Until Sunday night, the guest list for the inaugural edition of Oni-Con Hawaii had a decidedly Japanese flavor. Nobuo Uematsu and the Earthbound Papas, Atelier Pierrot designer Yuko Ashizawa, voice actor Hiroki Takahashi and visual kei rocker Sana — all confirmed guests, all making the trip east from Japan.
It was inevitable that we’d get some talent heading west from the mainland, and that person happens to have quite a few notable Funimation productions on his resume. So a big aloha and welcome goes out to American voice actor J. Michael Tatum — that’s his mug on the right — who may be best known as the voice of Sebastian in Black Butler, Scar in the various Fullmetal Alchemist productions, France in Hetalia and Ryosuke Takahashi in the various Initial D productions. (Random aside: The major anime con season has come and gone with the end of Otakon in Baltimore over the weekend, and I’m still waiting for someone to license Initial D: 5th Stage. Sigh.) Since 2010, he’s co-hosted the “That Anime Show” podcast, an insiders’ look at anime industry life, with fellow voice actor Terri Doty. This will be his first visit to an anime convention in Hawaii.
Oni-Con Hawaii is Nov. 1-3 at the Hawai’i Convention Center; preregistration rates remain at $45 general, $30 active military with valid ID. Visit www.oniconhawaii.com.
Otaku Ohana 