June 16, 2009

Voice actor Travis Willingham to appear at Otakon

Best known as Colonel Roy Mustang in Fullmetal Alchemist

Baltimore, MD (June 15, 2009) – American voice actor Travis Willingham, who has a wide array of anime and video game credits as well as playing some on-screen roles, will be a guest at Otakon 2009.

Willingham has worked in stage, TV, and film, but is best known in the anime world for his character Colonel Roy Mustang in Fullmetal Alchemist, one of his very first roles in anime. He has since gone on to work on many other popular titles in both Texas and Los Angeles.

His anime credits include Kanda (D. Gray~Man), Pierre (Aquarion), Badrick Serihan (Black Blood Brothers), Andreas Darlton (Code Geass), Iggy (Ergo Proxy), Kaiji (GunxSword), Cleo (Glass Fleet), Ginko (Mushishi), Portgas D. Ace (One Piece), Leon (Vexille), Takigawa (Ghost Hunt), Eustoma (Shuffle), Yanagisawa (Yu Yu Hakusho), as well as other roles in Hellsing Ultimate, Case Closed, Blue Gender, Dragonball Z, GT, Daphne in the Brilliant Blue, Mermaid Forrest, and The Melody of Oblivion.

After moving to Los Angeles in 2004, Willingham began working on numerous feature films, as well as continuing to work in ADR voice over. Some of his on-screen credits include Secondhand Lions, Ray, Friday Night Lights, Prison-A-Go-Go, The Guardian, and A Perfect Getaway, which will be in theatres nationwide this August. He has also worked on CBS' Cold Case, FX's Nip/Tuck, and Fox's Prison Break.

His video game credits include: Guile (Street Fighter 4), Nathan Hale (Resistance 2), Torgal (The Last Remnant), Clint (Tales of Vesperia), Zhang Liao/Zhou Tai (Dynasty Warriors 6), Evan Bernard (Time Crisis 4), Roy Mustang (Fullmetal Alchemist games: Dual Sympathy, Broken Angel, and Curse of the Crimson Elixir), Yodai Higashizawa (The World Ends With You), Gabriel Celeste (Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria), Stroud (Dawn of Mana), Portgas D. Ace (One Piece: Grand Battle), Armored Core: For Answer, Legendary, and Guitar Hero World Tour.

His newest role will be playing The Hulk and The Human Torch in Marvel's new animated series, Marvel Superhero Squad.

Otakon 2009 will be held July 17-19 at the Baltimore Convention Center in Baltimore, Maryland.

ABOUT OTAKON AND OTAKORP, INC.: Now entering its sixteenth year, Otakon is an annual celebration of Japanese and East Asian popular culture, and also one of the largest gatherings of fans in the United States. Otakon celebrates popular culture as a gateway to deeper understanding of Asian culture, and has grown along with the enthusiasm for anime, manga, video games, and music from the Far East. Since 1999, Otakon has been held in Baltimore, Maryland; currently, Otakon is one of Baltimore's few large, city-wide events, drawing over 25,000 individual members for three days each year (for a paid attendance of over 70,000 "turnstile" attendees). Otakon is a membership-based convention sponsored by Otakorp, Inc., a Pennsylvania-based, 501(c)3 educational non-profit whose mission is to promote the appreciation of Asian culture, primarily through its media and entertainment. Otakorp, Inc. is directed by an all-volunteer, unpaid staff – we are run by fans, for fans.

For more information about Otakorp, Inc., see http://www.otakon.com/otakorp/index.asp
For more information and the latest news on Otakon 2009, see http://www.otakon.com/

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