Guests of Honor
Japanese Voice Talent
Fumi Hirano
Voice Actress
AnimeFest is honored to host veteran actress and voice actor Fumi Hirano at our event this year!Most well known for her lead role as “Lum” in Rumiko Takahashi’s popular television series, Urusei Yatsura (1981-1986), Ms. Hirano has performed countless character roles in dozens of anime across her career spanning over 35 years!
Ms. Hirano will be participating in various panels and autograph sessions throughout AnimeFest 2016.
Read more about Fumi Hirano here.
Toshio Furukawa
Voice Actor
AnimeFest would like to extend a warm welcome to voice actor Toshio Furukawa!Mr. Furukawa has lent his voice to many well-known roles, including “Ataru Moroboshi” in Urusei Yatsura, “Piccolo” in Dragon Ball Z, and “Portgas D. Ace” in One Piece. He is also a professor at the Osaka University of Arts, where he instructs aspiring voice actors.
Mr. Furukawa will be joining us in various panels and autograph sessions for AnimeFest 2016.
Read more about Toshio Furukawa here.
Shino Kakinuma
Voice Actress
Please join us in welcoming voice actress Shino Kakinuma to AnimeFest!Ms. Kakinuma is best known for her role as “Naru Osaka” in Sailor Moon and “Videl” in Dragon Ball Kai, among others. In addition to her anime roles, she has provided her voice to numerous television and radio programs, games, and drama CDs.
Ms. Kakinuma will be participating in panels as well as autograph sessions during AnimeFest 2016.
Read more about Shino Kakinuma here.
Creators & Artists from Japan
Akemi Takada
Character Designer, Illustrator
We are thrilled to welcome veteran Character Designer and Illustrator Akemi Takada to AnimeFest for the first time!Ms. Takada is most well known for her exceptional character designs on Magical Angel Creamy Mami, the anime adaptations of Rumiko Takahashi's Urusei Yatsura and Maison Ikkoku, anime adaptations of Izumi Matsumoto's Kimagure Orange Road, and anime adaptations of Masami Yuuki's Mobile Police Patlabor, among many others.
Ms. Takada will perform a live drawing session as well as participate in various panels and autograph session throughout AnimeFest 2016.
Read more about Akemi Takada here.
Shingo Natsume
Director
AnimeFest is excited to welcome back Director Shingo Natsume for his second appearance with us.Two years ago, Mr. Natsume shared his experience and insights as the Director of Space Dandy. This year he joins us after directing the very popular One Punch Man television series!
Mr. Natsume will be participating in various panels and autograph sessions throughout AnimeFest 2016.
Read more about Shingo Natsume here.
Chikashi Kubota
Animation Director, Animator, Character Designer
AnimeFest is proud to welcome Chikashi Kubota, the Chief Animation Director of the popular One Punch Man television series. If you haven't seen One Punch Man yet, go watch it now!In addition to One Punch Man, Mr. Kubota has participated in dozens of other amazing animation projects throughout his career, including titles like Gurren Lagann, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, From the New World, and Space Dandy, among many others.
Mr. Kubota will be participating in numerous panels and autograph sessions throughout AnimeFest 2016.
Read more about Chikashi Kubota here.
Shuhei Morita
Director
AnimeFest is excited to welcome back Director Shuhei Morita for his second appearance with us. Since appearing in 2008, Director Morita has worked on several new anime, and even received an Academy Award nomination. Most recently he directed the popular TV anime series, Tokyo Ghoul.Mr. Morita will participate in numerous panels and autograph sessions throughout AnimeFest 2016.
Read more about Shuhei Morita here.
Kazuhiro Miwa
Animation Director, Animator, Character Designer
Please join us in welcoming the amazing Kazuhiro Miwa for his first appearance at AnimeFest! Mr. Miwa has participated as a key animator in countless televisions series, OVAs, and movies. Recently he was the Character Designer and Chief Animation Director for Tokyo Ghoul!Mr. Miwa will be participating in numerous panels and autograph sessions throughout AnimeFest 2016.
