FanimeCon 2016 Guests of Honor

FanimeCon 2016 brings together “by the fans, for the fans” a plethora of talent to the San Jose McEnery Convention
from May 27th, thru the 30th.

Announced are the following guests of honor:

Da-iCE 2nd album「EVERY SEASON」

Da-iCE a Japanese vocal and dance group, are the musical guests of honor this year. The members of Da-iCE are leader/dancer Taiki, vocalists Yūdai and Sōta, and dancers Tōru and Hayate. Each member represents one side of a six-sided dice, their fans representing the sixth side. The intentional “a-i” in the band’s name means “love” in Japanese.

Gilles Poitras “Anime and Manga in Japan From 1960 to Today” at the San Francisco Public Library

Gilles Poitras is an expert on all things Anime & Manga. A librarian and author by trade, he has presented all day workshops for librarians, introduced anime films at the Smithsonian, and even taught an eight week course on the subject for Pixar staff.

Masaya Matsukaze Shenmue III Interview

Masaya Matsukaze is an actor and voice actor. His voice acting credits include Kyoya Ootori (Ouran High School Host Club), Zoisite (Sailor Moon Crystal), Gaelio Bauduin (Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans), Shin Hyuuga Shaingu (Code Geass: Akito the Exiled), Teru Mikami (DEATH NOTE), and Illumi Zoldyck (HUNTER x HUNTER). Game enthusiasts will recognize him as Ryo Hazuki in the Shenmue series, a role he will be reprising thanks to the success of the recent Kickstarter campaign.

Cristina Vee’s Sailor Mars Message

Cristina Vee is a voice actress/singer from Los Angeles, CA. Since her debut she has voiced over 100 characters in both animation and video games. Her voice credits include Mio Akiyama ( K-ON!), Alisa Bosconovitch (Tekken Blood Vengeance), Homura Akemi (Puella Magi Madoka Magica), Morgiana (Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic), Killua Zoldyck (Hunter x Hunter), Fujiko Mine (Lupin III: Jigen’s Gravestone), Kotori Minami (Love Live!), and Sailor Mars (Sailor Moon Crystal!).

Gintama Movie Interview with Daisuke Sakaguchi

Daisuke Sakaguchi is a voice actor perhaps best known for his portrayal of Shinpachi Shimura in the Gintama series. His other voice acting credits include Jacuzzi Splot (Baccano!), Xeno (World Trigger), Uso Ewin (Mobile Suit Victory Gundam), Satoshi Fukube (Hyouka), and Leonardo Watch (Blood Blockade Battlefront). He is an animal lover and even holds a Level 3 Dinosaur Exam Certification from Animal Planet Japan.
Yoshihiro_Watanabe
Yoshihiro Watanabe is an animator, character designer, and mechanical designer. His character design credits include Haganai, Heaven’s Lost Property, and Soul Link. Mr. Watanabe has also provided mechanical designs for series such as Please Teacher!, DearS, Minami-ke, Silent Mobius, and many more.

Lisle Wilkerson Shenmue III Interview

Lisle Wilkerson grew up in Tokyo, Japan and moved to the US in 2008. Fluent in Japanese, she performs bilingual voice work, and has hosted radio/television shows. Lisle has voiced some of the most legendary female fighting characters, such as Nina Williams and Christie Monteiro (Tekken), Sarah Bryant (Virtua Fighter). She has voiced Badz Maru (Hello Kitty) and voices for Shenmue II and the upcoming Shenmue III.


Sky Williams is a comedic entertainer and gamer on Twitch and YouTube, most known for his videos and commentary on League of Legends. He also streams, plays, and blogs about other games like the Super Smash Bros. series, games that he loves, and other things going on around him.

Source: FanimeCon Guests of Honor

Written by Editor

JM has been the publishing editor of J-pop News since 2015. He has covered the pop culture entertainment scene since the 1980's. He is an avid fan of all things J-pop.