Anime Expo has announced that they will host both Hiroyuki Imaishi and Yoh Yoshinari as convention guests. Together they will present the premiere of Little Witch Academia: The Enchanted Parade, the Kickstarter funded sequel to the popular Anime Mirai short. It will premiere on July 3rd at 5:45pm and run till 7:15. Following the premiere will be a Q&A by Imaishi and Yoshinari. Following this convention exclusive showing the short will premiere in Japanese theaters October 2015
AX introduces the guests:
Graduating from Tokyo Design Academy, Yoh Yoshinari entered GAINAX as an animator and illustrator. Aside from his breathtaking illustrations, Yoshinari’s animation work is explosive while exhibiting an eccentric fluidity. As a respected figure in the Japanese animation industry and with fans all over the world, Yoshinari has taken part in many popular titles such as Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995), Valkyrie Profile (1999), FLCL (2000), Gurren Lagann (2007), Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt (2010), Kill La Kill (2013). Currently, he works as the lead animator at Studio TRIGGER.
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Hiroyuki Imaishi is an acclaimed animation director/animator of Studio TRIGGER. Previously staffed at Studio GAINAX, Imaishi began as in-betweener for Neon Genesis Evangelion. After his directorial debut with DEAD LEAVES in 2004, Imaishi went on to direct the hit series Gurren Lagann;which won him an award during the 12th Animation Kobe ceremony. Founding Studio TRIGGER in 2011, Imaishi directed the studio’s first series KILL la KILL in 2013. Currently, he is a character designer on TRIGGER’s latest animation series NINJA SLAYER from Animation.
Studio Trigger the animation studio responsible for Little Witch Academia 2 and its predecessor have posted a short trailer on YouTube previewing the crowd funded short.
Nerdy facts about Little Witch Academia:
Little Witch Academia was produced by Trigger as part of the Anime Mirai 2013 project, which funds young and upcoming animators alongside other animation houses. After the wide success of Little Witch Academia, Trigger announced a sequel to the widely popular short at Anime Expo 2013. While originally suppose to be a twenty minute episode sillier in length to the first installment, Trigger went to Kickstarter asking for $150,000 to extend the runtime to 40 minutes. They met their goal within five hours. And once it completed its time promotion they had made $625,518. Masahiko Otsuka the writer of both shorts said that if the sequel performs well, they may consider making a television series or a full-length movie.
