Guests

Come meet some fantastic guests at Anime Midwest! Meet your favorite voice actors, TV actors, video game staff, musicians, artists, performers, culture experts, and more at the convention. Guests may charge a fee for autographs. AnimeCon.org is proud to offer free autographs with all of our amazing guests during scheduled free autograph sessions, however free autographs are limited to 1 or 2 per person, as we try to do our best to give everyone a chance to meet our guests. Guests will not sign bootlegs, Funko Pops, or items for resale for free. Some of our guests may choose to offer more than 1 free autograph. Stop by to meet some incredible voice actors, musicians, industry members, and more.

Raj Ramayya

Raj Ramayya

Cris George

Cris George

EmpathP

EmpathP

Barry Yandell

Barry Yandell

Chris Patton

Chris Patton

Greg Ayres

Greg Ayres

Oscar Seung

Oscar Seung

Kohei

Kohei

Samurai Dan and Jillian

Samurai Dan and Jillian

Paul Castro Jr

Paul Castro Jr

Brian Mathis

Brian Mathis

Gareth West

Gareth West

Quinton Flynn

Quinton Flynn

Alan Shires

Alan Shires

Raj Ramayya

Raj Ramayya

Raj Ramayya is an Indo-Canadian singer, composer and lyricist. His claim to anime fame would be his musical collaborations with famed Japanese composer Yoko Kanno as a member of The Seatbelts. Raj sang the opening credits song “Ask DNA” and wrote the lyrics for “Cosmic Dare (Pretty with a Pistol)” from the fan favourite feature film Cowboy Bebop: the Movie, and both sang and wrote the lyrics for “Strangers” from the anime series Wolf’s Rain. Not limited to music in anime, he has also worked on songs for video games from the likes of Konami, Sega, and Capcom.

Raj has been featured as a guest vocalist/composer with several distinguished artists, ranging from talented composers Yoko Kanno (Escaflowne, Cowboy Bebop, Wolf’s Rain) and Tatsuya Oe (Captain Funk, Hotei), to gifted lyricists Chris Mosdell (Eric Clapton, YMO) and Ron Sexsmith, and everyone in-between. His work has won him multiple awards and critical acclaim from around the world.

Among his other projects are the electronic Indian fusion music project “Bhang Lassi”, the alternative Indian-influenced folk rock band “The Beautiful Losers”, and session singing for products ranging from Asahi Beer and KFC, to Toyota and Coca-Cola. He is also a guest vocalist with three different Japanese electronic music groups; Captain Funk, Akakage, and Studio Apartment, with SA’s song “Strawberry Rainbow” (which Raj both sung and wrote lyrics for) hitting #1 on the iTunes Japan charts! Raj is excited to be making a triumphant return to Anime Midwest and can’t wait to perform for everyone for the second year! For more information, you can visit him online at http://www.rajramayya.com.

Cris George

Cris George

Cris George was raised in a small town south of Houston, Texas and spent the majority of his formative years making radio shows, acting in plays and shooting short films with friends.

He started his career at FUNimation in 2008 as an ADR Engineer and six years later he took the director’s seat and hasn’t looked back! Here are just a few of his favorite titles he’s directed: Black Clover, Wonder Egg Priority, Pop Team Epic, Listeners, Death Parade, Ghost In The Shell: Arise, Steins;Gate 0, Snow White with the Red Hair, Life Lessons with Uramichi Oniisan! and Spy x Family.

At FUNimation, Cris voice acts in various titles and has been fortunate enough to play over 300 roles! Some of his more notable include: Sato, Death Arms and Gigantomachia in My Hero Academia, Bepo in One Piece, Botamo in Dragon Ball: Super, Lion in Africa Salaryman, Narrator in Black Clover, Tetsuo Takahashi in Interviews with Monster Girls, Robby in RobiHachi, Takeru Noto in Fire Force just to name a few!

In addition to his work at FUNimation, Cris has lent his voice to several video games including Borderlands 2, Trashmouth and Quietfoot in Borderlands 3, Strix in Paladins, and Yakon in Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot.

EmpathP

EmpathP

Empathy Studios, LLC. is a small production company created and managed by producer, EmpathP (Aki Glancy). The company primarily focuses on publishing and sponsoring various types of media featuring virtual talent. Past works include the creation of the western Vocaloid concert project, “VOCAMERICA” and the publishing of original music and merchandise featuring vocal synthesizers.

EmpathP’s own personal works include demo songs for various Vocaloids, illustrating the Vocaloid “AVANNA”, and providing the voice for the Vocaloid “DAINA .” For the past decade EmpathP has visited over 4 countries and traveled extensively across the United States performing and sharing her love of virtual singers.

Barry Yandell

Barry Yandell

Nominated for Best Supporting Actor by BTVA for his iconic role as William T. Spears in Black Butler, Barry Yandell is a well-known and very busy regional stage actor and voiceover artist based in North Texas. Most recently, Barry lends his voice talent to the characters of Conehead in Fire Force, Zelada in Cop Craft and Kodai in Yu-No. Fans will recognize his voice contributions in some of the most popular Anime series to date including Alexis Kerib in SSSS Gridman, Yoki in Full Metal Alchemist, Mr. 2 Bon Clay in One Piece, Little Demon in Soul Eater, Dwarf Shaman in Goblin Slayer, and Popuko in Pop Team Epic. Additional roles include an array of characters from Dragonball Z, Ghost in the Shell, Fairy Tail, and Attack on Titan to name a few. Please visit Barry’s actor pages at IMDB.com and behindthevoiceactors.com for a full listing of characters and upcoming new roles.

Chris Patton

Chris Patton

Chris Patton has been in the theatrical arts since his early childhood. Continually developing his acting career eventually led to a career on stage and eventually to a voice acting career. He has lent his voice to over 100 anime titles, ranging from Sousuke Sagara in Full Metal Panic to Greed in Fullmetal Alchemist.

Greg Ayres

Greg Ayres

Greg Ayres has been screaming into microphones for close to 25 years now! With over 376 credits to his name, he has managed to play a variety of characters that are almost as colorful as his hair. He was honored to recently return to his role of Son Goku in Saiyuki Reload Zeroin, having worked on the Saiyuki franchise for over 20 years. He can currently be heard as Po in Eminence and Shadow, As Kenta Kanzaki in The Dangers in My Heart, Yu Nishinoya in Haikyu, Chai in Shenmue The Animation on Adult swim, and a super bad demon known only as “God” in Dark Gathering. Some other recent roles include Chota Segawa in Alice in Borderland (OAV), Sho Utsumi in SSSSGridman, Frost in DragonBall Super, Geo in Sony Picture’s Starship Troopers : Traitor of Mars, Jiro in Concrete Revolutio, Ryuuou Edogawa in Doreiku, Koji Koda in My Hero Academia, and he even makes an appearance as Popuko in Pop Team Epic.

He is proud to be a part of the new “Pink Harvest” productions from Sentai Filmworks, in the roles of Izumi Sena in Lovestage, and Yabase in Hitorijime My Hero. Some other recent favorites include Nagisa Haruki in Free, and Free Eternal Summer, MonoKuma in Danganronpa, Clear in Dramatical Murder, Doug in Gangsta, Zenji Marui in Food Wars, Ganta Igarashi in Deadman Wonderland, Heihachi Hayashida in Samurai 7, and Kouichi Sakakibara in Another. Some of his all-time favorite roles include Chrono in Chrono Crusade, Kaoru Hitachiin in Ouran High School Host Club, Hideki in Nerima Daikon Brothers, Youhei Sunohara in Clannad, Yuki in The Wallflower, Leo in Ghost Stories, Satoshi Hiwatari in DNAngel, Kaworu Nagisa in the Director’s Cut of Neon Genesis Evangelion, Tomoki Sakurai in Heaven’s Lost Property, and Negi Springfield in Negima.

Of all of his many roles, his favorite will always be the real life role of “Little Brother” to voice actor Christopher Ayres. The little guy with a big Sippy Cup, and even bigger heart – who touched the world with his “Love and Laughter”.

