Anime Central to Host Voice Actress Asami Imai

Anime Central announced Tuesday that it will host voice actress Asami Imai at this year's event. Anime Central 2025 will be held in Rosemont, IL on May 16-18.

About Asami Imai
Asami Imai is a Japanese voice actress, narrator, and singer originally from the Yamaguchi Prefecture. Affectionately known by her nickname “Asamingosu” or “Mingosu” for short, she is a veteran that has over 25 years of experience in the industry.

She is most well known for her role as Chihaya Kisaragi in the long running game and anime series THE IDOLM@STER, a role she has played for almost 20 years. As part of her work in the series, she has performed on stage at live concerts for the franchise, including at prestigious venues such as Yokohama Arena, Nippon Budokan, Belluna Dome, Saitama Super Arena, Tokyo Dome and many more.

She is also beloved by fans for her other popular roles that also cross the lines between game and anime, such as Kurisu Makise from Steins;Gate, Noire / Black Heart in Hyperdimension Neptunia, Vira Lillie from Granblue Fantasy, Tsubaki=Yayoi / Izayoi from Blazblue, Ikaruga from Senran Kagura, Ayumi Shinozaki from Corpse Party, Drake from Azur Lane and more.

Asami Imai is also an accomplished singer and solo artist. As part of her anime and game tie-up roles, she has recorded on over 500 character CD singles, albums, radio recordings, voice drama CDs, and more. In addition to character-related to her roles, she has released 20 solo singles, 7 full-length studio albums, 4 mini-albums, streaming singles, and others. Her solo work has been featured in tie-ups with games and anime, such as Plastic Memories (Ending), Steins;Gate 0 (Ending), Corpse Party: Tortured Souls (Opening), Nyan Koi! (Ending), and several others.

She is also an avid gamer, having hosted the program “Asami Imai's Singer Song Gamer” on gaming magazine website Famitsu, that ran from 2009 to 2015. After the broadcast ended, she continued to post on Japanese video hosting site Nico Nico Douga, and has also been uploading to her YouTube channel. She also recently made her VTuber debut under the name 詩趣ミンゴス (Poetic Mingosu), and she regularly streams on YouTube solo, as well as collaborations with other VTubers. She will release her first CD as her VTuber in April.

About Anime Central
Anime Central (ACen) is the largest anime, manga and Japanese popular culture convention in Chicago and the Midwest. Anime Central 2025 will take place from May 16-18 at the Hyatt Regency O'Hare and Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Illinois.