Otakon 2011 to Host Funimation Premiere of Hetalia World Series

Baltimore, MD (July 11, 2011) – Otakon 2011 will host Hetalia World Series premiere with guests from both Japan and the US.

The hilarious international incidents keep coming in Hetalia World Series! All of your fave Allied guys and Axis boys are back, and this time they're bringing a bunch of brand new characters to the party!

First of the Japanese guests is Bob Shirohata. Mr. Shirohata is very excited to be visiting his North American fans coming all the way from Japan for Otakon 2011. He has directed various well loved series such as Gravitation, Diamond Daydreams, Let's Dance With Papa and the smash hit series, Hetalia Axis Powers, Hetalia World Series and Hetalia the Movie - Paint it, White!. Mr. Shirohata will be appearing at FUNimation Hetalia World Series premiere/Q&A panel, his focus panel and at autograph sessions throughout the weekend.

Our second Japanese guest is Akira Sasanuma. Mr. Sasanuma has lent his voice to many wonderful anime and game titles over the years, Some of his most well known roles include Link from the Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess and Super Smash Bros., Dearka Elsman in the Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Series, and as Austria in the internationally beloved Hetalia Axis Powers, Hetalia World Series and Hetalia the Movie - Paint it, White!. Mr. Sasanuma is excited to meet with his North American fans attending Otakon 2011 at the Hetalia premiere and Q&A Panel as well as at his focus panel and autograph sessions throughout the weekend.

Our first US guest is Scott Sager. Scott started in the Anime industry as an ADR engineer at FUNimation recording Dragonball Z, then moving on to other shows including Yu Yu Hakusho, Speed Grapher, Samurai 7 and Mongolian Chop Squad. He left the company for a couple of years to design two expansions of the Yu Yu Hakusho trading card game and serve as Score Entertainment's Organized Play Manager before returning to FUNimation. Coming back as an ADR engineer, he quickly transitioned into a directing position working on such fan-favorite shows as One Piece, Strike Witches and Hetalia Axis Powers.

Our second US guest is Scott Freeman. Scott has been working at Funimation roughly six years as a voice actor on over 50 shows. A few of the roles he can be heard as include Britain from Hetalia (as Britain), Yuuji Sakamoto in Baka and Test, Kazuki Sakuraba in Ga-Rei: Zero, Yasopp and Kamakiri in Pirates: One Piece, Harvar D. Éclair in Soul Eater, and Dominio Rixerio in Chrome Shelled Regios.

The third US guest is Patrick Seitz. Patrick is definitely what you'd call a character actor, having voiced roles like Germany in Hetalia, Simon in Durarara!, Agni in Black Butler, Sloth in Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Chosokabe Motochika in Sengoku Basara, Grimmer in Monster, Nekozawa in Ouran, Isshin Kurosaki in Bleach, George in Paradise Kiss, Dhaos in Tales of Phantasia, Koshiro in Koi Kaze, Lee Linho in ROD the TV, and Luke Valentine in Hellsing and Hellsing Ultimate.

The last US guest to round out the Hetalia group is J. Michael Tatum. Discovered by Funimation in 2005, he was cast as Rikichi in 2005's Samurai 7. Tatum has had a slew of roles, most notably France in Hetalia, Kyoya Otori in Ouran High School Host Club and Sebastian Michaelis in Black Butler. Other characters include: Doumeki in XXXHolic, Jiro Mochizuki in Black Blood Brothers, Isaac Dian in Baccano!, Komui Lee in D-Gray Man, Dororo in Sgt. Frog, Ryosuke Takahashi in Initial D, Lawrence Kraft in Spice and Wolf, Zarbon in Dragon Ball Z Kai, and Scar in Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood.

Otakon 2011 will be held July 29 – 31 at the Baltimore Convention Center in Baltimore, Maryland.

ABOUT OTAKON AND OTAKORP, INC.: Now entering its eighteenth 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 29,000 individual members for three days each year (for a paid attendance of over 80,000 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 2011, see http://www.otakon.com/