Manga Author Hiro Mashima Comes To NY Anime Festival

Creator of Fairy Tail manga To Take Part In Anime Event At New York Comic Con

Norwalk, CT, July 28, 2011: The New York Anime Festival (NYAF) and Kodansha USA Publishing (KUP) today announced Hiro Mashima, creator of the successful Fairy Tail manga and anime series, will be coming to this October's New York Anime Festival. The New York Anime Festival will take place October 13-16, 2011 at the Javits Center in Midtown Manhattan as part of the sixth annual New York Comic Con (NYCC). NYCC, which attracted 96,000 attendees in 2010, celebrates comics, television, movies, toys, games, and the popular arts from around the planet. NYCC's Anime Festival shines a specific spotlight on anime, manga, and Japanese pop culture. NYCC has already announced guests including Kevin Smith, Felicia Day, and Robert Kirkman. Voice actors Todd Haberkorn, Colleen Clinkenbeard, Cherami Leigh, and Newton Pittman -- all in the anime adaptation of Fairy Tail -- have been previously announced as guests and will appear at NYAF.

Hiro Mashima is a Japanese manga author and artist most known for his fantasy titles Rave Master, published in Japan from 1999 to 2005, and Fairy Tail, ongoing since 2006 and adapted into an anime since 2009. In the world of Fairy Tail, sorcerers band together in Guilds to take on paying assignments, including hunting monsters, finding lost items, and running odd errands, for non-magic users. In this fun-packed action-fantasy manga, the main characters are Natsu, a dragon slayer who can control fire at will; Happy, a cat who magically flies; and Lucy, a rookie wizard. They belong to the Fairy Tail Guild, whose members tend to overdo everything and often cause a lot of trouble. The Fairy Tail manga is published in the US by KUP. The Fairy Tail anime is available through FUNimation Entertainment.

Mashima will be appearing at the New York Anime Festival on October 14th and 15th. He will speak on a dedicated Q&A Session as well as part of a larger Fairy Tail panel with voice actors Todd Haberkorn, Colleen Clinkenbeard, Cherami Leigh, and Newton Pittman -- culminating in a premiere screening. Mashima will additionally be dedicating time to autographing, both public signings for general attendees and dedicated, reserved autographing for NYAF VIPs.

"The New York Anime Festival is honored to welcome Hiro Mashima," NYAF and NYCC Show Manager Lance Fensterman said. "Fairy Tail is one of the biggest titles in Japan and quickly gaining a huge following in the US. To be able to celebrate its success and present it to even further fans with its original creator and America voice cast is one of the top highlights of this year's NYAF!"

For bios, headshots, and additional information on Hiro Mashima, Todd Haberkorn, Colleen Clinkenbeard, Cherami Leigh, and Newton Pittman, please visit www.newyorkcomiccon.com.

The Fairy Tail manga has been published up to Volume 14 in the US. FUNimation is currently streaming subtitled episodes of the anime series at www.funimation.com/fairy-tail and will release it on DVD and Blu-ray later this year. The New York Anime Festival features Fairy Tail anime art on its 2011 official poster. Details around all of NYAF's Fairy Tail events and its full schedule will be announced later this summer. General Tickets and limited VIP Passes are available at www.newyorkcomiccon.com now. For the latest information, please follow @ny_anime_fest and @ny_comic_con on Twitter as well as read NYAF and NYCC's official blog, www.mediumatlarge.net.

ABOUT KODANSHA USA PUBLISHING, LLC: Established in New York in 2008, Kodansha USA Publishing (KUP) is a subsidiary of Kodansha, Japan's largest publisher. KUP's first works under the Kodansha Comics imprint were Katsuhiro Ōtomo's Akira and Masamune Shirow's The Ghost in the Shell. In 2011, KUP is expanding their catalog to include such titles as Negima by Ken Akamatsu, Shugo Chara! by PEACH-PIT, and Bloody Monday by Ryou Ryumon and Kōji Megumi. Kodansha Comics is distributed by Random House Publisher Services.

ABOUT THE NEW YORK ANIME FESTIVAL: The New York Anime Festival is a celebration of Japanese popular culture from the creators of New York Comic Con. NYAF conducts, promotes and is involved in anime and Japanese cultural activities year-round in New York City, including events at Kinokuniya Bookstore, Japan Society, and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden's Sakura Matsuri. Our flagship event is the New York Anime Festival at New York Comic Con. Taking place at the Javits Center in Midtown Manhattan on October 13-16, 2011, the New York Anime Festival at New York Comic Con showcases the best of anime pop culture, including the latest anime, manga, Japanese cinema, music and games as well as anime-influenced comics, animation, and films from around the world. The festival features exclusive and extensive screenings, a gala cosplay masquerade, sessions with the some of the biggest names in anime from Japan, Asia and America, and explores the Japanese cultural experience with displays of both traditional and cutting-edge Japanese life. (www.newyorkanimefestival.com)

ABOUT NEW YORK COMIC CON: New York Comic Con is the East Coast's biggest and most exciting popular culture convention. Our show floor plays host to the latest and greatest in comics, graphic novels, anime, manga, video games, toys, movies, and television. Our panels and autograph sessions give fans a chance to interact with their favorite creators. Our screening rooms feature sneak peeks at films and television shows months before they hit either big or small screens. And with dedicated professional hours, New York Comic Con is a market place, bringing together the major players in the entertainment industry. New York Comic Con is the second largest pop culture convention in America and the only one that takes place in the comic book, publishing, media, and licensing capital of the world -- Gotham City. (www.newyorkcomiccon.com)

ABOUT REEDPOP: ReedPOP is a boutique group within Reed Exhibitions which is exclusively devoted to organizing events, launching and acquiring new shows, and partnering with premium brands in the pop culture arena. ReedPOP is dedicated to producing celebrations of popular culture throughout the world that transcend ordinary events by providing unique access and dynamic personal experiences for consumers and fans. The ReedPOP portfolio includes: New York Comic Con (NYCC), Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo (C2E2), Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) East & West, Star Wars Celebration, New York Anime Festival (NYAF), Singapore Toy, Game & Comic Convention (STGCC), and UFC Fan Expo. The staff at ReedPOP is a fan based group of professionals producing shows for other fans, thus making them uniquely qualified to service those with whom they share a common passion. ReedPOP is focused on bringing its expertise and knowledge to world communities in North America, South America, Asia and Europe.

######

Roger Bilheimer 36 Parish Rd. New Canaan, CT 06840 203-966-0792