Read more about Kazuhiro Miwa here.
Ayana Nishino
Animation Director
Please join us in welcoming the talented Ayana Nishino for her first appearance at AnimeFest! Ms. Nishino is a Chief Animation Director on the popular My Hero Academia!Ms. Nishino will be participating in numerous panels and autograph sessions throughout AnimeFest 2016.
Read more about Ayana Nishino here.
Special Guests
Amelie Belcher
Artist
AnimeFest is excited to welcome back the amazing Amelie, comic book creator and multimedia artist extraordinaire!Amelie is known among fans for her works The Real Lie Adventures of Ami Chan, Bounty Haunters, and for illustrating Loud Snow.
Her panels for aspiring artists are both deeply informative and extremely entertaining. Amelie also returns to us as an every popular and hugely entertaining auctioneer for our annual Art Auction.
Read more about Amelie Belcher here.
Apphia Yu
Voice Actress
The talented Apphia Yu can be heard lending her voice to many popular titles including Assassination Classrom, Noragami Aragoto, Fairy Tail, and many more. She also leads the visual novel group sakevisual and is lead writer for the art duo Painapple Studio.Apphia will be joining a variety of panels and autograph sessions throughout AnimeFest.
Read more about Apphia Yu here.
Austin Tindle
Voice Actor
Austin is probably most well-known for his work with Funimation Studios, where he has voiced many characters including “Ayumu Aikawa” in Is this a Zombie?, “Accelerator” in A Certain Magical Index, “Shu Ouma” in Guilty Crown, “Marco Bodt” in Attack on Titan, “Karma” in Assassination Classroom, and “Kaneki” in Tokyo Ghoul.Austin will participate in various panels and autograph sessions throughout AnimeFest 2016. Please check the schedule for details.
Read more about Austin Tindle here.
Erica Mendez
Voice Actress
Erica is best known for her roles as “Ryuko Matoi” in KILL la KILL, “Aladdin” in Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic, “Yuuki Konno” in Sword Art Online II and “Nico Yazawa” in Love Live! Other animation credits include “Gon Freecs” in HunterxHunter (2011), “Haruka Tenoh” / “Sailor Uranus” in the new VIZ Media re-dub of Sailor Moon, “Tsubaki” in Your Lie in April, “Akko Kagari” in Little Witch Academia, “Akari Sakishima” in A Lull in the Sea, and “Diane” in Seven Deadly Sins, among many others.Erica will particpate in various panels and autograph sessions through AnimeFest 2016. Please check the schedule for details.
Read more about Erica Mendez here.
Gilles Poitras
Author
AnimeFest proudly welcomes back Gilles Poitras! Some of you may remember him from AnimeFest '99!Gilles is best known to anime fans for his three books; The Anime Companion, Anime Essentials and the Anime Companion 2, he has also written for NewType USA and Otaku USA. Gilles also sat on the senior board of Mechademia, an annual scholarly anthology of essays on anime, manga and fan culture.
Read more about Gilles Poitras here.
Greg Wicker
Game Show Host
AnimeFest would also like to welcome Greg Wicker! Come have fun with interactive games and panels about all your favorite things! A witty and lively performer, be sure to not miss a single moment of hilarity with Greggo this AnimeFest!Read more about Greg Wicker here.
Kristen McGuire
Voice Actress
Kristen McGuire is an award winning artist and voice actress with an itchy drawing hand and an overactive imagination. Armed with a Wacom tablet and a degree in Visual Art and Communication, Kristen has managed to self-publish seven different comic books since 2008 and has won two awards for her original paintings.In 2013 Kristen jumped into the role of voice actress and she started working for FUNimation providing voice overs for anime. Assasination Classroom, Noragami Aragoto, and Prison School, are just a few of the titles she has lent her voice to.
Read more about Kristen McGuire here.
