FanCons.ca Press Releases


May 17, 2005

News for AnimeNEXT 2005:

Akitaro Daichi and Reiko Yasuhara to attend AnimeNEXT 2005

AnimeNEXT, the NY/NJ Metro area anime convention, is proud to announce that Akitaro Daichi and Reiko Yasuhara have accepted invitations to appear at the event on June 17-19.

Mr. Daichi earned his first success when he directed Fairy Princess Ren, followed by the popular Nurse Angel Ririka. Mr. Daichi made his way into the main-stream anime community with his direction of the hugely popular Kodomo no Omocha, also known as Kodocha or Child's Toy. This was followed by his direction of the Sugoiyo Masaru-san (Sexy Commando Masaru-san) TV series.

Mr. Daichi then tried his hand at both writing and directing with Jubei-Chan, followed by Carried by the Wind: Tsukikage Ran. Mr. Daichi's more recent projects to be released in the US include the critically acclaimed TV series Now and Then, Here and There, a story he both created and directed. Mr. Daichi's latest projects which he directed are Fruits Basket and Jubei-Chan 2.

Singer and Voice Actress Reiko Yasuhara is best known in Japan as one of the three members of the all female j-pop group Shoujo Tai. Ms. Yasuhara has also performed the theme song to the anime Now and Then, Here and There as a solo artist. As a voice actress Ms. Yasuhara played Abelia in Now and Then, Here and There, Tsukikage Ran in Carried by the Wind: Tsukikage Ran, Kyoko Honda and Saki Hanajima in Fruits Basket and Tsumura Mikage in Jubei-Chan 2.

Mr. Daichi and Ms. Yasuhara will be taking part in panels at AnimeNEXT 2005. AnimeNEXT will also be featuring anime showings of Mr. Daichi and Ms Yasuhara's work.

AnimeNEXT is a fan run anime convention from June 17 to 19, 2005 in Secaucus, New Jersey, just minutes from midtown Manhattan. The convention is at the Meadowlands Exposition center and the Holiday Inn Meadowlands. For more information about AnimeNEXT or to pre-register for the convention, please visit www.animenext.org.

AnimeNEXT 2005
Dates: June 17-19, 2005
Venue: Meadowlands Expo Center
Hotel: Holiday Inn Meadowlands
http://www.animenext.org

###