MAPPA is going to Chicago

Anime Midwest is an anime convention held in Chicago, and they announced via a Press Release that the studio behind several recent popular anime will be in attendance, participating in the convention. The full press release is below.

Summary: In a stunning announcement, the studio behind Yuri!!! on Ice and “In This Corner of the World” will be at Anime Midwest in Chicago.

ROSEMONT, IL – March 8, 2017 – The organizers of Anime Midwest announced today that the creators of Yuri!!! on Ice will be participating in Anime Midwest 2017 in Chicago. This three day convention will allow attendees to connect with actual creators of anime from Japan.

The anime studio, MAPPA is renowned for its commitment to producing high quality animation and is the creative studio behind such hit works as Kids on the Slope, Terror in Resonance, Rage of Bahamut: GENESIS and YURI ON ICE. In 2016 they released the critically acclaimed film In This Corner of the World garnering numerous accolades including the Kinema Junpo Award for Best Film of the Year as well as the Japan Academy Award for Best Animated Film. They aim to create works with a broad global appeal that can move audiences regardless of age, gender, language or culture. As a studio MAPPA is constantly seeking out new challenges and takes an uncompromising stance in their pursuit of new forms of expression through animation.

Manabu Otsuka, CEO of MAPPA, was born in 1982 in Shizuoka Prefecture. He began his career in animation at STUDIO 4C where he worked on such projects as Genius Party (2007). In 2011 Otsuka was handpicked by then president Masao Maruyama to join MAPPA as a producer. Since joining he has produced numerous titles such as Kids on the Slope (2012/ Shinichiro Watanabe Dir.), Terror in Resonance (2014/ Shinichiro Watanabe Dir.) and Rage of Bahamut GENESIS (2014/ Keiichi Satou Dir.) On April 1st 2016 Maruyama handed him the reigns and he took on the double role of producer and CEO. In 2016 Otsuka produced DAYS (Konosuke Uda Dir.) and the wildly popular YURI ON ICE (Sayo Yamamoto Dir.).

“We are honored to have such an amazing anime studio participating at our convention,” said Ryan Kopf, CEO of AnimeCon.org. More about Ryan can be found at http://www.ryankopf.com/

Anime Midwest is an annual convention held in Rosemont, Illinois, just outside of Chicago’s O’hare Airport. The three day convention hosts all kinds of events ranging from talks with the anime industry to a massive exhibit hall filled wall to wall with anime merchandise. Over 15,000 people are expected to show up at this year’s convention, which will be held at the Hyatt Regency O’hare and Donald E. Stephens Convention Center.

Registering for the convention involves buying a ticket in order to attend, which can be purchased online in advance at http://animemidwest.com/register

Attending the Q&A sessions with MAPPA at the convention do not cost anything extra – attendees just need a ticket to attend the convention. Most events at Anime Midwest come at no extra charge. Autographs at all AnimeCon.org conventions are free.

More information about Anime Midwest’s guest list can be found at https://animemidwest.com/guests

AnimeCon.org is the organization which is a driving force behind Anime Midwest and many other conventions. Their website at http://animecon.org lists all the conventions they run, which includes roughly 8 annual anime conventions. The organization is known for providing a lot of free stuff at their conventions, including unlimited free ramen, rice, and soda.