Visual Kei band X Japan will be taking over Club Nokia and Downtown Los Angeles. As part of Anime Expo, on July 1, 2010 the super J-Rock band, X Japan will be filming their upcoming music video.

X Japan wants to encourage fans to dress up and get ready to rock. Don on your best gothic lolita wear and head down to the Nokia Center.

X Japan is one of the most successful rock bands in Japan. The members of X Japan include Yoshiki, Toshi (vocals), Pata (guitarist), Heath (bass), and Sugizo (guitar).

The infamous dancing “Tokyo Storm Trooper”, Danny Choo will be a special guest at Anime Expo 2010. Danny will be in guest panels, meet and greets and autograph sessions.

In case you aren’t familiar with who Danny Choo is, here is a sample:

Anime Expo is July 1-4 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

Anime Expo will be announcing of Guests of Honor until the convention starts. One of the great things about Anime Expo is they always have the most amazing guests. This announcement is for musical artists, Megumi Nakajima and May’n.

They will perform together on July 2 at the Nokia Theater as well as participate in panels and autographs for fans. This announcement has an added tease that a mystery guest will join them on stage for a “surprise performance”.

If Megumi Nakajima’s name sounds familiar, it’s because she was a voice actress and her most famous role is Ranka Lee in the anime series Macross Frontier.

May’n was a singing voice for Sheryl Nome in Macross Frontier.

Anime Expo is July 1-4, 2010 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. You can find out more information at the official website.

Anime Expo is known for having great musical acts and 2010 is no different. AX invites musical group AKB48 to be the official guests of honor this year. The group will perform live in Nokia Theater on Thursday, July 1, 2010 at 4:30pm. There will be panels, and autograph sessions for fans to participate in as well.

Not that long ago, GamingAngels saw AKB48 perform in New York. The high energy group has 63 members that perform regularly.

We are delighted to welcome AKB48 as our special dream ambassadors to this year’s expo and experience the smiles they will create for our fans,” says SPJA President and CEO Michael Lattanzio. “Hosting these superstars in Los Angeles will no doubt help bridge the gap between America and Japan, and create a global culture that each of us can connect to.”

To register for Anime Expo 2010, visit here.

They will be there to promote the FUNimation Entertainment release of Eden of the East. The TV series will premiere in the United States at the convention. Creator and director, Kenji Kamiyama; animation director, Satoru Nakamura; and producer Tomohiko Ishii, will represent the team.

Kenji Kamiyama is  best known for directing Eden of the East, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, writing Blood: The Last Vampire, and acting as animation director for Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade. Satoru Nakamura is known for his role as animation director in Eden of the East, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Library War, Gurren Lagann and Angel Cop. Tomohiko Ishii is a well-known producer for Eden of the East. He has also worked as producer for Sky Crawlers, Spirited Away and Howl’s Moving Castle.

The current AX line-up also includes voice actor Kyle Hebert, animation director Toshihiro Kawamoto, seiyuu Yuu Asakawa, J-rock band Sophia, and anime director Shinichi “Nabeshin” Watanabe. For more information, and to register for the convention, visit http://www.anime-expo.net.

Anime Expo 2010 is not until July, but the con is starting to announce their Official Guests of Honor. Today AX announced that Japanese Rock Band, Sophia will be an official 2010 Guest of Honor and will be performing on Saturday of the con in Nokia Theater. There will be a panel and autograph session as well. All of which Anime Expo organizes really well.

Sophia is celebrating 15 years together and consists of members: vocalist Mitsuru Matsuoka, guitarist Kazutaka Toyota, bassist Yoshio Kuroyanagi, drummer Yoshitomo Akamatsu and keyboardist Keiichi Miyako. Sophia has had over 15 albums and is known for their music being used in Anime, particularly as the ending theme in Kaleido Star (one of my favorite anime).

“We feel that under the new and experienced leadership of SPJA President and CEO Michael Lattanzio the Expo serves as a great ambassador and platform for bringing Japanese culture to America. We are excited to support the efforts of Anime Expo by performing at this year’s event,” said Sophia lead vocalist Mitsuru Matsuoka.

The people at the SPJA (The Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation) have let us know that the anime director and seiyu Shinichi “Nabeshin” Watanabe will be an official Guest of Honor at 19th Anime Expo. For those of you who may not know him by name, some of his works include Excel Saga, Puni Puni Poemy, The Wallflower, Tenchi Muyo! GXP and Nerima Daikon Brothers. At the convention “Nabeshin” will appear on guest panels, at meet-and-greet sessions and sign autographs for fans.

You also might know “Nabeshin” as a character in some anime shows (such as in the picture above) which he provided his own voice for, and some of those shows were Excel Saga, Puni Puni Poemy, Dotto Koni-Chan, EyeShield, Hayate no Gotoku and Tayutama. He’s known to attend events in the red blazer and afro wig get-up, so keep an eye out for him!

Anime Expo’s Convention Chair Joyce Lim:

“Anime Expo is thrilled to have Mr. Watanabe join our line-up,” said Joyce. “We are looking forward the excitement that he will bring to our convention!”

If you want to attend Anime Expo® 2010, head on over to the Los Angeles Convention Center in Southern California from July 1st – July 4th. Pre-registration has begun, and it will cost you $65 right at this moment, and then from May 1st it will increase to $75. More pricing information, and regular news updates can be found at www.anime-expo.org. You can also follow their Twitter at @animeexpo, or find them on Facebook at facebook.com/animeexpo!

