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New Jersey's AnimeNEXT to Host Yuri!!! on Ice Staff

The official Twitter account for New Jersey-based anime convention AnimeNext announced on Thursday that it will host animators Junpei Tatenaka and Noriko Itou, animation producer Takahiro Ogawa, and color designer Izumi Hirose at its 2017 convention.

Tatenaka previously worked at Disney Animation Japan before working on anime, working on such films as Pooh's Grand Adventure, Pocahontas 2, The Hunchback of Notre Dame II, and Mulan 2. He works as a freelance animation supervisor, and worked on such anime as Major, Ro-Kyu-Bu!, and Ace of Diamond. He worked with director Sayo Yamamoto on her "Endless Night" Japan Animator Expo ice skating short, and worked with her again as the lead figure skating animator in the Yuri!!! on Ice anime.

Itou is a freelance key animator and animation supervisor, and has drawn or supervised cuts on such anime as Saint Seiya Omega, Pokémon XY, Terror in Resonance, Yona of the Dawn, Punch Line, Kuroko's Basketball, and Kids on the Slope, among many others. She was the prop designer and lead animation supervisor for Yuri!!! on Ice.

Ogawa works at the anime studio MAPPA, and has worked as a production desk manager and animation producer on such titles as Rage of Bahamut Genesis, Garo: Divine Flame, and Yuri!!! on Ice.

Hirose works at Production I.G, and her works include the color design for such anime as Attack on Titan, Dead Leaves, Ghost in the Shell Arise, Ghost in the Shell: The New Movie, Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress, Steamboy, xxxHOLiC, and Guilty Crown. She served as the color designer for Yuri!!! on Ice.

AnimeNEXT 2017 will be held at the Atlantic City Convention Center in Atlantic City, New Jersey from June 9-11. Previously announced guests include Studio Trigger's Hiromi Wakabayashi, Shigeto Koyama, Shūhei Handa, and Yoh Yoshinari; and ReLIFE director Tomochi Kosaka, character designer Junko Yamanaka, and voice actress Reina Ueda.