Otakon®: Guests

Kyoko Aiba

Mangaka / Illustrator

Kyoko Aiba is a Japanese Mangaka active in various genres, particularly boys love. Kyoko's best-known works include 'Kamisama☆Darling', 'Love emotion theory', and 'Derail'. Her most recent work 'Invisible Me' is about a high school girl caring for her terminally ill mother.

KDFoxx

Illustrator

Kenya Danino a.k.a KDFoxx is a professional NYC native multimedia illustrator and storyteller. KD has collaberated on projects with companies such as Soho Press, Zag Animation, Dreamworks Animation, and LeftField Media.

JUST B

K-Pop Group

JUST B is an immensely talented K-Pop group known for its unique blend of hip-hop, R&B, and electronic dance music. Their music is characterized by powerful vocals, intricate choreography, and dynamic performances that have captivated fans worldwide.

Hidetaka Tenjin

Official Macross Visual Artist

Hidetaka Tenjin works primarily as an illustrator, designer, and concept artist and has provided illustrations for model kits ranging from Hasegawa's MACROSS line to BANDAI SPIRITS' GUNDAM and STAR WARS lines.

KingChris

TikTok Creator

KingChris is an online content creator in the online anime and gaming fandom spaces. He rose to prominence as an online personality for his comedy sketches on TikTok, YouTube and Instagram where he has a combined following of over (27+) Million followers.

SETOSNOOPLONG

TikTok Creator

SetoSnoopLong is Tiktok Creator, known for his Endeavor & Masaru Bakugou Cosplays from My Hero Academia. Also known as the "CEO Of Anime Dads," Seto focuses on making comedy content, whether it be cut off screams or dressing up as your favorite waifus while also as Endeavor.

Jose Estrada

TikTok Creator

Jose Estrada is a TikTok creator from San Diego, California who loves skit comedy and theatre. He’s been a lifelong anime fan and hopes to pursue a career in acting and voice over.

Karina Acuna

TikTok Creator

Karina Acuna is a TikTok creator from San Diego, California who loves being a full time caffeine gremlin. She has been cosplaying and creating content since 2020 and currently attends film school and travels with her partner in crime, @brownbakugo as they create chaos and fun in their favorite corners of the internet.

Shota Nakama

Producer/Composer/Guitarist

Shota Nakama, born and raised in Okinawa, Japan, is a Boston-based music producer and the head of soundtrec, his music and live production company. He led the team to work on internationally acclaimed video games such as Final Fantasy XV and the hit anime series The Rising of the Shield Hero.

Yasuharu Takanashi

Composer / Arranger

Heavily influenced by rock music, he takes his work to another level by blending hard rock and orchestral sounds to create profound and elegant soundscapes.

YAIBA

J-Rock Band

YAIBA(刃-yaiba-), the band established by the composer for "NARUTO SHIPPUDEN" Yasuharu Takanashi, fuses Orchestral Rock music with Japanese traditional instruments.

SUBSTANTIAL

Musician

Prince George’s County, Maryland-born MC, producer, artist, and educator, Substantial, debuted in 2000 collaborating with the late Japanese producer, Nujabes, who later worked on the popular show Samurai Champloo.

Senanan

Designer

Living and working in Japan, Senanan moved to Tokyo by herself in 2012 to become a designer. She has also made appearances on popular Japanese TV shows such as Shiawase!! Bonbi Girl and Ariyoshi Hanseikai.

Kouki

Musician

Kouki is the vocalist of the Japanese visual kei rock band D=OUT, which was formed in 2006. Not limiting themselves to just their home country, the band has toured not only in Tokyo and other parts of Japan but in Europe and Asia as well.

Lexi Nieto

Voice Actor

Lexi Nieto is an actor & singer currently based in Dallas. She is the English voice of Tomo Aizawa in "Tomo-chan is a Girl!"and the creator of "Shonen Showtunes" a collection of live events and online media that encourages anime & video game voice actors to revisit their roots in theatre.

Ollie Barder

Creative Director / Editor-in-Chief / Writer / Interviewer

Ollie Barder is a creative director at both Sola Digital Arts and Rainmaker Productions, covering both anime and gaming productions. He is also the Editor-in-Chief of Mecha Damashii.

