CINDY YAMAUCHI
Featured Guest, Animator
Cindy H. Yamauchi is a Japanese-American animator, character designer, and animation director based in Tokyo. She began her career in Japan as an in-between artist and later became a freelance animator. After nearly a decade away from the industry while living in the United States, she returned to animation with Madhouse’s Gungrave in 2003. Since then, she has worked on numerous anime productions in roles including key animator, animation supervisor, chief animation supervisor, and character designer. Her recent credits include Character Designer for Tojima Tanzaburo Wants to be a Kamen Rider, Animation Director for Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War, and Character Designer & Animation Director for Akudama Drive. In addition to her professional animation work, Cindy is currently producing Boys Be Heroes!, an original independent anime music video project inspired by Japanese tokusatsu heroes and local community culture.
Jun Watanabe
Featured Guest, Director
Jun Watanabe is a Japanese Action Director, Director, and Actor with over 25 years of experience in the entertainment industry. He is currently serving as the Action Director for Kamen Rider Zeztz, one of the latest installments in Japan’s iconic Kamen Rider franchise. