Animazement Announces 2013 Guest Lineup

RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA – MARCH 14, 2013

Animazement proudly announces the guests for its 2012 convention taking place Memorial Day Weekend, May 24 – 26, 2013. More information about Animazement can be found at www.Animazement.com.

Musical Guest

NOIZ - Uchu Sentai NOIZ is a visual kei rock band that combines punk, J-pop, metal, hip-hop, and electronica in its music. The band members are known for performing onstage antics in cosplay-style outfits.

Cultural Guest

Sho Asano - Sho Asano was born in March of 1990. He started playing Tsugaru shamisen at the age of five. In 2004, at the age of 14, he became the youngest champion in Class A of the Tsugaru shamisen national contest, which is the most competitive of its kind in Japan. Then, three successive victories were achieved between 2004 and 2006, winning him wide acclaim as Japan's young NO.1 Tsugaru shamisen player. He has performed in the Netherlands, Canada, the United States, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and France. His new album, recorded in New York in September 2012, is now available in music stores.

Japanese Guests

Toshio Furukawa - Toshio Furukawa began his career in voice acting in the 1960s. He is best known for his roles as Piccolo in Dragon Ball, Ataru Moroboshi in Urusei Yatsura, and Portgas D. Ace in One Piece. Furukawa has portrayed a wide range of characters, from comical to serious characters. In addition to his long list of voice roles, Furukawa also worked on dubbing American movies including Little House on the Prairie, Back to the Future and Scooby Doo. His Hobbies are fishing, creating dioramas, reading and movies.

Hiroshi Nagahama – Mr. Nagahama, director of the “Mushi-shi” series and “Detroit Metal City”, started at Madhouse as mechanical design for “(The) Cockpit” and as part of the production staff for “Azuki-chan.” After leaving Madhouse, he became a freelancer and has worked in many areas of anime production. One of those freelance jobs was working on the conceptual design for the “Revolutionary Girl Utena” series. Mr. Nagahama was the storyboard writer and animation director for “Sexy Command-Gaiden Sugoiyo! Masaru-san” and “Ojamaru.” In yet another role, he was the chief director of “Jubei- Chan 2: The Counter Attack of Siberia Yagyu.” Other anime that benefitted from Mr Nagahama's many talents are “Fruits Basket” and “Kimi ni Todoke”. He was recognized for his achievements and received the 11th Animation Kobe/Individual Award in 2006.

Ryusei Nakao - Ryuusei Nakao got into voice acting when he was still a child, landing a role in Ultra Q. His career includes work in radio (as a radio personality) and singing. Some of his roles include: Mayuri and Kurotsuchi Mayumi from Bleach, Frieza from Dragonball Z, Caesar Clown from One Piece, and Baikin-man from Anpan-man.

Masako Nozawa- She is best known for her roles as Astro Boy, Goku in Dragon Ball (both child and grown versions), Tetsuro Hoshino in Galaxy Express 999, Dr. Kureha in One Piece, Kitaro in Ge Ge Ge no Kitaro. Nozawa also worked on dubbing American movies including The Poseidon Adventure, Richie Rich, Meet the Parents. She does narrations on TV and radio personality. Her hobby is watching sports.

American Guests

Christine Cabanos - When it comes to animation and video games, Christine is a fan at heart. Her passion for the culture led her to pursue a voice-acting career in the industry. After several years of training and practice, her breakout role came as Azusa Nakano of K-On!. Christine has since earned roles including Haruka in Oblivion Island, Filia in Skullgirls, the titular character of Squid Girl in Squid Girl, Nepgear in Hyperdimension Neptunia MK2, Keina Sawaya in Atelier Meruru, Minawa Ando in Mahoromatic OVA : Iʼm Home, Sarah in Rozen Maiden Overture, Michi Kondo in Lagrange: The Flower of Rin-ne, Madoka Kaname from Puella Magi Madoka Magica, and Shiemi Moriyama in Blue Exorcist.

Kyle Hebert - Kyle Hebert is a Los Angeles-based anime and video game voice actor whose credits include Wreck-It Ralph/ Street Fighter (Ryu), Naruto (Kiba), Bleach (Aizen, Ganju), League of Legends (Ezreal, Jarvan, and Graves) and Gurren Lagann (Kamina). He is best known as the Narrator and Teen Gohan from the Funimation dub of Dragonball Z. Other notable roles include Fate/Zero (Beserker), Blue Exorcist (Bon Suguro), Guild Wars 2 (Great Ginz, Ogron, Hamar), Fullmetal Alchemist (Vato Falman), Tales of Symphonia (Richter Abend) and Star Ocean (Dias, Arumat, Crow). Kyle can also be heard in numerous video game franchises such as Sonic, Final Fantasy, World of Warcraft, Skylanders, Devil May Cry, Dynasty Warriors, Soul Calibur and Resident Evil.

He is also the voice of filmmaker, Kevin Smith's Smodco Internet Radio. For more info, visit www.kylehebert.com.

Cristina Vee - Cristina Vee is a Los Angeles based voice over actress and director. Cristina is also known for her popular renditions of anime songs on YouTube and got her first "big break" at an anime convention. Her first roles as a professional actress were Nanoha in "Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha" and Louise in "The Familiar of Zero".Recent anime voice acting roles include Sakura Matou in Fate/Zero, Homura Akemi in "Madoka Magica", Mio Akiyama in "K-ON!", Alisa Bosconovitch in "Tekken: Blood Vengeance", Grania and Sachi in "Rinne no Lagrange", among others. Her video game credits include singing in "Adventure Time: Hey Ice King, Why'd You Steal Our Garbage!?" Noel Vermillion, Nu-13, Mu-12, and Lambda in all the current "Blazblue" titles, Riven the Exile in "League of Legends", Compa in the "Hyperdimension Neptunia" series, and Lian Shi in "Dynasty Warriors 7", and Terran Republic soldiers in "Planetside 2" just to name a few. She has also recently completed her first gig as a director for the Annie Award nominated fighter "Skullgirls" and provided the voice of Cerebella for the game as well.

Cristina currently has a few songs available on iTunes. She traveled the US with the other actresses for K-ON! and performed concerts as Mio Akiyama. She also is a host of AnimeTV and was the ASOS Brigade leader for the live action Haruhi Suzumiya season 2 promotional videos.

For additional information, please visit: http://www.animazement.com/guests

ABOUT ANIMAZEMENT: Animazement is an all-volunteer, fan-run anime convention in Raleigh, North Carolina, celebrating popular Japanese visual culture in all of its forms. The parent organization of Animazement, Educational Growth Across Oceans (EGAO) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization.

The mission of Animazement is to provide an introduction to Japanese Language and Culture, through the world of Japanese Animation and Manga. For three days each spring, we bring together a diverse group of attendees, volunteers, special Japanese and American guests, panelists, and our staff, and together we share in celebrating Japanese entertainment and visual culture. Our activities span the various genres of anime, manga, video games, J-pop/J-rock, martial arts, traditional arts and crafts, and more, all in a family-friendly, festival-like atmosphere. Sure, it's a party, but it is our sincere hope that everyone who attends Animazement also learns something, and leaves with a greater sense of cultural understanding and appreciation for Japanese Culture and Language.