Top Anime Director Shinichiro Watanabe guest at London Comic Con

By John Freeman on April 19, 2013

Shinichiro Watanabe

Acclaimed anime director Shinichiro Watanabe, best known for helming Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo and Kids On The Slope, is to be the Anime Guest of Honour at May’s MCM London Comic Con, show organisers have announced.

Attending all three days of the show, Shinichiro Watanabe will be taking part in on-stage panels and promoting both Anime Limited’s upcoming HD release of Cowboy Bebop and the UK debut of his latest series, Kids On The Slope, released by MVM Entertainment.

Watanabe will also be holding exclusive signing sessions at the Anime Limited booth. MCM London Comic Con visitors who pre-order Anime Limited’s Cowboy Bebop either at HMV or Amazon and bring proof of pre-order to the show will receive an exclusive A4 Bebop print to get signed (while stocks last). These prints are extremely limited in volume, however, so go along to the stand early to avoid disappointment.

While Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo and Kids On The Slope are Watanabe’s best known works, the Kyoto-born director’s credits also include the Macross Plus OVA, Baby Blue and Kid’s Story and A Detective Story, two shorts in The Animatrix anthology.

Europe’s biggest comic convention, MCM London Comic Con takes place at London ExCel from 24-26 May, covering everything from films and videogames to manga and cosplay.

• Tickets for MCM London Comic Con are available at: www.mcmcomiccon.com/london/tickets

• You can find more about the event at www.londonexpo.com; on Twitter at www.twitter.com/mcmexpo; on Facebook at www.facebook.com/mcmexpo and on YouTube at www.youtube.com/mcmexpo

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.