Shinobu Ono Originally from Niigata Prefecture, Shinobu Ono is a producer at Cloverworks studio. Mr. Ono is responsible for producing many hit shows including IDOLM@STER SideM and this year’s most talked about show – The Promised Neverland.   Mamoru Kanbe Mamoru Kanbe is a Japanese anime director whose repertoire features a wide range of works across all genres. He has served as director for many prestigious anime series including Cosmic Baton Girl Comet-san, Elfen Lied, The Perfect Insider, and the Tegami Bachi series. Mr. Kanbe is currently working as the director for the most talked about series of the year – The Promised Neverland.   Kenta Suzuki As a producer from Aniplex, Kenta Suzuki is responsible for numerous fan favorite shows including ERASED, GRANDBLUE FANTASY The Animation, Wotakoi:  Love is Hard for Otaku, and Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online. Mr. Suzuki continues to keep fans on their toes as the …

Goro Taniguchi Sakura Con 2019 is pleased to welcome Goro Taniguchi!  As a director, his most notable works include: Infinite Ryvius, S-CRY-ed, Planetes, Maria the Virgin Witch, ID-0, Revisions (2019), and Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion.  In addition, he has also worked as the creative producer of My-HiME, Linebarrels of Iron, and is also the script and story writer of the manga Atrail.  Mr. Taniguchi will be presenting the Sakura-Con premiere of the brand new Code Geass sequel movie, Code Geass: Lelouch of the Re;surrection (Japanese with English subtitles), in cooperation with Sunrise and Funimation! Yuriko Chiba Sakura Con 2019 is pleased to welcome Yuriko Chiba!  Her most notable work is as a main animator for Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion.  In addition, she has worked as a character designer for Planetes, and character design and animation director of Maria the Virgin Witch.  Ms. Chiba will be presenting …

Major Animation Roles Include Chloe Carmichael in The Fairly Oddparents, Tigress in Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness, Jessica/ Rick’s Spaceship in Rick and Morty, Shandra Jimenez in Gravity Falls, Starfire in Justice League VS. Teen Titans movie, Charmcaster in Ben 10, Emma Frost in Wolverine & The X-Men, Li’l Suzy in Phineas and Ferb, Anka in Archer, Enchantress and Jane, Foster in Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, Saturn Girl in Lego DC Comics Superheroes: Justice League Cosmic Clash, Mina in Bunnicula, and Letta Turmond in Star Wars: The Clone Wars.  Major Anime Roles Include Haruko in FLCL, Fuu in Samurai Champloo, Saber in Fate Zero and Fate Stay Night, Celty in Durarara, Kagami in Lucky Star, Tayuya in Naruto, Anemone in Eureka 7, Robin in Witch Hunter Robin, and Rip Van Winkle in Hellsing.

Erika Harlacher is a Los Angeles based voice actress in anime, video games, and cartoons. Some of her most notable roles include: Ann Takamaki (PERSONA 5), Violet Evergarden (VIOLET EVERGARDEN), Elizabeth Liones (SEVEN DEADLY SINS), Ruler aka Jeanne d’Arc (FATE/APOCRYPHA), Kyoko Kirigiri and Kaede Akamatsu (DANGANRONPA games), Kurapika (HUNTER X HUNTER), Yumeko Jabami (KAKEGURUI), Emi Igawa (YOUR LIE IN APRIL), Claudia Enfield (THE ASTERISK WAR), Al (LOST SONG), Ayesha Altugle (ATELIER AYESHA), Bubbleisha (SHOPKINS), and many more.  

