Fanime celebrates its 25th Anniversary with two more great guests.

Nobutoshi Canna is a veteran Japanese voice actor affiliated with Aoni Production. He started his career as a child actor when he was just three years old. After joining fellow voice actor and sempai Toshio Furukawa’s theater troupe, he was introduced to voice acting where he made his debut in 1991.

Mr. Canna’s notable roles include Lancer in the Fate/Stay series, Kabuto Yakushi in Naruto, Guts in Berserk, Tasuki in Fushigi Yugi, Basara Nekki in Macross 7, and Ban Mido in GetBackers. His amazing voice can also be heard in a number of video games including as Knuckles the Echidna in the Sonic the Hedgehog series, Cao Pi in Dynasty Warriors, Takaya Sakaki in Persona 3, and Randy in the Angelique series.

Aya Hirano is a Japanese voice actress, screen actress, singer and television personality affiliated with Grick. She rose to fame in 2006 with her portrayal of the titular character in The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya where she also performed many of the series’ memorable songs. Her work on this fan favorite earned her recognition at the 1st Annual Seiyuu Awards where she won Best Rookie Female, and also at the follow year’s awards where she won Best Lead Actress. In addition, she won the Best Singing Award in 2008 for the Lucky Star opening theme, “Motteke! Sailor Fuku,” along with the other main cast members.

Ms. Hirano’s other credits include Lucy Heartfilia (Fairy Tail), Migi (Parasyte -the maxim-), Dende (Dragon Ball Z Kai and Super), Misa Amane (DEATH NOTE), Konata Izumi (Lucky Star), Nobume Imai (Gintama), Reira Serizawa (NANA), and many more. She has a successful music career and often performs the theme song of series she appears in. Ms. Hirano actively performs in musicals and has also appeared on many Japanese TV shows and a number of television series.

Tetsuya Mizuguchi talks about his game creation journey.

Tetsuya Mizuguchi returns to GDC to discuss the making of his magnum opus Tetris Effect. Joining him will be Mark MacDonald (VP BizDev and Production, Enhance, Inc.) & Takashi Ishihara (Artist, Art Director, Director, Enhance, Inc.). Happening on Wednesday, March 20 @ 3:30pm in Room 303, South Hall.

Yukio Futatsugi and Kentaro Yoshida will speak about the concepts for the art and design of the ‘Panzer Dragoon’ series on the Sega Saturn, as well as the sequels. They will disclose what they had intended with the idea of making an unusual shooting game that combines dragons and homing lasers, the thought process that went into planning the world’s unique atmosphere, and how they decided on the art style for the dragons. They will also talk about the concepts for the art and game design for Zwei, as well as what they had hoped to achieve with with Saga and what had to be done to make it a reality. The presentation was made with the help of Tomohiro Kondo and Masanobu Kusunoki, who were pivotal members of the development team at Team Andromeda. The talk is scheduled for Wednesday, March 20 @ 2:00pm in Room 303, South Hall

Capcom’s Hideaki Itsuno, director of classic games including ‘Power Stone 2’, ‘Dragon’s Dogma’, ‘Rival Schools’ and multiple titles in the ‘Devil May Cry’ series, partners with his colleagues Michiteru Okabe (senior producer) and Matt Walker (producer) to discuss the team’s approach to making standout, impressive action games through the lens of ‘Devil May Cry 5’. In this lecture, Itsuno will discuss how he works backward from a player experience and vision-based goal to build out compelling gameplay for the newest title in the ‘Devil May Cry’ franchise, and the visceral specifics that lead to a winning formula. Thursday, March 21 @ 5:30pm in Room 303, South Hall

Legendary Japanese rock band X-Japan is scheduled to play COACHELLA VALLEY MUSIC AND ARTS FESTIVAL in April. Band guitarist Sugizo is hoping he will receive his travel visa in time to make it to the show. On Twitter he told fans, “Sorry for making you worry.” He is rehearsing for the show while still in Japan.

Source: YOSHIKI、米フェスのサポートメンバー決定を報告　SUGIZOビザ難航受け「最善を尽くします」 | ORICON NEWS