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Anime Expo to Host Sunrise Producers, Neptunia Series Staff

The organizers of the Anime Expo convention announced this week that it will host Sunrise producers Osamu Taniguchi and Naohiro Ogata, Gundam game producer Kotaro Usui, GUNPLA modeler Katsumi Kawaguchi, Neptunia series character designer Tsunako, and Neptunia series producer Naoko Mizuno.

Taniguchi and Ogata will participate in the Sunrise industry panel, and Taniguchi will also participate in a screening of the Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin anime's sixth episode, "Rise of the Red Comet," which will also feature appearances by voice actors from the anime.

Taniguchi joined TMS Entertainment in 1999, and served as animation producer on Moyashimon, among other titles. He joined Sunrise in 2012, and is credited as assistant producer on Natsuiro Kiseki, and producer on Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin.

Ogata joined Sunrise in 1997. He worked as production assistant on Turn A Gundam and Inuyasha, and is credited as producer in such titles as Tales of the Abyss, Mobile Suit Gundam UC, Gundam: Reconguista in G, and Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt.

Usui is the head of Gundam games at Bandai Namco Entertainment, and he will participate in the company's Gundam-focused panel. Anime Expo noted that he is "aiming to create a Gundam game not only for the Japanese audience, but also for the world."

Kawaguchi will participate in a GUNPLA beginner's workshop panel. He joined Bandai in 1985 after creating his own modeler group while still in school.

Tsunako and Mizuno will appear at two Neptunia panels and an Idea Factory International localization panel. They will also particpate in autograph sessions.

Tsunako is an illustrator at Idea Factory, the parent company of Neptunia developer Compile Heart. Apart from designing the characters of the Neptunia franchise, she also drew the illustrations for Koushi Tachibana's Date A Live light novel series, and is credited as the original character designer for the manga and anime adaptations of the novels. She is also a character designer for the Ange Vierge franchise.

Mizuno joined Idea Factory as a 3D designer. She produced Hyperdimension Neptunia, the first game in the Neptunia franchise, 10 years after she joined the company. She is also the producer for the Fairy Fencer F series.

This year's Anime Expo will take place at the Los Angeles Convention Center from July 5 to July 8, with a pre-show event on July 4.

Source: Anime Expo