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Anime Kōhaku Contest Returns with Aki Toyosaki

The Myu-Comi Plus radio program is presenting the Anime Kōhaku Uta Gassen (Anime Red and White Song Battle) contest at the Tokyo International Forum on February 19 of next year. Two groups of anime voice actors, divided into the red team for women and the white team for men, will compete in various singing and speaking activities to determine the winning side. Aki Toyosaki (K-ON!'s Yui Hirasawa, Un-Go's Inga; pictured right) will be the host of the red team, while the Nippon Broadcasting System announcer Hisanori Yoshida will serve as the white team's host.

Wataru Hatano (Fairy Tail, Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu; pictured left), winner of the Best Male Rookie Award at the 2nd annual Seiyuu Awards in 2008, will participate in the Anime Kōhaku Uta Gassen contest. Other participating voice actors will include Shintarō Asanuma (Seitokai Yakuindomo, Nodame Cantabile: Paris), Yū Kobayashi (Arakawa under the Bridge × Bridge, Mahou Sensei Negima!), Ayana Taketatsu (K-ON!, The World God Only Knows), anime theme song composer Ken'ichi Maeyamada, and Halko Momoi (Steins;Gate, My Bride is a Mermaid).

Using a new plan, this Kōhaku event is based on anime song live events that took place in 1998 and 1999. Anime Kōhaku Uta Gassen will also mimic the NHK television network's annual Kōhaku Uta Gassen New Year's Eve music show, in which the year's most popular singers also compete on red and white teams.

With the purchase of a ticket for 6,500 yen (about US$85), about 5,000 audience members will be present for next year's anime-themed singing and acting battle.

Source: Anime Anime Japan