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Anime Expo Lite Streaming Event to Host Yoshitaka Amano

The organizers of the Anime Expo convention revealed on Wednesday that this year's Anime Expo Lite event will be a two-day livestream and host artist and character designer Yoshitaka Amano.

The free event will also feature content from companies such as Bushiroad, Crunchyroll, Pony Canyon, and Viz Media. Additionally, the livestream will feature other guests, panels, industry announcements, live content, exclusive content from Japan, Q&A sessions, and giveaways.

The physical Anime Expo 2020 event was planned for July 2-5 at the Los Angeles Convention Center but was canceled due to the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) situation. Ray Chiang, CEO of The Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation (SPJA), announced the cancellation on April 17 and stated that badge holders for the event will have the option to either get refunds or roll over their badge to the 2021 event, which is slated for July 2-5.

This year's Anime Expo was scheduled to host the world premiere of Amano's Gibiate anime series. The screening was planned to host Amano, scriptwriter Ryō Aoki, and the Yoshida Brothers. Amano and Aoki were set to participate in a panel and autograph sessions. The Yoshida Brothers were planning to perform as part of the Gibiate world premiere and also hold a mini-concert.

Gibiate Project, a global IP development group that includes Amano (Final Fantasy games), is developing the Gibiate series. The group announced the anime at Anime Expo 2019 last July.

Sources: Email correspondence, Anime Expo's website and Twitter account