Animazement Announces First Round of Guests
FIRST ROUND OF GUESTS ANNOUNCED FOR ANIMAZEMENT 2010
Richard Ian Cox, Chiho Saito, Chika Sakamoto, Spike Spencer, and Uchu Sentai NOIZ to appear.
Raleigh, NC (February 15, 2010) - Animazement is pleased to announce its first round of guests for Animazement 2010. Richard Ian Cox, Chiho Saito, Chika Sakamoto, and Spike Spencer will be appearing as Guests of Honor, and band Uchu Sentai NOIZ will be performing as special musical guests.
Richard Ian Cox has contributed his voice to a variety of animated series, however, he is best known to anime fans as the iconic voice of Inuyasha, in the English version of the popular anime series of the same name. Other notable animated roles include Ranma Saotome in Ranma 1/2, and Allelujah Haptism in Mobile Suit Gundam 00. Richard Ian Cox's acting career took off at the age of 16, playing Mickey Rooney's teenaged traveler and horse rider, Alec Ramsay, in The Family Channel's Adventures of the Black Stallion. Since that time, Cox has appeared on-camera in a variety of feature films in addition to numerous television roles on various shows, including Stargate, Stargate Atlantis, Eureka, Psych, Dead Like Me and Outer Limits. This will be Mr. Cox's first appearance at Animazement.
Chiho Saito was born in Tokyo. Her debut work, "Lady and Sword", was published by Coronet in 1982. Her most well-known work, the groundbreaking "Revolutionary Girl Utena", was made into a TV anime series and a feature film in 1997. Ms. Saito was heavily involved with the creation of both. Other works of note include "One More Marionette", "Flower Crown Madonna", "Waltz in a White Dress", and "Bronze Angel". She is part of the Be-Papas manga artist collective. In 1997, she received the Shogakukan Manga Award in shōjo for "Kanon". Her works have been serialized in various publications, including Weekly Shojo Comics, Puchi Comics, Takarazuka GRAPH, and Kadokawa Shoten. She is currently working on a manga about ice skating called "Ice Forest", serialized in Flowers magazine, and a period piece, entitled "Viscount Valmont: Dangerous Liaisons", serialized in Rinka magazine. Ms. Saito's hobbies include dance, music, opera, and sumo.
Chika Sakamoto, a voice actor for anime, games, and dramas is famous for voicing Nuriko in "Fushigi Yuugi", Mei in "My Neighbor Totoro", Yaten Kou/Sailor Star Healer in "Sailor Moon Stars", "Kentaro Ichinose in "Maison Ikkoku", Tendon Man in "Anpanman", Kisaragi Shun in "Koko wa Greenwood", and many others. Her most recent role is Kaoruko Shikine in the brand-new "Heartcatch Precure". She likes singing with her band and watching pro-wrestling. She has released several CDs in addition to her voice work.
Spike Spencer has been a voice actor since the early nineties. He has voiced hundreds of episodes of Anime including such notable titles as "Evangelion", "Battle Angel", "Suikoden", "Orphen", "Spriggan", "Nadesico", "Mar", "Pretear", "Buso Renkin", and "Bleach". Spike has lent his voice to many radio and TV commercials. His video game credits include "WOW-The Burning Crusades", "Tales of Vesperia", "Steambot Chronicles", "Star Ocean 2", and many others. An accomplished actor, he has worked with such notable stars as Tommy Lee Jones, Sandra Bullock, Frank Langella, Tia Carrere, and Scott Glenn and has been on set with many other stars. Spike is also an author, including "How to Be A Frickin Genius Voice Actor, Step One", "What Happens At The Con, Stays At The Con?", and "Don't Kill Your Date (And Other Cooking Tips)". Spike is also a screenwriter with several projects in various stages. Spike is soon to begin production on his first feature film that he scripted, "Dwindle Down".
Uchu Sentai NOIZ is a visual kei rock band from Japan. They are famous for their energetic music, wild cosplay-style outfits, and amazing live shows full of energy and on-stage antics. Their music is very eclectic and features many different elements from genres such as punk, J-pop, metal, hip-hop, and electronica.
Animazement 2010 will be held May 28-30 at the Raleigh Convention Center in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina.
ABOUT ANIMAZEMENT: Animazement is an annual convention in Raleigh, NC that celebrates the world of Japanese visual culture through anime, manga, video games, J-rock, martial arts, traditional crafts, and more. The mission of the convention is to promote greater understanding of Japanese language and culture, and to encourage cross-cultural communication through the enjoyment of shared popular culture. Now in its 13th year, Animazement is the largest gathering of anime fans in the Carolinas, with nearly 6,000 attendees in 2009. Animazement is an all-volunteer convention run by fans, for fans. The sponsoring organization of Animazement is Educational Growth Across Oceans, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
For more information and the latest news about Animazement, see: http://www.animazement.org
