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Hiroshi Nagahama was born in 1970 in Saiki, Ooita, Japan and is an animator and director.  He started his career at Madhouse Studio, where he worked on The Cockpit and Azuki-chan,  After leaving Madhouse Studio, he became a freelancer, working on the conceptual design for Revolutionary Girl Utena.  After that, he worked as the storyboard writer and animation director for Sexy Commando Gaiden: Sugoiyo! Masaru-san and he was a chief director of Jubei-chan 2: Siberia Yagyuu no Gyakushuu.  As a director, he worked on Mushishi, Detroit Metal City, and The Flowers of Evil.  In 2017, he did his first original anime The Reflection, a collaboration with Stan Lee.  He received the 11th Animation Kobe Individual Award in 2006.  In 2024, Uzumaki was released by Adult Swim.

Jill Harris is another classic example of an anime fan turned professional. She started working in VO at the age of 15, recording for projects in her home studio after school. At 20, she relocated to DFW and started working with Funimation—now known as anime juggernaut Crunchyroll.

She started strong with characters like Noelle Silva in Black Clover, Mandalay in My Hero Academia, Aura Bella Fiora (one of the elf twins) in Overlord, and Nino Nakano in The Quintessential Quintuplets.

In 2017, Jill booked Charlie Magne in the Hazbin Hotel pilot, which went viral on YouTube with over 100 million views. It’s since spawned the hit Amazon Prime series of the same name, featuring an all new cast of stars from Hollywood & Broadway.

Since then, she’s been on that anime grind, providing the voice for Fern in Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, Suletta Mercury in Gundam: The Witch from Mercury, Yuzuriha in Hell’s Paradise, and Charlotte Pudding, Sanji’s fiance, in One Piece, as well as many others.

If you want to find her online, she goes by “jillsvoice” most places (Instagram, TikTok, Twitch.) The only exception is Twitter (I refuse to call it “X”) on which her handle is @JillHarrisVO

Jordan Dash Cruz is actor and director residing in DFW Texas. Originally hailing from the ole Sunshine
State of Florida, Jordan likes long walks on the beach, most 90s sitcoms, his wife and pineapple on pizza.
When he’s not busy playing video games, hanging out with his wife or admiring Ralph Macchio’s beautiful
Crane kick in “The Karate Kid”, he likes to act. So much so, he’s been doing it professionally for 8 years!

You can hear him across a multitude of anime titles and video games such as:
Stark in Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End
(Mini) Master Roshi in Dragon Ball Daima
Temenos in OCTOPATH TRAVELER 2
Aoshi Tokimitsu in BLUELOCK
Leon Fou Bartfort in Trapped in a Dating Sim
Qi Rong in Heaven Official’s Blessing
Taiga in Wind Breaker
Emperor Yatsuura in My Hero Vigilantes
Tierno in Pokemon Masters EX
Senta in Hell’s Paradise
Rashad Goodman in BeyBlade Burst: Quad Drive
Senta in Hell’s Paradise
Gyoam Evan in Spice and Wolf: Merchant Meets the Wise Wolf
Taketo in Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid S
Shaun and John in SHADOWS HOUSE
Dominic in Spy x Family
Leo Tsukinaga in Ensemble Stars!
Akito Miyake in Classroom of the Elite II
Suleiman, Inbi and Tsujigiro in One Piece
Ruben/Rossa in Black Clover
Titan in Dr. Stone
Tamura in That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime
Nimble in Overlord III
Howdy Morning in Epithet Erased
Felix in Eternal Return
Golden Alligator, Nabil, Nogata and Khasani in Genshin Impact
Vizier Thoth, Pixel Hammer Thor, Raxolotl Ratatoskr and Raven King Chernobog in SMITE
and more!

When it comes to directing, Jordan’s had the opportunity to help assist in directing some of your anime
favorites like: Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, BLUELOCK, Trapped in a Dating Sim, Psycho Pass:
Providence, Natsume’s Book of Friends, A Galaxy Next Door, Reign of the Seven Spellblades, MF
Ghost, Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts, The Duke of Death and His Maid, BOFURI
Season 2, Twilight Out of Focus and The Great Jahy.
He’s an avid gamer, and enjoys games such as Final Fantasy, Resident Evil and the “Tales of” series! He’s
also REALLY hoping Jet Set Radio Future gets an HD Remaster one day. Feel free to follow all of his Voice
Act-y adventures on Twitter or Instagram (@DashCruzVA) where he posts about his wife, his cats, work
and fun! Finally, as we say in the entertainment industry: “Make sure to: Sit back, Relax, and Enjoy the
show!”

A brand created by designer Karin Moriguchi to give “kawaii” a tangible form.

Featuring a Taisho-Roman-inspired Japanese Lolita style, these clothes allow you to become the protagonist of your own story.

Karin Moriguchi was born May 16, 1990. She explores new possibilities within her beloved Lolita fashion and expresses them through her designs. She has a deep love for manga, games, and anime.

Kari Wahlgren’s first role was the Vespa-riding Haruko in FLCL. Since then, Wahlgren has voiced numerous anime characters including Fuu in SAMURAI CHAMPLOO, Saber in FATE ZERO and FATE STAY/NIGHT, Celty in DURARARA, Lucia Fex in PROMARE, Kagami in LUCKY STAR, Robin in WITCH HUNTER ROBIN, Anemone in EUREKA SEVEN, Tayuya in NARUTO, Saya and Diva in BLOOD+, Dee Eye Ell in SWORD ART ONLINE: ALICIZATION, and Blue Rose in TIGER & BUNNY.

