Famed Japanese voice actor, Ryō Horikawa, joins Anime Expo 2017 as a Guest of Honor! Best known as the voice of Vegeta in the Dragon Ball series and Heiji Hattori from Case Closed, Horikawa will participate in a panel as well as autograph sessions throughout the weekend.
Born in Osaka, Japan, Ryo Horikawa is a popular Japanese actor and voice actor. Horikawa made his debut in voice acting in the anime series, Dream Soldier Wing-man in 1984 (as Kenta Hirono). Some of his famous roles include Vegeta from the Dragon Ball series and Heiji Hattori from Case Closed (Detective Conan). He is also president of the Japanese talent agency, Aslead Company. Finding fame in the voice acting scene, Horikawa has started his career as an instructor and the principal of voice talent academy, International Media School, to foster potential voice actors of the next generation. You could get an idea of what a voice training lesson from Ryo Horikawa is like in the video below:
Being an enthusiastic language learner with great competency in English, Horikawa has launched a mobile app that helps learners, from Japan or overseas, to pick up sentences and phrases in the popular Kansai-ben (a Japanese dialect widely used in Kansai region including Osaka, Kyoto, Hyogo, etc.), which is also the iconic accent of the voice actor himself and the detective character Heiji Hattori that he voices. The mobile app Horikawa Ryo no Osaka-ben Kouza, which literally means “Osaka-ben Lessons Taught by Ryo Horikawa”, features Horikawa’s pronunciation of words, phrases and sentences in his native Osaka-ben. Sounding exactly like the cool guy Heiji Hattori from Case Closed giving you language lessons, the mobile app definitely makes it easier even for a foreigner to grasp Kansai-ben. If you happen to be a lover of the Japanese language and Kansai dialect, check out the pictures to learn how this app works and try it yourself:
Ryo Horikawa Twitter: @ryohorikawa / Ryo Horikawa YouTube Channel
Autograph Sessions at Anime Expo 2017: Day 1 (7/1): 10:40 AM, Day 2 (7/2): 12:20 PM, Day 4 (7/4): 10:50 AM (See Autograph Policy for more info)
Joining Horikawa on-stage will be U.S. voice actors from the English dub of Dragon Ball Super: Christopher R. Sabat (Vegeta) and Seán Schemmel (Goku) and Jason Douglas (Beerus). Together, they will engage Anime Expo attendees in an unforgettable look at Dragon Ball’s legacy. Sabat, Schemmel, and Douglas will also participate in autograph schedules at AX 2017. Please see the Funimation blog for more information.
The most exciting part of the event follows the presentation when the audience gets to decide what happens! During an extended Q&A session, the Dragon Ball Super cast will open up the floor to fans and their imaginations.
Dragon Ball Super Panel: Presented by Funimation & Toei Animation Inc.
Date: Monday, July 3
Time: 7:30PM – 9:00PM
Room: LP1/LACC Petree Hall
Posted by Melissa
