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AnimeNEXT to Host Black Lagoon Manga Creator Rei Hiroe, Singer-Songwriter ZAQ

New Jersey-based anime convention AnimeNEXT announced on Wednesday and Thursday that it will host manga creator Rei Hiroe at its 2016 convention as a guest of honor, and it will host singer-songwriter ZAQ as a musical guest.

Hiroe is best known for his Black Lagoon action manga, which tells the story of a four-man team of mercenaries who operate in Southeast Asia, smuggling goods with their World War II PT boat and performing odd jobs that often involve and end up in shootouts. Hiroe launched the manga in Shogakukan's Sunday GX magazine in 2002. Shogakukan published the manga's 10th volume in May 2014. Viz Media publishes the manga in North America, and it released the 10th volume in April 2015. The manga has been on hiatus since early 2014. Madhouse adapted the manga into two television anime series in 2006, and the Black Lagoon: Roberta's Blood Trail OVA in 2010. Geneon released both series on DVD in North America in 2007-2008, and Funimation re-released the series on DVD and Blu-ray Disc in 2012, and again in 2015.

ZAQ made her debut writing lyrics in 2012 for character songs for The Future Diary anime series. She made her solo singing debut later that year with the theme song for Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions!. She has also performed theme songs for such anime as Concrete Revolutio (both seasons), Pandora in the Crimson Shell: Ghost Urn, Rail Wars!, High School DxD New, Maria the Virgin Witch, and Trinity Seven, among others. Her appearance at AnimeNEXT will mark her North American debut.

AnimeNEXT 2016 will be held at the Atlantic City Convention Center in Atlantic City, New Jersey from June 10-12. Other guests include Studio Trigger's Akira Amemiya, Shigeto Koyama, and Hiromi Wakabayashi, as well as freelance animator Megumi Kouno.