Wahlgren has also voiced characters in many U.S. animation shows, including Jessica, Rick’s Spaceship and Diane in RICK AND MORTY, Starfire in the DC TEEN TITANS movies, Zatanna in DC SUPERHERO GIRLS, Tigress in KUNG FU PANDA: LEGENDS OF AWESOMENESS, Charmcaster in BEN 10, Emma Frost in WOLVERINE & THE X-MEN, Shannon in OK KO: LET’S BE HEROES, and Anka in ARCHER.

Her notable video game roles include Mileena and Kitana in MORTAL KOMBAT 1 and 11, Harley Quinn in GOTHAM KNIGHTS, Portnova in CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS COLD WAR, Starfire in INJUSTICE 2, Aranea in FINAL FANSTASY XV, Ashe in FINAL FANTASY XII, Proctor Ingram in FALLOUT 4, Vex in SKYRIM, and Raine in TALES OF SYMPHONIA. Wahlgren’s on-camera roles include Helen on Wizards of Waverly Place, Criminal Minds, and commercials for Lexus, Swiffer and Rolling Rock. A full list of credits can be found at IMDB.com.

Hotels are now open for booking!

Head on over to the Hotel Page to book your room now.

Sakura-Con is thrilled to welcome Emi Nitta!
Emi Nitta debuted as a voice actor in 2010. Some of her main leading roles include Honoka Kosaka in Love Live!, playing Vivian in the Toho Musical version of Legally Blonde, and being the dub voice of Do-ran Kim in the K-Drama, My Only One.
In September of 2014, Emi made her musical artist debut, and in June of 2018 she performed her Emi Nitta Live Tour “EMUSIC 32 – meets you” in Osaka and Tokyo. More recently in March 25, 2020, she released her single “Sing Ring.” In 2021, she sang the theme music (Longing for!) for the anime Azur Lane: Slow Ahead! She is a versatile performer as both a voice actress and a singer!

Kelsey Cruz is an actor and singer coming to you from the Dallas area! Though her sunshine-y personality says otherwise, she was born and raised in the rainy city of Seattle, Washington. She has a lot of love for her cuddly kitties & silly husband Jordan, singing classic rock songs, playing board games of all sorts & videogames like Pokémon Unite, and snuggling up to a fascinating documentary, anime, or fantasy book. She’s so grateful and excited to be a part of this incredible industry of acting, and even got her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in it!

You can find her in loads of anime and game titles such as:

Yinghua in The Apothecary Diaries, Kim Campbell in Spy x Family, Elfaria Alvis Serfort in Wistoria: Wand and Sword, Animalia in Shangri-La Frontier, Nozomi Kitahara in MF Ghost (The Initial D Sequel), Kaori Houjou in I Got A Cheat Skill in Another World, and Became Unrivaled in the Real World, Too, Asahi Shonan in Medaka Kuroiwa is Impervious to My Charms, Vania in I’ve Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level, Shadow Sparrow Jing Wei in SMITE, Sakuya Kurobane in Love Live! Nijigasaki High School, Saki Shima in Laid Back Camp, Emily Brown in My Unique Skill Makes Me OP Even at Level 1, Mai in Eternal Return, Cindy and Hilde in Outerplane, Enid in Fallen Tear: The Ascension and many others!

She loves chatting with fans so please stop by to say hi to her! She’ll catch you soon!

Applications for 2026 Cosplay Contest are going live on Sunday, January 11th at 12:00PM
Pacific

Application Link: 2026 Sakura-Con Cosplay Contest Application
Applications will be open until January 18th at 11:59PM PST. Please read through the rules to
make sure you are ready to apply as soon as the contest opens. Link to rules.

Lauren Landa is voice actress born and raised in Los Angeles. In the last 15 years her voice has been in over a hundred different anime and video game titles, playing the voice of many beloved characters. Lauren is most known for roles such as the ninja beauty, Kasumi in Dead or Alive 5; the sexy Litchi Faye Ling in the popular fighting games BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger, as well as the sequels BlazBlue: Continuum Shift, and Continuum Shift Extend; Chrono Phantasma; the badass Kyoko Sakura in Puella Magi Madoka Magica, the enthusiastic Yan Leixia in Soul Calibur V, the deadly Little Queen in Tales of Graces; the valley girl racer in pink, Boiboi, in REDLINE, the adorable zombie Squigly in Skullgirls, kind hearted Leia in Tales of Xillia, the innocent Chubo Sonken in Ikki Tousen: Great Guardians, the quiet Annie Leonhardt in the hit anime series Attack on Titan, One in “DrakenGard 3”, Nora in “Noragami”, Sailor Neptune in the VIZ Media’s Sailor Moon, Merlin in “The Seven Deadly Sins”, Lyra in “Fist Of The North Star: Lost Paradise”, Juno in “Beastars”, Female Robin in “Fire Emblem” and “Super Smash Brothers”, Kyoka Eden in Scarlet Nexus, Karin Kanzuki in Street Fighter V, Leila in
Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise, Tsukasa in Over the Moon for You, and many more!
For Updates and Announcements follow Lauren Landa on Twitter and Twitch!

Twitter:@Lauren_A_Landa!
Twitch: Twitch.tv/LaurenLanda