News
Seattle's Sakura-Con to Host Magi & Sword Art Online Animators
posted on by Lynzee Loveridge
The organizers of Seattle's Sakura-Con convention announced last week that it will host Sword Art Online director Tomohiko Ito and animator Shingo Adachi at the April 18-20 convention in Seattle.
Ito made his directorial debut on the 2010 anime series Occult Academy before helming Sword Art Online. He also directed the first season of Silver Spoon and is returning to direct the second season of Sword Art Online when it premieres this year.
Adachi has worked as a character designer and animator on several Megaman (Rockman) franchise anime works, including Megaman Star Force, Rockman.EXE Beast+, Rockman.EXE: Hikari to Yami no Program, and Ryūsei no Rockman Tribe. He also designed characters on Wagnaria!! (Working!!) and oversaw the animation on episodes of Motto To Love Ru, Shuffle!, and other anime. He previously attended Otakon last year.
The convention also announced it will host director Koji Masunari and character designer Toshifumi Akai courtesy of Aniplex. Matsunari is the director of fan-favorite original video anime series Read or Die, its spin-off R.O.D -The TV-, Photon: The Idiot Adventures, Welcome to THE SPACE SHOW, and most recently, Magi.
In addition to Magi, Akai designed characters for Sound of the Sky, Kokoro Connect, and Oreimo 2. He has also worked as an animator on numerous series.
Previously announced guests for Sakura-Con include singer ELISA, M.D. Geist creator Kōichi Ōhata and Mushi-Shi director Hiroshi Nagahama. English voice actors Todd Haberkorn, Leah Clark, and Patrick Seitz are also scheduled to attend the convention.
