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Anime Expo Screens U.S. Premiere of Sparks of Tomorrow TV Anime, Hosts Frieren: Beyond Journey's End Anime Staff

Anime Expo announced on Tuesday that it will screen the U.S. premiere of the first two episodes of the television anime of Hiro Yūki's Sparks of Tomorrow (20 Seiki Denki Mokuroku) novel at this year's event on July 3 at 10:00 a.m. in the JW Marriott Platinum Ballroom.

The convention recently revealed that it will host the Frieren: Beyond Journey's End (Sōsō no Frieren) television anime's second season director Tomoya Kitagawa, supporting director Keiichirō Saitō, animation producer Yuichiro Fukushi, and character designer Keisuke Kojima. The four will be at a panel for the anime on July 4 at 6:00 p.m. at the JW Marriott Platinum Ballroom.

The event will also host manga artist and illustrator Acky Bright.

The Sparks of Tomorrow anime will debut on July 5 and will air on Sundays at 11:00 p.m. on Tokyo MX and on 11:30 on BS11. The series will also air on ABC TV and TV Aichi. The anime will exclusively stream worldwide on Netflix on Sundays starting on July 5 at 11:00 p.m. JST.

The original novel takes place in the summer of 1907, the 40th year of the Meiji era. 15-year-old Inako Momokawa lives in the Fushimi area of Kyoto, and is the second daughter of a sake brewer. Nothing she does ever comes out right, and she receives a scolding from her father every day. Her only relief is the trust she places in her prayers to the gods. One day while at Fushimi Inari shrine, she meets a freewheeling young man named Kihachi Sakamoto. He rejects the gods, and boasts of the incoming age of electricity.

This Year's Anime Expo will also host a "JAPAN MUSIC VOCALOID Powered by DWANGO" event on July 4 with guest performers Hachiōji-P, kz (Livetune), picco, SatapanP, and TeddyLoid. Entry is included with attendees' Anime Expo credentials and no separate ticket is required. ALI, Yōko Kanno, girl group Roselia, rock band SPYAIR, and singer Yoko Takahashi will perform at the J-POP SOUND CAPSULE @ AX 2026 music concert.

The event will also host "the first official North American screening" of the The Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love? anime film on July 5 at 12:00 p.m. PDT. BIGWEST will also host a Macross panel on July 2 at 1:00 p.m. PDT.

The convention previously revealed the following guests:

Masayuki Yamagishi (Yama-P), CEO of game developer NextNinja

Infinite's Ena Hamabe, producer of the I Want to Love You Till Your Dying Day anime

Hiroyuki Watanabe, former editor-in-chief of Monthly Shōnen Ace and current executive officer at Kadokawa who "oversees the Manga, Light Novel, and Shin-Bungei genres"

Voice actor Masakazu Morita (Bleach, Kingdom)

Voice actress Machico (Uma Musume: Pretty Derby, Hatsune Miku: Colorful Stage!)

Voice actor Daisuke Hirose (Hatsune Miku: Colorful Stage!, Good Night World)

Writer and artist MEME50 (Heat Alert, Drawn by Brush, XXX Maiden)

Anime Expo 2026 will take place from July 2-5 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

Source: Anime Expo's X/Twitter account and Instagram page