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Otakon 2021 to Host Game Composers Harumi Fujita, Manami Matsumae, Takahiro Izutani

Otakon announced on Thursday that next year's convention will host game composers Harumi Fujita, Manami Matsumae, and Takahiro Izutani. All three composers were scheduled to attend this year's event before it was canceled due to COVID-19.

Fujita joined SNK in 1983 and composed for the game Mad Crasher. She soon began working for CAPCOM and composed music for franchises such as Ghosts 'n Goblins, Bionic Commander, Chip 'n Dale, Final Fight, and Mega Man 3. Fujita launched her independent career in the 1990s and worked on titles including Tomba!, PULSTAR, and BLAZING STAR. She also composed for WayForward's Spidersaurs. Additionally, Fujita works on games and other media with her son, a mixing engineer.

Matsumae joined CAPCOM in 1987 and composed for the original Mega Man and Final Fight games. She launched her independent career in 1990, and she has contributed music to the Mega Man 10, Shovel Knight, and Mighty No. 9 games. She released a solo album, Three Movements, in 2017.

Izutani composed for the Metal Gear Solid 4 and Bayonetta games. He previously collaborated with musical artist Ayumi Hamasaki. Under the name Dugo, he released his first solo album Lingua franca in 2017.

Next year's Otakon will be held at Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C. from August 6 to 8. This year's canceled Otakon was originally scheduled for July 31 to August 2 at the same convention center. Otakon held the Otakon Online virtual event on August 1.

Source: Press release