Musician promises “big announcement”

Maryland anime convention Otakon announced on Wednesday that YOSHIKI, leader of rock band X Japan, will be a guest at this year’s event. He will host a panel where he plans to preview the documentary film “We Are X,” which tells the history of his band, and make a “big announcement.” YOSHIKI also promised to high-five everyone at the panel.

YOSHIKI has appeared at numerous anime events in the United States, in addition to performing concerts on tour throughout the country. He last attended Otakon in 2014, when he held a concert based on his classical world tour.

X Japan’s most notable anime contributions were the songs in the X² music video collection and later X movie. The animation Studio MADHOUSE adapted both productions from CLAMP‘s X manga. The surviving band members — Toshimitsu “Toshi” Deyama, Yoshiki Hayashi, Tomoaki “Pata” Ishizuka, and Hiroshi “Heath” Morie —reunited in 2007, ten years after they first disbanded and nine years after the death of guitarist Hideto “Hide” Matsumoto.

Otakon’s previously announced guests include voice actor Kazutomi Yamamoto, craftsman Shunsuke Wada, animation producer Muneki Ogasawara, producer Koji Morimoto, vocalist MICHI, MAPPA President Masao Maruyama, rock band ALL OFF, voice actress Yui Makino, model Kuniko Kanawa, executive producer Nobuhiro Kikuchi, producer Yoshitaka Kawaguchi, scriptwriter Jirō Ishii, P.A. Works CEO Kenji Horikawa, art director Kazuki Higashiji, director Kasumi Fukagawa, craftsmen Shiro Dogu and Shunsuke Wada, director Kazuki Akane, and director LeSean Thomas.

The Otakon Matsuri street festival will be held on August 11 at Baltimore’s West Shore Park. Persona series rapper Lotus Juice and singer Shihoko Hirata, as well as Naruto singer Diana Garnet will perform at Otakon Matsuri.

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