Australian anime publisher Madman Entertainment took a bold step forward last year, opting to host their own anime-oriented convention titled Madman Anime Festival. While the event fell on a weekend I was already triple booked and thus wasn’t able to attend, the inaugural event seemed to be well received by the community. But it is clear that Madman have an even bigger vision this year, opting to hold three events rather than one – with Perth, Brisbane and Melbourne each having a festival during the year.
Perth is first up, with their #MadFest being held at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre on March 4th to 5th. With less than a month to go until the Madman Anime Festival begins for 2017, Madman Entertainment have been confirming their special guests and festivities. While I have no means of travelling to the event, their latest guest announcement is pretty exciting in my books.
The have confirmed that one of my personal, long-time favourite male English voice actors, Crispin Freeman, will be heading Down Under to join anime fans in Perth. Although a full event schedule has yet to be announced, I would expect him to do the usual convention things at the very least – including panels and autograph opportunities.
Crispin Freeman has had a long history in anime and video game voice acting. For me, one of his most notable roles was of the “Bad Ass Freakin’ Overlord” Zetta in Nippon Ichi Software America’s English localisation of Makai Kingdom (PS2). Just a few of his many other well-known voice acting roles include Shizuo Heiwajima in DuRaRaRa!!, Kyon in The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya and The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan, Alucard in Hellsing, Balmung in .hack, Hideki Motosuwa in Chobits and more. He also runs a voice acting blog/poscast and holds classes both in Los Angeles and online.
While I would expect even more announcements in the coming days and weeks, other Madman Anime Festival Perth 2017 guests travelling to Australia include Erica Mendez (VA of Ryuko Matoi – Kill la Kill), Angie (“Cosplay Star”) and Knitemaya (“Cosplay Star”)
