Anime Boston 2013 Welcomes Back Kari Wahlgren

Actress Kari Wahlgren returns for an appearance at Anime Boston 2013!

Anime audiences were first introduced to Kari Wahlgren as the Vespa-riding, guitar-bashing Haruko in FLCL. Since then, she has played a number of anime roles, including Celty in Durarara, Kagami in Lucky Star, Saya in Blood+, Robin in Witch Hunter Robin, Fuu in Samurai Champloo, Tsuruya in The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Cher in Wolf’s Rain, Lavie in Last Exile, Anemone in Eureka 7, Tayuya in Naruto and Blue Rose in the upcoming Tiger and Bunny.

Wahlgren also provided the voice of Ariel in the movie Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles, Scarlett in the anime feature Steamboy and the Princess in the movie Naruto: Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow. She’s also voiced Emma Frost in Wolverine and the X-Men and currently plays Tigress on Nickelodeon’s Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness.

Wahlgren has also done voicework for over a hundred video games, including the Jedi Female Knight in Star Wars: The Old Republic, Gwen Stacy in The Amazing Spider-Man, Elika in Prince of Persia, Ashe in Final Fantasy XII, Shelke in Final Fantasy: Dirge of Cerebus, Vicki Vale in Batman: Arkham Asylum and Barbara Johnson in Bioshock II.

Wahlgren occasionally steps out from behind the microphone to do on-camera work. She had a recurring role as Helen in the Wizarding Office on Disney’s Wizards of Waverly Place and played Tink in the indie film Neverland. She has also appeared in commercials for Swiffer as the Mud Girl, T.J. Maxx, Lexus and Rolling Rock.

Anime Boston is a three-day convention held annually in Boston, Massachusetts, USA under the supervision of the New England Anime Society. Its focus is to celebrate and promote Japanese animation, comics, and pop-culture. This year’s convention will be held on May 24-26th at the Hynes Convention Center. For more details and tickets please visit the website: www.animeboston.com

CA – Voices For the Shores

Tom Kenny hosts an all-star reading of “A Christmas Carol” featuring voice over legends including: Jeff Bennett, Corey Burton, Jim Cummings, Grey DeLisle-Griffin, Jess Harnell, Rob Paulsen, Tara Strong, Kari Wahlgren, Billy West…..and MORE special guests! They are raising moeny to donate to the American Red Cross for Hurricane Sandy relief. For additional donations the entire cast will sign autographs plus there will be a silent auction. Don’t miss it!

When: Sunday 12/09/12 3:00 PM

Click here for Tickets $40

18 & over

Two items minimum per person
Seating First Come First Serve
All Shows Have Adult Content
Door Time: 02:15 PM

Jon Lovitz Comedy Club
1000 Universal Studios Blvd #222, Universal City, CA 91608

Final Fantasy Artist Yoshitaka Amano to be a Spotlight Guest at NYCC 2012

Press Release:

VISIONARY ILLUSTRATOR YOSHITAKA AMANO TO BE  SPOTLIGHT GUEST AT NEW YORK COMIC CON

Amano To Attend In Cooperation With Dark Horse Comics

Norwalk, CT, September 7, 2012: New York Comic Con (NYCC) is today proud to announce Yoshitaka Amano, the illustrator most known for sculpting the worlds of Final Fantasy and Vampire Hunter D, will travel from Tokyo to attend this year’s NYCC as a Spotlight Guest. New York Comic Con, which will take place October 11 – 14, 2012 at NYC’s Javits Center, is one of New York’s largest annual events, last year attracting over 100,000 attendees. Amano joins a broad spectrum of already-announced guests including Brian K. Vaughan, Mike Mignola, Christopher Lloyd, Joshua Gates and Anne Rice. Amano’s appearance at New York Comic Con is in partnership with Dark Horse Comics, who will release The Sky: The Art of Final Fantasy, a giant-sized collection of Amano’s art, on October 17.

Yoshitaka Amano, born in 1952 in Shizuoka, Japan, got his start as an illustrator working as a character designer at Tatsunoko Productions in the 1960s. At Tatsunoko, he lent his pen and spirit to create the looks of such iconic anime series as Gatchaman and Time Bokan. In the 1980s, Amano began his work on Final Fantasy, creating the visuals of the ever-evolving series’s characters and worlds, and Vampire Hunter D, defining the appearance of the world-famous vampire slayer. Amano’s work began to attract serious international acclaim in the next decade, and the 1990s saw the start of global exhibitions of Amano’s creations in cities including New York, Los Angeles, France, Germany and Hong Kong. The year 2000 saw Amano — now known the world over — partnering with Neil Gaiman for the Eisner-Award Winning Sandman: The Dream Hunters. At present, Amano is at work on a computer-generated film, Deva Zan.

