June 29, 2009

Voice actress Yui Makino to appear at New York Anime Festival

NYAF Guest Of Honor Is The Star Of Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle

Norwalk, CT, June 29, 2009: The New York Anime Festival (NYAF) today announced its second 2009 Guest of Honor -- voice actress and singer Yui Makino. The 2009 New York Anime Festival, an anime, manga, and Japanese pop culture convention from the creators of New York Comic Con, will take place September 25-27, 2009 at the Jacob K. Javits Center in Manhattan, and Ms. Makino joins Yoshiyuki Tomino -- the Director of Mobile Suit Gundam -- as a Guest of Honor. Ms. Makino will appear at the event in panels, autograph sessions, and a special concert.

Yui Makino is best known for the role of Princess Sakura in the Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle anime and manga franchise. Tsubasa, created by the lengendary manga studio CLAMP, is the story of Princess Sakura and archaeologist Syaoran and their search for magical feathers containing Sakura's lost memories. The Tsubasa anime began broadcasting in 2005 and has since been followed by a feature film and two miniseries. The anime is available in the USA through FUNimation, and the manga is published by Del Rey Manga.

But while fans may know Ms. Makino mainly through the role of Sakura, Tsubasa is just the start of Ms. Makino's voice acting career, and her voice can be heard in the roles of Aiko Tokosumi in Bokurano, Honoka Kawai in Sora Kake Girl, and Misaki Nakahara in Welcome To The NHK, among others.

Further, an accomplished singer, Ms. Makino has contributed opening and ending themes to series including ARIA (Undine, Euforia, and Spirale), Sousei No Aquarion (Omna Magni), Welcome To The NHK (Modokashi Sekai no Ue de), as well as Tsubasa (Amrita and Synchornicity).

"We're honored to welcome Ms. Makino to the New York Anime Festival," Show Manager Lance Fensterman said. "Ms. Makino gave voice to one of the most beloved characters in anime today, and we're eager to share this voice with her fans across NYC and the USA."

Anime News Network -- the largest anime news website in the world -- has published a new interview with Ms. Makino simultaneously with this announcement. When asked by Anime News Network if she had a message for her American fans, Ms. Makino said, "I'm so excited to meet all of you that it's hard to contain my excitement. I will work hard to prepare for the show so I can give you all the best possible performance I can offer. Let's enjoy our time together!"

The full interview is now online at AnimeNewsNetwork.com.

Yui Makino's concert will take place on Saturday, September 26 at the Jacob Javits Center. Details about her panels and autograph sessions are forthcoming. The New York Anime Festival will announce additional guests, VIP packages, contests, and programming throughout the summer. For more information about the New York Anime Festival, please visit NYAF's official website (www.newyorkanimefestival.com) and blog (www.mediumatlarge.net). For more information on Yui Makino, please visit her personal blog (www.bgbcom.com/makino-yui/) and view her personal thoughts on YouTube (www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dz4ao56AlWw).

ABOUT YUI MAKINO:

Yui Makino was born January 19, 1986 and took up the piano at the age of four. Her piano skill was discovered by movie director Shunji Iwai when she was only seven-years-old, and, later, between ages 8 to 17, she played piano solos in three of Iwai's films. Ms. Makino made her debut as a singer in 2005 with "Omna Magni," produced by Yoko Kanno, the ending theme song to the anime series Sousei No Aquarion. In April of the same year, Ms. Makino also made her debut as a voice actress, starring as Sakura in the Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle series on NHK Educational TV.

In 2005, Ms. Makino released "Amrita," the theme song to the Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle movie, as well as "Undine," the opening theme of the TV Tokyo anime ARIA the ANIMATION, coupled with its insert song, "Symphony." This release reached #25 on the Oricon chart. In 2006, Ms. Makino released two songs from the TV Tokyo anime ARIA the NATURAL, the theme song "Euphoria" and insert song "Amefuribana." They reached #18 on the Oricon chart. In 2008, Yui released "Spirale," the opening theme to the TV Tokyo anime ARIA the ORIGINATION. Coupled with the anime's insert song, "Yokogao," the single reached #20 on the Oricon chart. This same year, Ms. Makino performed her first solo concert at the Fuchuno Mori Geijutsu Gekijo Wien Hall in Tokyo.

Ms. Makino released her second album -- the self-titled Makino Yui -- in March 2008. The album reached #22 on the Oricon chart, and she graduated from the Tokyo College Of Music this same month.

Yui Makino's blog (www.bgbcom.com/makino-yui/) was launched in February 2009. The blog attracts 40,000-70,000 readers daily. It is the second-most-read voice actor blog in Japan and the third-most-read pop-rock blog in the country.

ABOUT THE NEW YORK ANIME FESTIVAL:

The New York Anime Festival takes place September 25-27, 2009 at the Jacob K. Javits Center in Midtown Manhattan and is organized by Reed Exhibitions, the creators of New York Comic Con. The New York Anime Festival showcases the best of anime pop culture, including the latest anime, manga, Japanese cinema, music, and games, and anime-influenced comics, animation, and films from around the world. The festival features exclusive and extensive screenings, a gala cosplay masquerade, sessions with the some of the biggest names in anime from Japan, Asia, and America, and explores the Japanese cultural experience with displays of both traditional and cutting-edge Japanese life. Further information can be found at newyorkanimefestival.com.

ABOUT REED EXHIBITIONS:

The New York Anime Festival is operated by Reed Exhibitions, the world's leading events organizer. In 2007, Reed brought together over six million industry professionals from around the world generating billions of dollars in business. Today, Reed events are held in 38 countries throughout the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia and organized by 39 fully staffed offices. Reed Exhibitions is part of Reed Elsevier Group plc, a FTSE-100 company and world-leading publisher and information provider. In 2006, Reed Elsevier made adjusted profit before taxation of £1,052 million on turnover of £5,398 million.

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