News

Anime Expo Hosts Final Fantasy Creator Hironobu Sakaguchi, Game Designer Kimihiko Fujisaka

Los Angeles convention Anime Expo announced on Thursday that it will host Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi and designer and artist Kimihiko Fujisaka as guests. They will participate in a panel and have autograph sessions.

Sakaguchi was an employee at Square since its inception as an independent company in 1986. He was employed as director of planning and development and created the first Final Fantasy role-playing game. Sakaguchi left Square and founded game developer Mistwalker (Blue Dragon, Lost Odyssey, The Last Story, Terra Battle) in 2004. He has since developed games such as Blue Dragon, Lost Odyssey, The Last Story, and Terra Battle. Sakaguchi announced last June that he is planning a new development company that will be located in Tokyo.

Fujisaka launched his career after studying industrial design in graduate school. He is now the lead artist and designer for Mistwalker. He has designed characters and worlds for games such as Drakengard, The Last Story, Bakumatsu Rock, and Terra Battle. Sakaguchi and Fujisaka revealed concept art for a new project in January 2016.

This year's Anime Expo convention will run from July 1 to July 4 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. In addition, the convention will formally include a preview night a day before on June 30.

The Super Dimension Fortress Macross singer and voice actress Mari Iijima will return to the convention this year. Akira Himekawa, the manga creator duo known for their manga adaptations of Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda games, is also attending the convention. Musicians ☆Taku Takahashi, Teddyloid, and Pa's Lam System will perform at the convention's Neon District concert this year. Ali Project, Minori Chihara, GARNiDELiA, Konomi Suzuki, angela, Mashiro Ayano, Wake Up, Girls!, Walküre's Minori Suzuki and JUNNA, Love Live! Sunshine!!'s Aquors, and The IDOLM@STER Cinderella Girls will also perform at Anisong World Matsuri.