fanime Con, San Jose, Calif.
March 19-21 MinamiCon, Southampton, U.K.
March 27-28 New England Mini-Con, Farmington, Maine
April 23-25 Anime Central, Rosemont, Ill.
April 23-25 Sakura-Con (was Baka!Con), Tukwila, Wash.
June 4-6 Project: A-Kon, Dallas, Texas
June 18-20 Anime North, Toronto, Ont.
June 19-20 JAFAX, Grand Valley, Mich.
Current 2000 schedule:
Feb. 11-13 Katsucon, Arlington, Va.
March 10-12 Animazement, Raleigh, N.C.
March 17-19 Minami Con VI, Southampton, U.K.
June 30-July 3 Anime Expo, Anaheim, Calif.
Sept. 1-3 AnimeIowa
Oct. 6-8 Anime Weekend Atlanta, Duluth, Ga.
Links and convention reports at http://www.fansview.com
khl
eirias
>
> Otakon promises two major movie presentations during the U.S.
> Independence Day weekend in July. Evangelion: Death and Rebirth and
> End of Evangelion will be shown in the 2000+ seat Main Events Room at
> the Baltimore Convention Center, courtesy of Production I.G., one of
> Otakon's guests this year.
Damn them, what's the use of that ?
I've seen those several times. They're nice, but if Production I.G.'s
giving movies, I want the damn Nadesico movie!
--
President of the BU Anime Club: http://members.xoom.com/BUAnime/
Over 500 of my movie reviews: http://members.xoom.com/eirias/
Jesus People of perversion: http://members.xoom.com/McGuffins/
Altoids. Zen's ultimate truth ? Possibly.
David Christopher Asher
>
> khl wrote:
> >
> > Otakon promises two major movie presentations during the U.S.
> > Independence Day weekend in July. Evangelion: Death and Rebirth and
> > End of Evangelion will be shown in the 2000+ seat Main Events Room at
> > the Baltimore Convention Center, courtesy of Production I.G., one of
> > Otakon's guests this year.
>
> I've seen those several times. They're nice, but if Production I.G.'s
> giving movies, I want the damn Nadesico movie!
Ask, and ye shall receive.
OTAKON will also be premiering Martial Successor Nadesico: The Prince of
Darkness movie in our main room on Sunday, July 4th. With subtitles. Courtesy
of Xebec. Both are listed on our web page--I don't know why Kevin missed
Nadesico. ^_^
We now return you to your regularly scheduled bickering.
Dave
Paul Wuertz
>G-Fest, in Burbank, Calif in July, is very close to matching the definition
>of an anime convention - except that it's devoted to Japanese monster and
>science fiction movies. Along with the emphasis on Godzilla movies, G-Fest
>promises to have several anime guests: Fred Ladd, who produced the American
>versions of Astro Boy and Kimba the White Lion in the 1960's; Peter
>Fernandez, who provided voices for Speed Racer and Star Blazers; and William
>Winckler, who produced the U.S. version of Tekkaman.
Is that "Tekkaman: The Space Knight" or "Tekkaman Blade"? I'd check
on my Teknoman tapes for his name but I lent them out :)
God knows I'd love to ask him why Omega's fiance is mentionned, and
then in the next episode they pretend she's really a man :)
-----
Why won't Outlook Express stay deleted? Why???
David Christopher Asher
>
> eirias wrote:
> >
> > khl wrote:
> > >
> > > Otakon promises two major movie presentations during the U.S.
> > > Independence Day weekend in July. Evangelion: Death and Rebirth and
> > > End of Evangelion will be shown in the 2000+ seat Main Events Room at
> > > the Baltimore Convention Center, courtesy of Production I.G., one of
> > > Otakon's guests this year.
> >
> > I've seen those several times. They're nice, but if Production I.G.'s
> > giving movies, I want the damn Nadesico movie!
>
> Ask, and ye shall receive.
>
> OTAKON will also be premiering Martial Successor Nadesico: The Prince of
> Darkness movie in our main room on Sunday, July 4th. With subtitles. Courtesy
> of Xebec. Both are listed on our web page--I don't know why Kevin missed
> Nadesico. ^_^
>
> We now return you to your regularly scheduled bickering.
>
> Dave
I was also just reminded of the fact that the movie was shown at Project A-kon,
sans subtitles I believe.
Dave
August Ragone
<klil...@email.msn.com> wrote:
> G-Fest, in Burbank, Calif in July, is very close to matching the definition
> of an anime convention - except that it's devoted to Japanese monster and
> science fiction movies. Along with the emphasis on Godzilla movies, G-Fest
> promises to have several anime guests: Fred Ladd, who produced the American
> versions of Astro Boy and Kimba the White Lion in the 1960's; Peter
> Fernandez, who provided voices for Speed Racer and Star Blazers; and William
> Winckler, who produced the U.S. version of Tekkaman.
Thanks for mentioning us! What we are trying to do with G-FEST, is to make
it become a convetion devoted to Japanese Fantasy Films -- both
live-action and animated. We also have the involvement of several American
companies, such as ADV FIlms, Urban Vision, Viz Communications, and
AnimEigo.
We are also presenting a number of rare or ignored anime titles in our
screening room and in-house tv channel -- from MAZINGER Z to DNA SIGHTS --
and hope to expand our programming next year. We do not want to challenge
the other established anime conventions, just create an alternative to
them, by focusing on the works from the early 1960s to the early 1980s.
We are also focusing on films and subjects other than the common Giant
Monster Movie, by presenting Horror, Science Fiction, and Samurai films --
as well as a strong empahsis on Superhero Television of the 1970s.
I am not putting the convention together, but was brought on-board in
December to run the programming -- as well as moderating panels -- so,
please wish us luck in this venture, and perhaps we can bring more
attention to films and anime that are generally overlooked.
Thanks,
August Ragone <to reply via e-mail remove "ductions" from my address>
Kaiju Productions: [http://monsterzero.org/henshin]
Kamen Rider V3 Page: [http://home.netvigator.com/~jysls/riderv3.html]
G-Fest '99: July 23th - 25th [http://www.g-fan.com]
August Ragone
recent revisionist Gamera films -- but started his career as a
scriptwriter on a number of Anime series in the 1980s including URUSEI
YATSURA and CREAMY MAMI.
Hope to see some of you there!