Oscar Seung

Oscar Seung

Oscar Seung hails from Lausanne, Switzerland, and is a Dallas-based actor, violinist, pianist, opera singer, and music director. From film and television pilots to theater and voiceovers, Oscar champions the representation of Asian Americans in media and the arts. Oscar can currently be seen in We Can Be Heroes (Netflix), directed by Robert Rodriguez, A Cowgirl’s Song (Netflix), and The Turkey Bowl (Hulu), directed by Greg Coolidge. He also guest co-starred in the ABC pilot, False Profits, starring Vanessa Williams and Bellamy Young. Anime/video game voiceover highlights: Attack on Titan (Varis), One Piece (Daruma), Ayaka (Kurama), Sweet Reincarnations (Kadlecek), Borderlands 3 (Nettle), Yuri on Ice (Seung-Gil Lee), Free! (Nao Serizawa), Natusume’s Book of Friends (Riou). Full list of over 65 shows on imdb.com. Theater: World Premiere of The Supreme Leader (Kim Jong-Un), Dallas Theater Center, The Sound of Music (Baron Elberfeld, u/s Captain Von Trapp), Dallas Theater Center, The Ballad of Little Jo (Tien Mien), Watertower Theater, Dora, the Explorer Live! (Benny), Casa Manana, Miss Saigon, Casa Manana. Oscar is represented by the Mary Collins Agency. Twitter: @oscarseung Instagram: @theoscarseung imdb.me/oscarseung

Kohei

Kohei

Kohei, a singer from Tokyo, Japan and moved to New York in the summer of 2011. Kohei is well known for singing R&B and Soul and has performed over 300 shows in the course of four years. He has performed in the all famous Apollo theater 8 times and got first place in 2014. He has opened up for Wu Tang Clan(Raekwon) R&B Legend Case, Lyfe Jennings and Lil mama in 2015 2016. He has done everything such as hosting a music event at the Jay-Z’s Moms restaurant, and being the Official Japan Fes MC. He was a finalist of McDonald’s Gospelfest 2016 and 2017, and featured on M-On TV with Japanese recording artist The RAMPAGE.

Samurai Dan and Jillian

Samurai Dan and Jillian

The husband and wife team of Daniel and Jillian Coglan are full-time martial art instructors, specializing in 16th century Samurai Arts. When not teaching at their dojo, the Kojokan, they travel the United States performing and teaching the ancient ways of the most famous warriors in history.

With a combined 35 years of experience, their show is a unique blend of history, combative skill, and humor, designed to educate and entertain audiences both large and small.

Beyond their martial skills, the dynamic duo collaborated to write, direct, host, and star in a 12 episode TV series entitled, “The Way of The Samurai.”

Daniel is also an author, with several martial art articles published, and is currently working on his second full-length novel.

Paul Castro Jr

Paul Castro Jr

Paul Castro Jr. is a Los Angeles-based actor, writer, producer, and director. Born in Brooklyn and raised on the Jersey Shore, Paul spent a decade in NYC working in film, television, and theatre. In the world of voiceover, he’s best known for voicing Freminet in Genshin Impact, Rindo in Square Enix’s NEO: The World Ends with You, Chocobo Billy in Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth, Dragon in Mamoru Hosoda’s critically acclaimed anime movie, BELLE, by Studio Chizu, Aliquis in Pokémon: Paldean Winds, Ryota Miyagi in The First Slam Dunk, Febail in Fire Emblem Heroes, Jun Sadamoto in Lost Judgment: The Kaito Files, Allegro in NETFLIX’s Vampire in the Garden, Rikuya Yoshida in NETFLIX’s High-Rise Invasion, Forseti/Abel in NETFLIX’s Record of Ragnarok, Marcos in Crunchyroll’s Mobile Suit Gundam: Cucuruz Doan’s Island, and many more. He’s even the voice of Clifford the Big Red Dog in PBS’s Clifford video games.

He’s also appeared on screen in television shows like Blue Bloods, God Friended Me, The Rookie, and Limitless and in the films; The Skeleton Twins, People Places Things, and The Garden Left Behind. Paul is an avid gamer, runner, and companion to four of the craziest cats around. Check out Paul’s website at www.PaulCastroJr.com or follow him on social media at @PaulCastroJr across the board.