Ricco Fajardo

Voice Actor

Ricco is an actor whose performances have been seen in many ways: on stage, film, commercials, industrials, voice-over, animation, motion-capture- if it involves the body and voice, he’s done it!

Shinji Aramaki

Director

His first title as a director was OVA Metal Skin Panic MADOX-01 (1988), followed by Mega Zone 23 PART III (1989). こAramaki was the director and the mechanical designer, and this style also continued with later titles

Junko Iwao

Voice Actor

Junko was born on February 18th, in the Japanese prefecture of Oita. She began her singing career at age 16, debuting in a Japanese idol group. Her voice acting debut came in 1994 with the anime Montana Jones, where she played the part of Melissa Thorn.

Mario Castañeda

Voice Actor

40 years of experience as an actor, announcer, dialogue director, lecture speaker, dubbing teacher, and master of ceremonies.

Ryu Kawamura

Musician

Ryu began his career as a bassist while still attending high school. In 2004, he was both the first Japanese, and youngest player, to ever win the Grand Prize in the Jazz Division of the International Double Bass Festival held in Hawaii.

Colin Ryan

Actor

Actor Colin Ryan can be seen in new Amazon show Boundless, playing series regular Enrique. A wonderful voice artist, Colin plays the role of Yurick in The Last Story and is well known for voicing the role of Alphinaud in the Final Fantasy XIV gaming franchise which won a BAFTA in the Evolving Game category this 2023.

Bethan Walker

Voice Actor / Actress

Bethan is an English voiceover artist, actress and singer. With an extensive voice career in audiobooks, commercials, radio dramas and video gaming, credits include playing Alisaie in the video game 'Final Fantasy XIV', multiple Dr Who audiobooks for Big Finish Productions; recording over fifty radio plays for the BBC; and winning the Carlton Hobbs Award.

Kaho Shibuya

Content Creator, Anisong DJ, Singer, and Published Author

Born and raised in Tokyo, Japan, Kaho has been making waves on the cosplay and convention scene. She has hosted her own radio show, has released multiple music singles, and is an accomplished author as well.

AmaLee

Voice Actor / Vocalist / VTuber

AmaLee is a voice actor, vocalist, and vtuber, well known for her English anime covers on YouTube where she has amassed a following nearly 2 million subscribers and 900+ million views, as well as 1.3 million monthly listeners on Spotify.

Justin Cook

Voice Actor

Justin Cook began work in Anime dubbing more than 20 years ago as the ADR engineer on Dragon Ball Z.

Romulo A Bernal

Voice Actor

Romulo Bernal is a voice actor with almost a decade of experience voicing characters in both English and Neutral Spanish.

Juan Felipe Sierra

Voice Actor

Juan Felipe Sierra has acted in a variety of short films, commercials, and theatre, while also working on a number of Spanish dub live action and animation

Megan Shipman

Voice Actor

Megan Shipman works professionally as a Voice Actor and ADR Director for many different games, projects, and shows.

Natalie Van Sistine

Voice Actor

Natalie Van Sistine is a voice actress, audio engineer, and writer who currently lives near Dallas with her dog, Nico.

Shoji Kawamori

Designer / Animator / Director

Shoji Kawamori is a vision creator, who handles animation directing, planning, concept creation, scriptwriting, video and stage directing, as well as mechanical design.

Haruna Ikezawa

Voice Actor

Haruna Ikezawa is a Japanese actress, voice actress, book reviewer and author. Her main roles in anime include Gō Seiba in Bakusō Kyōdai Let's & Go!!, Hiroko Haruna in Hamtaro, Momoka Nishizawa in Sgt. Frog.

Yoshihiro Watanabe

Producer

Watanabe is a producer at animation studio Orange Ltd.

Waki Kiyotaka

CG Producer

Waki is TRIGUN STAMPEDE's lead production producer at studio Orange Ltd.

Shingo Kiyomiya

Director

CG Director at studio Orange Ltd.

