News

Anime Expo Hosts Dragon Ball's Vegeta Voice Actor Ryo Horikawa

The staff for Anime Expo announced on Tuesday that the convention will host Japanese voice actor Ryo Horikawa, as well as American Dragon Ball voice actors Christopher R. Sabat (Vegeta), Sean Schemmel (Goku), and Jason Douglas (Beerus). Horikawa will appear at a panel, and all four voice actors will have autograph sessions during the convention. The four voice actors will be on stage at a panel that will discuss the legacy of the Dragon Ball anime.

Horikawa began his voice acting career in 1984 with the Yume Senshi Wingman anime, playing the character Hirono Kenta. He is perhaps most famous for voicing the character Vegeta in the Dragon Ball franchise. He also voiced the main character Reinhard von Lohengramm in the long-running Legend of the Galactic Heroes OVA series, and Heiji Hattori in the Detective Conan franchise. He is the president of the Aslead Company talent agency, and is also the president of the International Media voice talent academy.

This year's Anime Expo convention will run from July 1 to July 4 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. In addition, the convention will formally include a preview night a day before on June 30.

Guests at this year's convention include live-action Fullmetal Alchemist film director Fumihiko Sori and lead actor Ryōsuke Yamada, Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? light novel series author Fujino Ōmori, Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma manga co-creator Yūto Tsukuda, Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi, designer and artist Kimihiko Fujisaka, The Super Dimension Fortress Macross singer and voice actress Mari Iijima, The Legend of Zelda manga creator duo Akira Himekawa, and Neptunia game series character designer Tsunako and producer Naoko Mizuno.

Musicians ☆Taku Takahashi, TeddyLoid, and Pa's Lam System will perform at the convention's Neon District concert this year. Ali Project, Minori Chihara, GARNiDELiA, Konomi Suzuki, angela, Mashiro Ayano, Wake Up, Girls!, Walküre's Minori Suzuki and JUNNA, Love Live! Sunshine!!'s Aquors, and The IDOLM@STER Cinderella Girls will also perform at Anisong World Matsuri. The virtual idol character Miss Monochrome will also host a concert at the event, and original character designer and voice actress Yui Horie will be in attendance. The convention will also host Lemona Design's "Lemon & Sugar" franchise.

The event will host the U.S. Preliminary for the World Cosplay Summit (WCS) during the masquerade on July 2. Additionally, the event will screen the world premiere of the live-action Tokyo Ghoul film on July 3 ,and will also screen the world premiere of the Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card-hen Prologue: Sakura to Futatsu no Kuma video anime. Toei Animation will also host a Dragon Ball Super-themed scavenger hunt.