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Otakon 2003: Final Guest Announcement

posted on by George Phillips
Toshihiro Kawamoto (Character Designer, Cowboy Bebop), Satoshi Nishimura (Director, Trigun) join T.M. Revolution and numerous other Japanese and American guests at this year's Otakon in Baltimore, MD.

Excerpted from the Press Release:
The staff of Otakon 2003 are happy to announce the attendance of two new
Japanese Guests of Honor at our upcoming convention. Character designer
Toshihiro Kawamoto and director Satoshi Nishimura, two of the hottest
creative talents active in the anime industry, will join a guest list of 6
other Japanese and 17 North American Guests for Otakon 2003, which will be
held August 8-9-10 at the Baltimore Convention Center in Baltimore,
Maryland.

Toshihiro Kawamoto – Character Designer

There's just something special about a great character design. Toshihiro
Kawamoto makes it his job to turn out something special with each project he
takes on. A former salaryman and avid Gundam lover, Kawamoto got his start
in the industry working for a studio that handled animation for Urusei
Yatsura. Growing up as an anime fan, he always knew what he wanted to do
for career and jumped at the chance to get more experience.

In 1992, he was given a chance to work on his beloved Gundam. Kawamoto did
character designs and animation direction for the Gundam 0083 OAV series.
He followed 0083 with Super Dimension Century Orguss 02 and Sonic Boom
Squadron, bringing his excellent character designs to both series. In 1995,
Kawamoto provided designs for the comedy series, Golden Boy, in addition to
being the chief animator for the show.

In 1998, Kawamoto-san pulled out all the stops and designed an amazing cast
of characters for the production of Cowboy Bebop. Cowboy Bebop became
wildly popular in Japan, even though the series aired on midnight on
satellite television. After Bebop finished its run, Kawamoto-san acted as
key animation supervisor for the Escaflowne movie and did designs for the
Cowboy Bebop movie, Knockin' on Heaven's Door. His current work can be
found in Wolf's Rain, which is still airing in Japan.


Satoshi Nishimura – Director

Sometimes fate smiles upon you and gives you one big break. Satoshi
Nishimura took his big break and ran with it. Born June 15, 1964 in the
Osaka area, Nishimura naturally gravitated towards the creative aspects of
life. Upon graduation from Tokyo Designer College, he joined the
small-scale animation group, Studio Live.

His first foray into the world of animation was as a storyboardist for Majin
Eiyuuden Wataru 2 (Spirit Hero Wataru 2). After that, Nishimura-san worked
hard gaining experience on different projects, such as Shinseiki GPX Cyber
Formula (Future GPX Cyber Formula), Kagaku Kuusou Sekai Gulliver Boy
(Science Fiction World Gulliver Boy) and Midori no Makibaoh (Green
Makibaoh).

In 1998, Nishimura-san was approached by Madhouse and asked to direct the
animated adaptation of the manga series Trigun. Nishimura and Madhouse
brought their own unique touch to Nightow's original manga, and Trigun anime
skyrocketed in popularity. In 2000, became director of the boxing anime,
Hajime no Ippo (First Step). Ippo ran until 2002 for 75 total episodes.
Nishimura-san now looks forward to new challenges in directing in 2003 and
beyond.


Previously announced guests for Otakon 2003 include:

T.M. Revolution - Musician
Yoshiaki Iwasaki - Director
Itsuro Kawasaki - Director
Tsukasa Kotobuki - Character designer
Masao Maruyama - Producer
Rica Matsumoto - Voice actress

Penny Arcade - Artists
Steve Bennett - Animator
Mandy Bonhomme - Voice Actress
Johnny Yong Bosch - Voice Actor
Justin Cook - ADR Director
Julie Davis - Editor
Robert Dejesus - Artist
Brian Drummond - Voice Actor
Fred Gallagher - Artist
Scott Houle - ADR Director
Pontus Madsen - Artist
Susan Napier - Author
Kristine Sa - Musician
Frederik Schodt - Author
Jan Scott-Frazier - Animation director
Pamela Weidner - Voice Actress

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