We have been following Shira Oka since around 2007. We met up with Okashi Studios at Anime Expo and then following at GDC and I fell in love with the team and what they are trying to do. Unfortunately, because it’s a smaller studio, it’s taking them some time to get things going. Yesterday we received a New Year’s gift from the studio with some news and the opening sequence animation below. It looks like they are fixing things from last beta test and will be opening to more beta testers soon. Watch their blog here for upcoming details.

Shira Oka: Second Chances is an anime-themed, single player game where the user gets to re-live their fate in high school and make choices on friends and loves. Enjoy the video!

A-Kon (Dallas, TX)
A fan-run anime convention that takes place in the Dallas/Ft Worth area.

Anime Expo (Los Angeles, CA)
The largest anime/manga event in the US, Anime Expo runs annually in Los Angeles, bringing artist, voice talent and musical performances together for a wonderful weekend of fun.

Anime North (Toronto, ON)
One of Canada’s largest anime conventions, Anime North takes place at the end of May. They also raise funds for the Hospital for Sick Children Foundation.

DragonCon (Atlanta, GA)
DragonCon is one of the largest scifi/fantasy and pop culture convention in the US. It spans four hotels and three days of cosplay, panels, and offers a variety of guests. One of the guests for 2010 is popular author Laurell K Hamilton.

GenCon (Indianapolis)
GenCon is one of the largest gaming events in the world. Everything from computer and console games to table top and roleplaying games are featured every summer at the event.

Kansas City Game Fair (Kansas City, MO)
The Kansas City Game Fair is a small convention that combines three events in one, ShaunCon: Kansas City’s own role-playing convention, Blockhead! a board game convention and BorderWars (HAHMGS – Heart of America Historical Miniatures Gaming Society).

Long Beach Comic Con (Long Beach, CA)
2009 was the first year for the Long Beach Comic Con. It was attended by guests such as Stan Lee, Jeph Loeb, Seth Green and Eric Roberts.

New York Anime Festival & New York Comic Con (New York City, NY)
In 2010, NYAF and New York Comic Con will be taking place at the same time, in the same convention hall. Purchasing a pass will grant you access to both cons and you can experience the best both events have to offer.

Otafest (Calgary, AB)
A small and very community oriented anime and manga convention in Calgary, Otafest is a growing anime con run by an amazing group of dedicated volunteers.

Otakon (Baltimore, MD)
Otakon started out as a small college run convention but soon grew too large and has moved to Baltimore. The event attracts over 20,000 attendees and focuses on anime, manga and Japanese culture.

PAX East (Boston, MA)
PAX East 2010 will be the inaugural event for this eastern expansion for PAX. This first event is scheduled for March 26-28.

PAX West (Seattle, WA)
The original PAX site, PAX West offers one of the finest “For the Fans” gaming experiences. This is truly a community based event.

Sakura Con (Seattle, WA)
Seattle’s Japanese cultural festival, SakuraCon is one of the largest anime conventions in the Western US. It is held in the Spring and sponsored by the Asia Northwest Cultural Education Association.

San Diego Comic Con (San Diego, CA)
While the primary focus of SDCC has been comic books, science fiction and fantasy, it has grown to embrace more pop culture, anime/manga, and gaming. It is the second largest traditional convention in the world.

SIEGECon (Atlanta, GA)
SIEGE is an industry event for aspiring game industry students, graduates and local industry professionals to network and learn from each other over the course of an educational and fun-filled weekend of activities.

Video Games Live (Worldwide)
VGL is a musical event, touring the globe to bring video game fans orchestral versions of their favourite video game music. It is a celebration of the culture of video games, and is supported buy the gaming industry.

Yaoi-Con (San Mateo, CA)
Yaoi-Con is a convention focused on the “yaoi” (male-male relationship) anime and manga scene. Due to the nature of the material, attendees must be 18 years of age or older with ID.

Eureka 7

Bandai Entertainment is teaming up with Crunchyroll to stream anime series Eureka Seven (episodes 1-50; subbed and dubbed) to Crunchyroll anime members starting today, August 26,2009 at http://www.crunchyroll.com/EurekaSeven.

I saw a bit of Eureka Seven at Anime Expo this year and it seems like an amazing series. Also it’s probably good to get familiar with the series as Bandai Entertainment will be releasing the Eureka Seven theatrical movie on Thursday, September 24, 2009 in selected theaters. It will be out for one night only and you can find all the details here.

“We are excited to be working with Crunchyroll bringing Eureka Seven back to so new and old fans alike can enjoy the series once again,” said Ken Iyadomi, President of Bandai Entertainment inc.

Here is a series synopsis:
For Renton, every day’s the same. Nothing happens, nothing changes. He goes to school, he goes home. The only thing that keeps him happy is lifting on his ref board. Nothing exciting ever happens to him. Until one day, a giant mecha called an LFO comes crashing down on him literally. And inside is the most beautiful girl he has ever seen! The thing is, though, the girl, named Eureka, is on the run from the military with her stolen mecha, and she’s brought trouble with her.

Renton will have to summon up all his courage to face his childhood hero; get the girl he’s hopelessly smitten with to like him; and–oh yeah-live up to the legacy of his father who saved the world. But hey, at least it’s not boring anymore.