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Masao Maruyama, Jirō Ishii Cancel Otakon Apperances

Otakorp Inc. announced on Tuesday that Jirō Ishii and Masao Maruyama will no longer be able to attend this year's Otakon. Ishii is unable to attend due to a medical issue, and Maruyama cancelled due to production commitments on the In This Corner of the World film. Maruyama also sent Otakon a short video apologizing for his absence, and explaining that another producer on the film has been hospitalized.

Ishii is the scriptwriter for anime project Under the Dog. This project was announced two years ago at Otakon in 2014, and had a digital release on August 1. Other Under the Dog staff members — producer Koji Morimoto and Kinema Citrus president Muneki Ogasawara — will still attend the convention.

Maruyama is a producer at MAPPA. Maruyama was involved in the establishment of MADHOUSE in 1972. Since then, he has nurtured talents such as Tetsuro Araki, Atsuko Ishizuka and the late Satoshi Kon. Among the anime he has produced are Unico, Ninja Scroll, Card Captor Sakura, Monster, Death Note, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Paprika, Redline, and Supernatural the Animation. Maruyama left MADHOUSE in 2011 to form MAPPA.

Otakon's previously announced guests include voice actor Kazutomi Yamamoto, craftsman Shunsuke Wada, vocalist MICHI, rock band ALL OFF, voice actress Yui Makino, model Kuniko Kanawa, executive producer Nobuhiro Kikuchi, songwriter YOSHIKI, producer Yoshitaka Kawaguchi, P.A. Works CEO Kenji Horikawa, art director Kazuki Higashiji, director Kasumi Fukagawa, craftsmen Shiro Dogu and Shunsuke Wada, director Kazuki Akane, and director LeSean Thomas.

The Otakon Matsuri street festival will be held on August 11 at Baltimore's West Shore Park. Persona series rapper Lotus Juice and singer Shihoko Hirata, as well as Naruto singer Diana Garnet will perform at Otakon Matsuri.