Amano will participate at New York Comic Con speaking about his career — specifically his groundbreaking work on Final Fantasy – and signing autographs for attendees. Full details about his panel and signings will be made available in the near future.

“I am very honored to welcome Yoshitaka Amano to New York Comic Con,” notes Lance Fensterman, Group Vice President for ReedPOP and Show Manager for NYCC. “Amano is a legend and inspiration for fans and professionals on both sides of the Pacific; his illustrations have shaped careers and sculpted dreams. We’re uniquely excited, as well, as while Amano was born and lives in Japan, he set up a studio in SoHo in 1996, so NYCC is a little bit of a homecoming. We look forward tremendously to his return to New York City!”

Tickets for New York Comic Con 2012 are currently available for purchase at www.NewYorkComicCon.com. Companies interested in exhibiting at New York Comic Con should contact Larry Settembrini atLarry@ReedPOP.com. Other information about the show, as well as news about ReedPOP, which organizes a range of pop culture events, is available at facebook.com/NewYorkComicCon and twitter.com/NY_Comic_Con . Previously announced guests at New York Comic Con include: Anne Rice, Sean Astin, Joshua Gates, Geoff Johns, Jim Lee, Joe Quesada, Axel Alonso and Brian K. Vaughan, among others. Officials note that many more guests will be announced over the coming weeks and fans should keep their eyes on NYCC’s website for additional announcements.

ABOUT SKY: THE ART OF FINAL FANTASY: Yoshitaka Amano is one of the world’s foremost fantasy artists and the limited-edition The Sky: The Art of Final Fantasy boxed set is a giant-sized, signed collection of five books plus bonus items that showcase Amano’s ethereal illustrations for the first ten Final Fantasy  games! The 12′” high, 11″ wide and 3 1/2″ deep box that encloses The Sky has a hinged lid featuring artwork from Amano inside and out. Its contents include: * Three 11 3/4″ x 10 1/2″ hardcover books, printed on high-quality stock. Volume 1 (144 pages) contains Amano’s work for Final Fantasy I-III. Volume 2 (276 pages) contains his contributions for Final Fantasy IV-VI, and volume 3 (156 pages) features his art for Final Fantasy VII-X. * All About Yoshitaka Amano, an 8 1/4″ x 8 1/4″ 128-page softcover full of photographs and images, the most extensive look ever in English at the artist, including an interview with Amano, a timeline of his career, a glimpse into his studio in SoHo, his favorite places in New York, a visual index of each illustration that appears in the three The Sky hardcover art books, and more! * A 2 1/4″ x 4 3/4″ Final Fantasy  animation flip book designed by Amano, containing two different “movies.” * A 10 1/4″ x 11″ acetate print with silver ink. * Two 5 3/4″ x 8 1/4″ postcards featuring the interior and exterior artwork used on the box. * And finally, a 5 3/4″ x 8 1/4″ card signed by Yoshitaka Amano! Sky releases on October 17, 2012 through Dark Horse for a price of $139.99.

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) Prime & East, Star Wars Celebration, Fantasy Football Fest and the 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.

Anime Boston 2011 Announces First Round of Guests

Anime Boston, the largest anime convention in New England, announced its first round of guests: Brothers Greg and Christopher Ayres, voice actress Brina Palencia as well as industry guest Jonathan Klein return to the Hynes Convention Center in Boston, Mass. on April 22-24th.

Brina Palencia is an actress working in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. She has voiced numerous characters for anime and video games. Some of her anime highlights include: Natsuki in Summer Wars, Chibitalia in Hetalia, Ciel Pahntomhive in Black Butler, Holo in Spice and Wolf, Yumi Azusa in Soul Eater, Sora in Oh Edo Rocket, Rei Ayanami in Evangelion 1.0, Juliet in Romeo x Juliet, Miharu in Nabari No Ou,Tony Tony Chopper in One Piece, Tamama in Sgt. Frog, Ennis in Baccano, Mikoto in School Rumble, Georgie in Shin Chan, Eve in Black Cat, Moro and Zashikiwarashi in xxxHolic. In the land of gaming she can be heard as Mad Moxxi in Borderlands, Moogle/Dungeon Hero X in Final Fantasy Fables, the main player in Mushroom Men and The Maw, and various characters in Guitar Hero III and IV, Stunt Driver 2, Ghostbusters: The Video Game, Donkey Kong Country Returns, and Street Fighter 4.

