Anime Expo 2018 (AX2018), North America’s largest anime and manga convention, was held for four days from July 5^th(Thurs) to the 8^th(Sun) at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

Anime Expo is an established annual event centered on the Japanese pop culture of anime and manga (comics).

Numerous Gundam products, including Gunpla, were exhibited and sold at the event along with the installation of a Gundam booth for the first time at Anime Expo.

Various panels such as GBWC, guest-led talk shows, and autograph signings were held inside the booth. Sunrise Producers Naohiro Ogata and Osamu Taniguchi appeared as guests alongside Meijin Kawaguchi, also known as the Gunpla Master, resulting in huge amounts of excitement at the event.

A live action film on the Mobile Suit Gundam series developed by Sunrise and LEGENDARY was announced at the Sunrise panel. We’ll deliver a report on this event filled with a variety of contents.

Gunpla exhibits and various panels were held at the Gundam booth!

Talk shows related to Gundam such as the “History of the Gundam Series”, “Gundam Anime Production Talk”, and the “Build Divers Panel” were held with guest appearances by Producer Ogata, Producer Taniguchi, and Meijin Kawaguchi. Panels on the English Gundam series were also hosted by Ms. Stephanie Sheh and Mr. Michael Sinterniklaas of NYAV POST. NYAV POST is the studio responsible for the production of the English dub of numerous Gundam series including Gundam Unicorn, THE ORIGIN, and Thunderbolt, causing the booth to be crowded with people.

Additionally, GBWC judging and announcement of the results were held on July 7^th(Sat). Awards were presented to five of the works brought to the convention.

State of the Booth

GBWC

Prizes such as Gunpla were presented to the winners after being judged by Meijin Kawaguchi, Producer Ogata, and Producer Taniguchi!

Panels in the Gundam Booth

An introduction to the history of Gundam and the Universal Century along with guest appearances by the voice actors of the English-dubbed Gundam series!

Producer Naohiro Ogata, Producer Osamu Taniguchi, and Ms. Akane Hagino (Sunrise Overseas Sales) were invited as guests at the Sunrise panel where the various works managed by Sunrise were introduced.

The latest information on topics such as Mobile Suit Gundam Narrative, the newest addition to the Gundam series, the Gunpla complex THE GUNDAM BASE TOKYO, Gunpla, and Gundam games were also introduced in the panel.

And finally, Mr. Yasuo Miyagawa (President of Sunrise Inc.), Mr. Mitsuaki Taguchi (President of BANDAI NAMCO Holdings Inc.), Mr. Cale Boyter from LEGENDARY (Executive Vice President of production), and Mr. Robert Napton from LEGENDARY Comics (Senior Vice President of Publishing) appeared as special guests.

They announced the joint development of a live action film of the Mobile Suit Gundam series, causing loud cheers to erupt from the audience.

For details on the live action film, please read this article.

A Gundam Games Panel, THE ORIGIN’s English Dub Screening, and Gunpla Assembly Experience Event!

A presentation on the New Gundam Breaker, a currently popular PS4/Steam® game release, and the screening of the English-dubbed THE ORIGIN: Rise of the Red Cometwere also held at the convention. Many Gundam fans and the convention itself were immensely filled with excitement.

Furthermore, Gundam.info installed a message box and “Gundam.info notes” at the Gundam booth during the event! We had been sent several messages as a result of the ones we collected directed to the Gundam series. We’ll introduce a few of the messages out of the many we received in the future, so be sure to look forward to it!

(Gundam.info Editorial Department)