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Seattle's Sakura-Con Hosts Trigun Film Premiere, Staff

Sakura-Con has announced that it will hold the world premiere of the Trigun: Badlands Rumble film during the April 2-4 convention in Seattle, Washington. The convention is three weeks before the April 24 opening of the film in Japan.

Like the television anime series that came before it, the anime studio Madhouse is basing the film on Yasuhiro Nightow's popular Trigun manga. Director Satoshi Nishimura, character designer Takahiro Yoshimatsu, mechanical designer Noriyuki Jinguji, and musical composer Tsuneo Imahori are returning to the franchise after having worked on the television series. Nightow and Nishimura conceived of the story concepts which Yasuko Kobayashi (Claymore, Shakugan no Shana, Witchblade anime) turned into a shooting script. Masaya Onosaka, Sho Hayami, Hiromi Tsuru, and Satsuki Yukino are reprising their roles of Vash the Stampede, Nicolas D. Wolfwood, Meryl Stryfe, and Milly Thompson, respectively.

Nishimura and Yoshimatsu are appearing as guests of this year's Sakura-Con. In addition to Trigun, Nishimura directed Hajime no Ippo (Fighting Spirit) and Shin Cho Bakumatsu Shonen Seiki Takamaru, and he storyboarded episodes of Black Lagoon, Cardcaptor Sakura, Monster, Paradise Kiss, and Revolutionary Girl Utena. Yoshimatsu designed the characters in several Slayers and Future GPX Cyber Formula projects, Basquash!, Kiba, Desert Punk, and the two Jubei-chan - Secret of the Lovely Eyepatch television series.

Source: AnimeVice

Update: Sakura-Con is also hosting Mayumi Tanaka, the voice actress who played Ryuunosuke Fujinami in Urusei Yatsura, Pazu in Laputa: Castle in the Sky, Monkey D. Luffy in One Piece, and Krillin in Dragon Ball. The convention had previously announced that the rock bands High and Mighty Color and Dazzle Vision, animator Tsuyoshi Nonaka, director Yasuhiro Imagawa, and character designer Yutaka Minowa will be attending the convention.

Image © Yasuhiro Nightow/Shounen Gahousha, Trigun Production Committee