She has also served as ADR Director for Moon Phase (eps 21-26), School Rumble, Black Blood Brothers, and xxxHOLiC (the movie and eps 1-8), Assistant ADR Director for Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, D Gray Man and Dragon Ball Kai, and Music Director for Sasami: Magical Girls Club, Negima!?, My Bride is a Mermaid, and Dragon Ball Kai.

On camera, you can see her as the co-host for GameStop TV alongside fellow voice actor, Chris Burnett.

Christopher Ayres has been working professionally in theatre, television and film since the age of 6. Currently a voice actor for ADV Films, FUNimation Entertainment and Seraphim Digital Studios. Ayres is also an ADR Director for Amusement Park Media. His first project at studio was the hit anime musical comedy The Nerima Daikon Brothers. His other voice acting roles are Kei Kourono in Gantz, Suitengu in Speed Grapher, Von Kampher in Trinity Blood, Hayashimizu in Full Metal Panic? Fummofu, Johnny in One Piece, Sid in Devil May Cry, Yusuf Ali Mesa in Yugo the Negotiator and Koji in Godanner.

Greg Ayres can be heard rockin’ his way through conventions and animated series alike. He can be heard as the loud-mouthed Hideki in Nerima Daikon Brothers, Koyuki, singing with the band in Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad, or just as himself on the DJ circuit. He also voiced Kaoru Hitachiin in Ouran High School Host club, and Abe in Big Windup. Other recent works include JR. in Xenosaga , Roan in Ragnorok The Animation, Yamazaki in Welcome to the NHK, Nowy, in Glass Fleet, and Yukinojoh Tohyama in The Wallflower.

The once fanboy turned VA started working in anime a little over six years ago. In his first two years in the business, he landed the roles of Son Goku in Saiyuki and Kaworu Nagisa in the Director’s Cut of Neon Genesis Evangelion. Other roles include Chrono in Chrono Crusade, Negi Springfield in Negima, Heihachi in Samurai 7, Jr. in Xenosaga: The Animation, Satoshi Hiwatari in DNAngel, Pope Alessandro XVIII in Trinity Blood, Tsuyoshi in Kodocha, Leo in Ghost Stories, Tsujido in Speed Grapher, and Gau Ban in Shadow Skill.

Jonathan Klein is the Vice-President of New Generation Pictures, Inc., based in Beverly Hills. His company produces the English language versions of some of the most popular anime and videogames in the United States and Japan. New Generation Pictures has worked on hundreds of different projects, including such popular anime as; Hellsing, Hellsing Ultimate, Gun x Sword, Kamichu, R.O.D the TV, Ikki Tousen, NieA_7, 3×3 Eyes and many other titles. Jonathan has also directed of the English language versions of such anime titles as Ergo-Proxy, Haibane Renmei, Texhnolyze, Melody of Oblivion and Paranoia Agent.

Jonathan has also directed many video games including; Final Fantasy: The Crystal Bearers, Final Fantasy IV, Lufia: Curse of the Sinistrals, Rune Factory 3, Star Ocean: The Last Hope, Infinite Undiscovery, The Last Remnant, Final Fantasy; Chocobo’s Dungeon, Time Crisis 4, Dawn of Mana, Valkyrie Profile 2, and Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume and was also the English language producer on Street Fighter IV & Super Street Fighter IV as well as the highly anticipated Marvel vs. Capcom 3.

Beyond working as producer and director, Jonathan’s responsibilities also include scriptwriting, script adaptation and even working behind the microphone as a voice actor. Jonathan has voice acted in such anime & videogames as Final Fantasy IV, Star Ocean IV, Rune Factory 3, Ergo Proxy, Rumiko Takahashi Anthology, Kamichu, Girls Bravo, Gun x Sword, Burst Angel, Galaxy Railways and Beck.

About Anime Boston:
Anime Boston is an annual three-day Japanese animation convention held in Boston, Massachusetts. Anime Boston 2011 will be held Friday, April 22nd through Sunday, April 24th at the Hynes Convention Center and Sheraton Boston Hotel.

Anime Boston 2011 will once again be presenting popular events which include a masquerade, an anime music video contest, video programming rooms, an artists’ alley and art show, karaoke, game shows, video games, manga library, dances and balls, and much more…