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Anime Expo to Host Castlevania: Symphony of the Night Designer Koji Igarashi

Los Angeles anime convention Anime Expo announced on Tuesday that it will host video game designer Koji Igarashi at this year's event. He will host a panel discussing his current and past works on July 3, and will also be available for three autograph sessions throughout the event.

Igarashi is perhaps best known for directing, designing, and writing Konami's Castlevania: Symphony of the Night platformer game. He has continued to work as a producer and writer for many subsequent games in the Castlevania series. He also wrote the scenario for the original Tokimeki Memorial game, as well as Tokimeki Memorial: Forever With You. He co-founded the game company ArtPlay in 2014 after leaving Konami, and serves as a producer. His Kickstarter campaign to fund his planned Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night game, a spiritual successor to Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, successfully raised US$5.5 million last year.

Anime Expo will celebrate its 25th anniversary at its convention this year from July 1-4. The convention will also host Vampire Hunter D and Final Fantasy artist Yoshitaka Amano; Your Lie in April manga creator Naoshi Arakawa; singer Michi; voice actress Chika Anzai; Monster Musume creator OKAYADO; Anju Inami, Rikako Aida, Nanaka Suwa, Arisa Komiya, Kanako Takatsuki, and Ai Furihata from the Love Live! Sunshine!! idol group Aqours; and One-Punch Man anime director Shingo Natsume, voice actor Makoto Furukawa (Saitama) and opening theme song performers JAM Project. Other musical guests include Eir Aoi, Luna Haruna, Minami, Sphere, T.M. Revolution, Yoko Ishida, DJ Kazu, FLOW, and OLDCODEX. The game will additionally host minori producer nbkz (Nobukazu Sakai) and CLOCKUP illustrator Shigeo Hamashima.