Yuji Yanase

Director

Yuji Yanase is an Animation Director from Nagoya, Japan. Throughout his career in the industry he has worked as a storyboard artist, episode director, and animation director.

Kia Asamiya

Manga Artist

Kia Asamiya is a manga artist, animator, and illustrator who made his debut in 1986 with “Shin Seiki Vagrants” in Monthly Comptique. He went on to create the hit series “Silent Mobius” which has since been adapted into an anime series, movie, novels, and games.

Runa Katagiri

Voice Actor

Runa Katagiri is a stage and voice actress who played the lead role of Opera Cat Rune in the series “That’s my Space Opera”.

Masahiko Otsuka

President / Director

Initially working in the live-action film industry, Masahiko Otsuka joined the animation industry as assistant director for Studio Ghibli's Pom Poko in 1992.

Shumpei Gunyasu

Animator

Shumpei Gunyasu enters the industry as an in-between animator for SSSS.GRIDMAN and PROMARE and is later promoted to keyframe animator during the production of BNA

Takuya Saito

Animator

Takuya Saito enters the industry as an in-between animator for SSSS.GRIDMAN and PROMARE and is later promoted to keyframe animator during the production of BNA.

Kim Jongik

Professor

Kim Jongik is a professor at Gangdong University. He has served as a Korean animation judge for 10 years and now has a representative channel for photo and video archiving in the fields of Korean manhwa, animation, and characters.

Kim Hanjae

Professor / Manhwaga

As one of Korea's top Otaku professors, Kim Hanjae teaches students at Gangdong University, Korea as a professor in the Department of Manhwa, Animation and Contents.

Takaharu Ozaki

Director

Takaharu Ozaki is a director best known for “BASTARS!! -Heavy Metal, Dark Fantasy-”, “Goblin Slayer”, “Girls' Last Tour”, “PERSONA5 The Animation -THE DAY BREAKERS”.

Shinya Tsuruoka

Producer

Shinya Tsuruoka is a producer from Warner Bros. Japan and well-known for titles such as “BASTARS!! -Heavy Metal, Dark Fantasy-”, “Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!” and “Hi Score Girl”.

Choi In Sun

Manhwaga

Choi In Sun is known for her short story manhwa that features the unique style of capturing poetic thoughts.

Park Kyungran

Manhwaga

Park Kyungran is the artist behind a drama webtoon, "Imitation", which depicts the debut process of Korean idols with love and friendship.

Keiichiro Ohchi

Scenario Writer

Keiichiro Ohchi is a Japanese screenwriter known for his work on a wide variety of anime titles. Most recently, this includes writing the script for the anime version of "The Quintessential Quintuplets".

Kazuya Shiotsuki

Character Designer / Key Animator

Kazuya Shiotsuki is a character designer & animator for the world-renowned animation studio, Shaft. Having been involved in a variety of the studio's most well-known works, recently he worked as the Chief Animation Director for the anime version of "The Quintessential Quintuplets".

Junichiro Tanaka

Producer

Junichiro Tanaka is a prominent producer at TBS Sparkle, widely recognized as Japan's largest TV production company. Recently, he worked as producer for the anime version of "The Quintessential Quintuplets".

Terada Takanobu

Producer / Director

Terada Takanobu is a freelance producer and game director from Kyoto, Japan.

Naohiro Kasuya

Headmaster (Iemoto)

Born in 1980, Naohiro Kasuya is the son of the late Akihiro Kasuya, from whom he learned Ikebana from an early age. On January 20th 2019, he inherited leadership of Ichiyo Ikebana School to become the 4th generation headmaster.

Dokkotak

Manhwa Company

Dokkotak Company was founded in 2016 to honor the late Lee Sangmoo, a legendary manhwaga in Korean manhwa history, and continues to enhance the permanent legacy of his works.

Super Art Fight

Artists

Super Art Fight is also a Otakon Favorite! We asked you about your favorite Otakon activities, and this anonymous member said: "A perennial favorite, this reoccurring guest of Otakon bills itself as "The Greatest Live Art Competition in the Known Universe" and that's not hyperbole. It combines live art with bombastic personalities akin to pro wrestling, but the outcomes are never fixed!"

Activities

Guests

Guests