Come one come all to the brawl of the year! Magic versus Melee! Fisticuffs and spells. Join us and put your best defense on the line! Cosplay Chess is now accepting applications for all three games, Friday Night’s Late Night, Saturday’s Main and Sunday’s Improv. Applications close on March 14th, 2019 at 11:59PM! Please apply at: Cosplay Chess Form If you have any questions, please email us at cosplaychess@sakuracon.org

Ian Sinclair is an actor, director, and voice actor that has been working in the anime and videogame industry for over a decade. Some of his more popular roles include: Whis from DragonBall Z, Brook from One Piece, Dandy from Space Dandy, Shu Koibuchi from Princess Jellyfish, Takeru Oyama from Maken-Ki!, Bora and Kawazu in Fairy Tail, Akoz from Casshern Sins, Douglas Rosenberg from El Cazador de la Bruja, Toraji Ishida from Bamboo Blade, Liam from Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Tyr from Smite, and many more.

Monica Rial has been working in the anime industry for almost 20 years and she is currently listed as the most prolific anime voice actor in the US. She has lent her voice to over 450 anime including: Assassination Classroom (Kayano), Black Butler (Mey Rin), Certain Magical Index (Index), Deadman Wonderland (Shiro), Fairy Tail (Mirajane), FMA Brotherhood (May Chang), Hetalia (Belarus), Michiko & Hatchin (Michiko), My Hero Academia (Tsuyu), One Piece (Tashigi), Ouran High School Host Club (Renge), Panty and Stocking (Stocking), Saga of Tanya the Evil (Tanya), Seraph of the End (Krul), Soul Eater (Tsubaki), Watamote (Tomoko), Yona of the Dawn (Yona) and many more.

Cristina “Vee” Valenzuela is an American voice over actor, singer, producer, and director. She’s known for her work in anime as Homura Akemi in Madoka Magica, Sailor Mars in Sailor Moon, Mio Akiyama in K-ON!, Kotori Minami in Love Live!, Hawk in The Seven Deadly Sins, Meiko Mochizuki in Digimon Adventure Tri, Riruka Dokugamine in Bleach, Velvet Crowe in Tales of Zestiria the X, Killua Zoldyck in Hunter x Hunter, Morgiana in Magi, various Pokemon and trainers in Pokemon Black and White, Pokemon Origins, and Pokemon Generations. She can also be heard in Naruto, One Piece, Kill la Kill, One Punch Man, Tiger and Bunny, Fate Stay/Night, Durarara x2!!, AJIN, Knights of Sidonia, among others.

Cherami Leigh has been in the industry for 20 years. She has been in over 75 commercials, and has worked on over 100 anime projects including “Lucy” in Fairy Tail, “Asuna” in Sword Art Online, “Road” in D. Grayman, “Lizzie” in Black Butler, “Mai” in Ghost Hunt, and “Patty” in Soul Eater and has worked on over 20 video games- including playing DLC “Gaige” in Borderlands 2, Quartermaster “Corporal Green” in Call of Duty: WW2, and “Ikrie” in Horizon Zero Dawn’s DLC. She voices “Sailor Venus” in Sailor Moon,”Tomie” in Mob Psycho 100, “Kudelia” in Gundam: Iron Blooded Orphans, “Claudia Peer” in Gundam: Thunderbolt, “Ilia” in RWBY, “A2” in Nier Automata and “Makoto” in the Persona 5.

Tony’s many voice acting credits include, “Hoodwinked Too”, “ The Muppet’s Wizard of Oz”, Lupin in “Lupin the 3rd”, Hibiki in “Vandread”, Gojyo in “Sayuki Reload”, Harry in “Gun Grave”, Ranmaru in “Tokko”, Shinbo in “Cho-bits”, and Ulquiorra in “Bleach”. More recently he co-adapted and directed the English releases of “Fate/Zero” and “Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Bladeworks” in which he also voices the character of Lancer, “Love Live” (both the series and the movie), “Charlotte” and “God Eater”, and can be heard the animated musical series “Iesodo” in the title role. He can currently be heard in new episodes of Lupin the 3rd on Cartoon Network and as Minato, the 4th Hokage in “Naruto”. Tony is currently directing “Fate: Apocrypha” a Netflix Original, “Hunter X Hunter” and “Jojo’s Bizarre Adventures” for Cartoon Network and has two, soon to be announced Netflix …