With the Independence Day holiday upon us, many animation fans in Los Angeles are going to celebrate by turning just a little bit Japanese.
The city is host to a pair of anime-themed events this weekend, starting with Anime Expo, running July 1-4 at the Los Angeles Convention Center; and the anime, manga and music event AM2 set for July 1-3 at the Anaheim Convention Center.
The guests of honor at the 20th annual Anime Expo include Danny Choo, Fred Gallagher, Hatsune Miku, Hirano Katsuyuki, Hiroyuki Birukawa, Itoh Hiroyuki, Izumi Matsumoto, Kalafina, Kenta Sugano, Kentaro Hashimoto, Koichi Chigira, Makoto Kobayashi, Maon Kurosaki, Miyuki Sawashiro, Masayoshi Tanaka, Nirgilis, Onyx Kobayashi, Seiji Mizushima, Sohei Niikawa, Takaaki Suzuki, Taliesin Jaffe, Tetsuro Araki, Toshihiro Fukuoka, Toshio Furukawa, Toshiyuki Morikawa, Vic Mignona and Wataru Sasaki.
Of course, the event will be full of fans engaged in cosplay, contest, panels, screenings and plenty of goodies to shop for on the exhibit floor. For more info, visit http://www.anime-expo.org.
Meanwhile, down in Orange County, the first ever AM2 includes an exhibit hall, AMV’s, arcade, summer festival, World Cosplay Summit, Behind the Voice Actors Studio, rum party pirates, a masquerade, cosplay chess, dances, fashion shows, table top, console gaming, the AniMaid Cafe, AniMaid Cafe Host Club, workshops, panels and concerts.
Guests of honor include Masao Maruyama, Sunao Katabuchi, Akihiko Yamashita, Miho Shimogasa, Scandal, Sadie, Kanon Wakeshima, kanon x kanon, heidi., Gashicon, IBI and MINT.
Notable for fans is that AM2 offers free admission, though a passport purchase is required to attend some events. For more information, visit http://am2con.org.
