AnimeNEXT Announces Voice Guests
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - December 30, 2004 - AnimeNEXT, the largest independently organized anime convention in the New York metropolitan area, has announced the first round of guests attending the convention to be held at the Meadowlands Expo Center in Secaucus, New Jersey on June 17-19, 2005. Vic Mignogna, Travis Willingham, Marc Diriason, Lauren Goodnight, Wayne Grayson, and Mike Sinterniklaas have accepted invitations to attend the event.
Vic Mignogna currently provides the voice of Edward Elric, the lead character of Cartoon Channel's hit series on Adult Swim, Full Metal Alchemist. Mignogna has appeared in many anime titles, including Yu Yu Hakusho, Full Metal Panic, and DNAngel. This will be Mignogna's first appearance in NY.
Travis Willingham plays the part of Roy Mustang, the Fire Alchemist, along with Mignona on Full Metal Alchemist. Willingham has also appeared in popular series such as Case Closed, Kiddy Grade, and Yu Yu Hakusho. This will be Willingham's first appearance at a US Anime Convention.
Marc Diraison is best known for providing the voice of Roronoa Zolo in Shonen Jump's One Piece. He also voices Guts, the lead character in the popular anime series, Berserk.
Lauren Goodnight is making her second appearance at AnimeNEXT. She has played roles in prominent anime titles such as Noir, Pretear, and SuperGALS.
Wayne Grayson is best known for playing Joey Wheeler in Yu-Gi-Oh! and Michelangelo in the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series.
Mike Sinterniklaas is the founder of the NYAV dubbing studio and has directed the voice-over for titles such as Berserk, Samurai Deeper Kyo, and Magic User's Club. In addition to being an accomplished director, Sinterniklaas is a talented actor in his own right. He has starred as Dean Venture in Cartoon Network's Venture Brothers, and as Leonardo in the Fox Box's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
In assembling a guest list for the convention, AnimeNEXT takes into consideration many factors. Very high on the list is feedback from convention-goers. "We always have our ears to the ground in terms of what is popular and in demand with our attendees", says Gregg Turek, Vice-chair of AnimeNEXT 2005. "As anime fans ourselves, we have certain preferences but try to keep open minds when evaluating potential guests. We've had a lot of requests for this actor, or that creator. We hope to make a lot of otaku happy with what we have planned in 2005."
Information regarding registration for AnimeNEXT can be found on the official AnimeNEXT website at http://www.animenext.org.
Universal Animation is a non-profit organization devoted to promoting anime and manga in the United States. Founded in NYC in 2002, the company organizes the AnimeNEXT anime convention to aid in its goals.
AnimeNEXT 2005
Dates: June 17-19, 2005
Venue: Meadowlands Expo Center
Hotel: Holiday Inn Meadowlands
http://www.animenext.org
Correction from Anime-Cons.com staff: Travis Willingham's first US convention appearance was Ani-Magic 2004. Thank you to AnimeOnDVD forum members for the information.