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SMASH 2013 on This Saturday in Sydney

SMASH is a single day anime convention that will be held on Saturday the 10th of July at the Sydney Convention Center in Darling Harbour, Sydney. SMASH brings a mix of traders, gaming, gunpla, karaoke, maids and music to fans of all ages. Tickets will be available at the door for $35.

And of course if fans don't want to stop at SMASH, Vocaloid Night 2013 will be held from 7pm in the Pontoon Bar in Darling Harbour, tickets cost $50 at the door. Vocaloid DJ's Hachioju P and kz(livetune) will be performing as part of the night. You can find further information at http://www.vocaloidnight2013.net.au/.

Masakazu Morita

An experienced voice actor whose most recent role is Wisu in Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods. Masakazu Morita has also voiced Barnaby Brooks Jr. in Tiger & Bunny, Tidus in the Final Fantasy X, Keiji Maeda in Sengoku Basara, Auel Neider in Mobile Suit Gundam Seed and Kazuya Hiramaru in Bakuman. He also won the title of "Best Rookie Actor" back in 2007 in the Seiyuu Awards for his role as Ichigo Kurosaki in Bleach. Masakazu hosts a radio show called Bleach B-Station where he interacts with other voice actors from Bleach. There are currently no announcements as to the events that Masakazu will be taking part in.

The Japan Foundation, Sydney is the principal sponsor of SMASH and has created the opportunity for Masakazu Morita to attend SMASH as a guest.

Masakazu Morita will be signing from 10:30am to 11:30am and 3:00pm to 4:00pm in the JPF signing room. He will also be hosting a panel where he will be live-dubbing some of his roles and answering questions from 12:00pm on the Main Stage.

Haruko Momoi

Haruko Momoi is a prolific Japanese voice actress that is credited with over 30 roles including Chika Minazuki in Ai Yori Aoshi, Faris Nyannyan in Stiens;Gate, Ai Hayakawa in Final Fantasy: Unlimited, San Seto in My Bride is a Mermaid's and Anise Tatlin in Tales of the Abyss. Momoi has worked her way up by singing and performing on the streets of Akihabara in the late 90's, later releasing singles and formed a partnership with Masaya Koike as UNDER17 to perform songs for games and anime including DearS, Genshiken and Kujibiki Unbalance. After Masaya and Haruko went their separate ways in 2004, Haruko went onto a solo career, performing songs for D.C. ~Da Capo~, School Days, My Bride is a Mermaid, Yurumates and Unofficial Sentai Akibaranger and has since created her own production label "Akihabara Love Records".

Haruko Momoi will holding a concert from 11:00am on the Main Stage and will be signing from 1:00pm to 2:30pm in the JPF signing room.

Hidenori Matsubara

Originally a key animator that worked on Armitage III, Neon Genesis Evangelion and Steamboy, Hidenori Matsubara went onto create character designs for Sakura Wars, Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo and Oh! My Goddess. He later became the animation director and character designer on Ah! My Goddess and has since become the animation director for the Rebuild of Evangelion series. SMASH have confirmed that Hidenori Matsubara will be conducting an art panel during this year's event.

If you would like further information on Hidenori Matsubara you can view SMASH's writeup here.

If you would like a signature from Hidenori Matsubara he will be signing from 10:00am to 11:00am and 3:30pm to 4:30pm in the JPF signing room. And Matsubara will also be holding a Q & A and a art demonstration from 12:00pm on the Art Stage.

LOVERIN TAMBURIN

Formed as "a.a" in Hiroshima in 1997 before moving to Tokyo in 2001 and renaming as LOVERIN TAMBURIN the band's major debut was in 2006 with 'Aishitageru', the opening theme of Disgea and a year later with 'mo.o' the ending theme of Nanatsuiro Drops. The band has since released a number of covers from Ghibli films, Dragon Ball Z and The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. The band consists of main vocalist and songwriter Aya, pianist AKIHIRO and support musicians guitarist Fujio Ryo and Fire and Kohta Igarashi on drums. You can view their profile on the SMASH website.

If you would like to see the guests for a photo or a signature, you can find further information here.

Highlights

SMASH tends to pack in a years worth of anime events into a single day, you will miss things you want to see but here's a couple of our highlights.

• 9:00am & 3:00pm - Hobbyco Beginner's Gundam Workshop. Hobbyco Booth.
• 12:00pm - Swords and Guns (Cosplay) Panel. Siren Visual Theatre.
• 2:00pm - Paradox BJD Face-Up Workshop. BJD/Crafts Room.
• 3:00pm - Madman Cosplay Competition. Main Theatre.

The Maid Cafe will be running from 10am to 5:30pm in the Bayside Gallery, you can can view the menu, terms and conditions and the process for entering the Maid Cafe here. The Gunpla Builders World Cup will also be at SMASH alongside Hobbyco Gundam Workshops, you can find further information here.

Hanabee will be announcing their new titles during the Hanabee Industry Panel in the Hanabee Panel Room at 1pm. Madman Entertainment will be holding their industry panel at 2pm in the Madman Screening Room.

Final Details

You can find the schedule for SMASH here and further information on SMASH including location & transport, ticket prices and floor plan.

And finally you can visit SMASH's website or facebook page or twitter for further information.