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AsiaPOP Comicon Philippine Convention Hosts Macross Creator Shoji Kawamori

Philippine convention Asia Pop Comic Con 2017 announced on Thursday that it that it will host anime director Shōji Kawamori at this year's event.

Kawamori is perhaps most famous for being part of the creative planning for The Super Dimension Fortress Macross anime series. He designed most of the franchise's iconic transforming "variable fighter" mecha, and oversaw most of the main installments in the franchise, including the latest series, Macross Delta. He studied at Keio University with Macross character designer Haruhiko Mikimoto and screenwriter Hiroshi Ohnogi.

Kawamori has also created the Aquarion, AKB0048, and Arjuna series, and has contributed mechanical design work to Patlabor: The Movie, Patlabor 2: The Movie, Eureka Seven, Outlaw Star, Ghost in the Shell, and more. He is credited as the original creator of The Vision of Escaflowne, Basquash!, and Nobunaga The Fool. He has worked in anime production as a director, screenwriter, mechanical designer, and storyboarder. Outside anime, he designed one of Sony's Aibo robot dog variants and contributed to the designs of Takara's Diaclone Car Robot toys, which eventually became Optimus Prime, Prowl, Ironhide, and other toys in Hasbro's Transformers line.

Asia Pop Comic Con 2017 will take place on August 25-27 at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City. The event will also host singer Serena Kōzuki as a musical guest.