Brian Mathis

Brian Mathis

Brian Mathis has been heard in over 140 Anime titles. From HELL GIRL in 2007 to the current ESTAB LIFE and SALARYMANS CLUB. Fan favorites include ANCIENT MAGUS BRIDE, FAIRY TAIL, FIREFORCE, STAR BLAZERS, ONE PIECE, OVERLORD III, ATTACK ON TITAN, DRIFTERS, among many others! An accomplished Voice over talent for many businesses and clients, he is also a well seasoned Theatre actor and clinician.

Gareth West

Gareth West

Gareth is an actor, model, and voice actor based out of Texas. He is known for such Anime roles as; Ittetsu Takeda in Haikyu, Seiya Takehaya in Tsurune, Kanichi Konishi in Food Wars, Haruka Shinozaki in My Girlfriend Is Shobitch, Lizard Misty in Saint Seiya, 2D in Golden Time, Akihiro Tsukaba in Chihayafuru, Tomoaki Yamagishi in O Maidens In Your Savage Season, and Dinkuron in Log Horizon. He is also currently playing the role of Jason Lee Scott the Red Power Ranger in the upcoming release Red Rising: A Power Rangers Fan Film. When not making anime voices or acting, Gareth enjoys basically anything nerdy under the sun. So whatever it is you are into, chances are you can come up and geek out. Because there is nothing he likes more than getting enthusiastic, and making new friends!

Quinton Flynn

Quinton Flynn

Quinton Flynn is beloved globally as Axel/Lea from Kingdom Hearts and Raiden from Metal Gear Solid 2, 4 and Rising Revengeance (for which he received a Best Actor Award). Fans Love Flynn as: Kon in Bleach, Iruka Sensai in Naruto, Reno in Final Fantasy, Jhin in League of Legends, Timon in Timon & Pumbaa, and many others!

Quinton’s Classic Legacy Characters: Micky Mouse, Spider-Man, Venom, Human Torch, Jonny Quest, Gollum and more pop up often in his solo comedic improvisational Q&A convention panels along with celebrity impressions, song and audience participation.

His impressions and sound-a-likes have been featured on Jimmy Kimmel Live! as Paul McCartney, Mindhunter as Frank Sinatra, Robot Chicken as Elmer Fudd, Draco Malfoy and Swiper The Fox, The Adventures of Billy & Mandy as Christopher Walken, The Mystery of Natalie Wood as James Dean, Cartoon Hook Ups as Deadpool

Flynn seamlessly shape shifts from the deep, sinister and sexy, mad-scientist, Dr. Krankcase – Skylanders: Trap Team, to the polite and earnest Silver The Hedgehog in the Sonic game series! And his twisted Irish hitman Sir Henry Cooldown provided the right spice in the action-adventure hack and slash video games No More Heroes 1 & 2. He also lent his vocal gymnastics to – Star Wars: The Old Republic, Avatar The Last Airbender, Crash Bandicoot, Mass Effect, World of Warcraft, Batman Arkham City Origins, Lord Of the Rings and Pirates of the Caribbean to name a few.

Flynn’s Fan Favorite, the lovably nerdy Sheldon Lee, is back in My Life As A Teenage Robot on Amazon Prime! The resurgence of interest in that Nickelodeon animated gem also features Quinton as the heroic Sliver Shell and the despicable Don Prima + more than 50 other incidental voices!! So, Get In Like Flynn!

Alan Shires

Alan Shires

Alan Shires is an on screen actor and voiceover artist. Having worked with a range of brands like Krispy Kreme and Starbucks Alan’s on screen presence is complimented by it ventures in voiceover. His experience ranges from Anime, to video games – commercials to narration and much more. In latter years Alan has helped thousands of people in their voiceover career and prides himself in providing the best education and path way into the voice actor industry.

Past Guests | Guests 2015 | Guests 2014 | Guests 2013 | Guests 2012 | Guests 2011

Guest appearances are subject to change as circumstances and events change. Some guests may get conflicting film shooting dates or may have travel difficulties.


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