Lindsay Seidel
Voice Actress
Widely known for roles such as "Nagisa" in Assassination Classroom, “Angel” and “Romeo” in Fairy Tail, “Yayoi Kunizuka” in Psycho-Pass, and “Boa Sandersonia” in One Piece, Seidel has even gone on to on camera roles such as “Emily” in the horror film The Final! Additionally, she was recently awarded the Voice Actress of the Year award by Behind The Voice Actors!Read more about Lindsay Seidel here.
Lisle Wilkerson
Voice Actress
A big welcome to Lisle Wilkerson, a talent known for roles in Virtual Fighter, ULTRAMAN, Lost in Translation, the upcoming film Eden and so much more! In addition to being a very accomplished translator, Lisle has been invited to work for the 2020 Olympics! Don’t forget to stop by and see her at various panels and autograph sessions throughout our event!Read more about Lisle Wilkerson here.
Mark Crilley
Manga Creator, Artist
We are thrilled to welcome back Mark Crilley, creator of Miki Falls, Brody's Ghost and a series of books and YouTube videos on how to draw manga. His drawing videos are some of the most watched on YouTube. Mr Crilley will be discussing his work on panel discussions, teaching a manga art class, sharing his drawing tips and tricks, and signing autographs.Read more about Mark Crilley here.
Melissa Ng
3D Artist
AnimeFest welcomes Melissa Ng of Lumecluster.com. Melissa is an amazing 3D artist who designs 3D printed intricate Dreamer masks, armor, and fantasy wearable art.Melissa will share her experiences through a variety of panels and workshops throughout AnimeFest, and if schedules work out she may even be able to bring some of her intricate designs with her to display!
Read more about Melissa Ng here.
Micah Solusod
Voice Actor
Micah Solusod is best known for his role in Soul Eater, but can also be heard voicing characters in shows such as Tokyo Ghoul, Wolf Children, Space Dandy, The Empire of Corpses and more! Currently he can also be heard in Assassination Classroom, Prince of Stride: Alternative, and Blood Blockade Battlefront.Micah will participate in various panels and autograph sessions throughout AnimeFest.
Read more about Micah Solusod here.
Robert Woodhead
AnimEigo Founder
AnimeFest welcomes Robert Woodhead!Robert is one of the founders of AnimEigo, the oldest surviving Anime releasing company in North America. Also known as one of the authors of the early Wizardry-series computer games, he founded AnimEigo in 1989 with fellow game-designer Roe R. Adams, III after they had the hilariously bad idea that people might actually want to buy properly translated and subtitled Anime.
Read more about Robert Woodhead here.
CANCELLATIONS
Brina Palencia
CANCELLED APPEARANCE
Unfortunately Brina will no longer be able to attend AnimeFest 2016. We are all very sad, but at the same time excited for her. She has been presented with an opportunity of a lifetime and while we cannot reveal specifics, trust this will lead her to even more exciting performances in the future!Here is a message directly from Brina:
Quote:
Hey guys!
I’m sorry I can’t make it to Anime Fest. I know many of you were looking forward to it, and I was looking forward to meeting so many fans in my hometown!
I’ve been offered a really phenomenal opportunity that I have been working towards all year that will be happening the same weekend. It’s not something I can afford to pass up. Just know it will result in me doing a lot more music stuff, so if you like my singing this should be good news!
I have a lot of love for you all. Have fun with the other guests, they’re all pretty dope!
Sincerely,
Brina
I’m sorry I can’t make it to Anime Fest. I know many of you were looking forward to it, and I was looking forward to meeting so many fans in my hometown!
I’ve been offered a really phenomenal opportunity that I have been working towards all year that will be happening the same weekend. It’s not something I can afford to pass up. Just know it will result in me doing a lot more music stuff, so if you like my singing this should be good news!
I have a lot of love for you all. Have fun with the other guests, they’re all pretty dope!
Sincerely,
Brina
She has also put together a special video with a bit more explanation for everyone. Check it out here.