Otakon welcomes back T.M.Revolution who made his US debut performance 10 years ago at Otakon 2003, as well as Home Made Kazoku who last brought their unique “large, medium, small” style to Otakon in 2010, for a joint concert event on Saturday, August 10, 2013.

T.M.Revolution (T.M.R.) was the first major Japanese rock/pop performance at Otakon. The success of that show demonstrated that Japanese acts could find an audience in America by leveraging the fanbase for anime. T.M.R.’s American debut helped bring Otakon to the attention of the Japanese music industry and helped stimulate interest in bringing J-pop and J-rock acts to the US.
Jim Vowles, Otakon’s Director of Guests and Industry stated, “T.M.R.’s show in 2003 was a game-changer for us and for the whole world of anime conventions. His enthusiastic performance was a massive success, and T.M.R. himself was fantastic with his fans. It was new territory for all of us and we’ve looked forward to his eventual return for ages.”
Ten years later, such concerts have become almost a requirement for conventions of any size, and draw a dedicated audience of their own. While Otakon has continued to showcase major J-Rock acts such as L’Arc~en~Ciel, JAM Project, and X-Japan, it has also brought an increasingly diverse range of musical performers, such as shamisen performers the Yoshida Brothers.

Takanori Nishikawa, born in 1970 in Shiga prefecture, made his debut as T.M.Revolution (T.M.R.) in May 1996, with the single “Dokusai –monopolize-”. Since then, he has established a reputation as a singer with ear-catching tunes combined with intriguing and irresistible live performances.
Many singles have been picked up as themes of major anime and games including Mobile Suit Gundam and Sengoku BASARA.
Since his debut, T.M.R. has built a global fan base and reputation mainly among anime fans.
He has performed at major anime conventions in the US, such as OTAKON 2003 where local audiences were dazzled by his dynamic performance. These activities led to the release of his albums worldwide.
T.M.R. launched his 10th anniversary project in 2005 in which he released the single “vestige” in August 2005, hitting #1 on Oricon chart. He also released a self-cover album “UNDER:COVER” (all songs requested by fans) in January 2006. In June of that same year, he released a CD and a DVD, both entitled “1000000000000”(pronounced billion) featuring all singles and music videos he had previously released. This proved immensely popular and also hit #1 on the Oricon charts.
On September 19th 2012, T.M.R. released DVD and Blu-ray discs titled T.M.R. LIVE REVOLUTION ’12 -15th Anniversary FINAL which contains footage of his 15th anniversary tour final at Daiichi-Taiikukan, National Yoyogi Stadium in Tokyo. Also in September 2012, he organized the rock festival “Inazuma Rock Festival” for the fourth time at his birthplace in Shiga
prefecture.
T.M.R.’s recent participation includes appearing at “Anime Festival Asia 2012” in Singapore on November 9th. Not one to rest on his laurels, he is currently expanding his field as an actor, voice actor, and host for many media programs.

Home Made Kazoku debuted May 2004 with Ki/oon Records / Sony Music Entertainment Japan Inc. and won acclaim as the best upcoming artist of the year on the Japanese music scene. MICRO is widely referred to as a ‘soul rapper’ because of his husky, powerful voice. KURO adds a deep, whispering rap which gives life to the lyrics. Combined with U-ICHI’s DJ skills, their positive, heartwarming music has entranced many listeners’ ears. Large, medium, small.
Vocalists Micro and Kuro are originally from the United States. MICRO spent a part of his childhood in Kentucky, while KURO lived in Chicago until he was 12. Their first full-length album, Rock the World, achieved #5 on the Oricon national chart, with over 300,000 sales, and spent an amazing two months in the Best 20s.
Home Made Kazoku created a buzz with their tracks featured as theme songs on many hit anime series, such as Eureka Seven (“Shonen Heart”) and NARUTO (“Shooting Star”). Their third album, Thank You!!, hit #5 on the Oricon chart.
Following their fourth album, Home, which included the lead track “No Rain No Rainbow” (the theme song of NARUTO SHIPPUDEN the Movie: Bonds), Home Made Kazoku headlined their first tour in Japan, including a sold-out show at the Budokan in front of more than 10,000 fans.
They also took their show overseas to the US (Otakon 2010) and Taiwan which ended up being great successes.
They host an annual music festival, held for the third time this year in October, called Kazoku Fes.2012. Along with their announcement of their comeback to Otakon in 2013, Home Made Kazoku just released their latest album 3RISE on January 1, 2013 for all their overseas fans.

Otakon welcomes back to our 20th celebration award-winning
producer Masao Maruyama, a longtime friend of the convention. This will be Maruyama’s eleventh
appearance at Otakon, making him our most frequent guest. Maruyama is also the first guest to be
named an honorary staff member.

The founder and former creative director of Madhouse Studios, Masao Maruyama has had a hand in the
Japanese animation industry for forty years. Maruyama was born in 1941 in the Miyagi Prefecture. After
graduation from Hosei University, he went to work for Mushi Production. He later went on to help produce
Unico, based on a story by Osamu Tezuka, of Astro Boy fame. In 1972, Maruyama had a direct hand
in the establishment of the burgeoning new animation studio Madhouse and led the team as a creative
producer for many years.

Over the next three decades, Maruyama would oversee countless television, OAV, and theatrical
releases, all noted for a high level of production quality. He would also develop a reputation for finding
and nurturing talented directors; under his guidance, talents like Satoshi Kon and Atsuko Ishizuka have
flourished. Maruyama has also engaged with overseas partners quite often, working with the Wachowskis
on the Animatrix project, and overseeing anime takes on classic American comic book characters.
In 2011, Maruyama left Madhouse and formed MAPPA (Maruyama Animation Produce Project Association).

MAPPA allows him greater creative freedom to pursue projects that may be less obviously commercial. The studio’s first major project was the critically acclaimed Kids on the Slope, which reunited many of the creative team behind Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo. He continues to consult with Madhouse on various projects.Maruyama’s list of credits has produced an amazing library of animation including Barefoot Gen, Dagger of Kamui, Record of Lodoss War, Vampire Hunter D, Ninja Scroll, Card Captor Sakura, Trigun, Perfect Blue, X, Boogiepop Phantom, Chobits, PitaTen, Abenobashi Maho Shotengai, Gungrave, Gunslinger Girl, Black Lagoon, Kiba, Nana, Tokyo Tribe 2, Beck, Monster, Highlander: Search for Vengeance, Devil May Cry, Death Note, RAINBOW and Red Line.

Maruyama has also overseen production of critically acclaimed films such as Paprika, The Girl Who Leapt
Through Time, and Summer Wars.