Linus Lam's Coverage of AnimeCentral99 Guests

Guests of Honor for Anime Central this year ranged from Japanese to American, artist to voice actor/actress, industry level to fan status: Yuji Moriyama (character designer and director of various popular shows such as Maison Ikkoku, Project A-ko, and All-Purpose Cultural Cat Girl NukuNuku), Kenichi Sonoda (character designer of Bubblegum Crisis, Gunsmith Cats, and GallForce), Tsukasa Kotobuki (character designer of Saber Marionette and Battle Arena Toshinden), Daiken Yokoo (chief assistant to Kotobuki), Hirotaka Okuma, Scott Frazier (anime industry consultant and veteran of Ghost in the Shell, Patlabor, and EX Online fame), Jason Lee (english voice actor in Blue Seed, Burn up W!, and Neon Genesis Evangelion), Amanda Winn Lee (english voice actress in Neon Genesis Evangelion, Battle Angel Alita, and Gunsmith Cats), Doug Smith (english voice actor in GoldenBoy and Slayers), Crispin Freeman (english voice actor and script adaptation for Revolutionary Girl Utena, Irresponsible captain Tylor, and Pokemon), Rachael Lillis (english voice actress in Slayers Next, Revolutionary Girl Utena, and Pokemon), Lisa Ortiz (english voice actress in record of lodoss wars, Slayers, and Battle Arena Toshinden), Leah Applebaum (english voice actress in Revolutionary Girl Utena and Pokemon), Lorraine Reyes (promotional work for A.D.Vision and Bungie Software titles), Robert Dejesus (fan artist/inker for Adam Warren's American adaptation of Bubblegum Crisis and Dirty Pair), Toshi Yoshida (Viz Video Producer), and Shawn the Touched (fan video producer from White Radish Studios).

AnimeCentral99
Guests


Glimpse of fans waiting for the next guest autograph session after Sonoda's Guest Interview.	Interpreter Dan Kanemitsu (left) and Kenichi Sonoda (right) during Sonoda's busy Guest Interview

Shown above are the guests exhibiting their skillful practice before the gleeful eyes of attendees yearning for that perfect picture of their favorite anime characters that could only be drawn by the creators themselves.


The always popular Guest Reception was held in the Main Programming Hall and attracted a large crowd of attendees eager to meet and speak or get a quick fanzine interview with their favorite voice actors/actresses and artists.	On the menu, plenty of hotel-provided delicacies to match the evening conversational mood.	Surrounded by fans are Scott Frazier (bottom left) and Kenichi Sonoda (bottom right).

Surrounded by friendly attendee conversation are Charles McCarter (bottom left) of EX Online, Scott Frazier (bottom right), Amanda Winn Lee (upper right), and Jason Lee (top right).	Kenichi Sonoda shows off his latest sketches to an attendee.	Crispin Freeman speaking with attendees.

Lisa Ortiz smiles for the camera.	Yuji Moriyama (left) and Toshi Yoshida (right) during a fan interview.	Scott Frazier (left), Yuji Moriyama (center), and Toshi Yoshida (right) show off their latest software gizmos on their PalmIIIs and PalmV.


Kenichi Sonoda during his autograph/sketch session.	Tsukasa Kotobuki during his autograph/sketch session.	Self-proclaimed bumbling terrorist Daiken Yokoo during his autograph/sketch session.