Otakon 2010 to Premier Welcome to the Space Show
Baltimore, MD (July 7, 2010) – Otakon is pleased to welcome director Koji Masunari, character designer Masashi Ishihama, and producer Tomonori Ochikoshi. They are the creative team behind the award-winning new film Welcome to THE SPACE SHOW, which will make its U.S. premier at Otakon 2010.
Director Koji Masunari is best known to American audiences as the director for the popular R.O.D -Read or Die and R.O.D.: The TV Series. He also created and directed Kamichu! and was series director for shows including Honey and Clover, Kokoro Library!, Tenchi Universe, Omishi Magical Theater Risky Safety, Saber Marionette R, and Photon: The Idiot Adventures. He also directed the ending animation for El Hazard, and storyboarded Naruto the Movie: Guardians of the Crescent Moon Kingdom. More recent work includes the award-winning Welcome to THE SPACE SHOW, and he serves as director and series composition for Android Ana Maico 2010.
Masashi Ishihama is a prolific animator, director, and character and mecha designer. He has worked as an animator and/or animation director on Girl Who Leapt Through Time, the Digimon Adventure movie, Welcome to the NHK, The Hakkenden: Legend of the Dog Warriors, Jin-Roh - The Wolf Brigade, and the classic Giant Robo. He also directed for Speed Grapher J and one of the Bleach openings, and he storyboarded, animated, and/or designed for Read or Die in both its incarnations.
Producer Tomonori Ochikoshi has been responsible for several hit shows over the past several years, drawing frequently on a core of talented creators. He has been responsible for Blood+, Kamichu!, Fairy Tale, and the Read or Die TV series. He also produced Kannagi: Crazy Shrine Maidens.
Otakon 2010 will be held July 30 – August 1 at the Baltimore Convention Center in Baltimore, Maryland.
ABOUT OTAKON AND OTAKORP, INC.: Now entering its seventeenth year, Otakon is an annual celebration of Japanese and East Asian popular culture, and also one of the largest gatherings of fans in the United States. Otakon celebrates popular culture as a gateway to deeper understanding of Asian culture, and has grown along with the enthusiasm for anime, manga, video games, and music from the Far East. Since 1999, Otakon has been held in Baltimore, Maryland; currently, Otakon is one of Baltimore's few large, city-wide events, drawing over 25,000 individual members for three days each year (for a paid attendance of over 70,000 "turnstile" attendees). Otakon is a membership-based convention sponsored by Otakorp, Inc., a Pennsylvania-based, 501(c)3 educational non-profit whose mission is to promote the appreciation of Asian culture, primarily through its media and entertainment. Otakorp, Inc. is directed by an all-volunteer, unpaid staff – we are run by fans, for fans.
For more information about Otakorp, Inc., see http://www.otakon.com/otakorp/index.asp
For more information and the latest news on Otakon 2010, see http://www.otakon.com/
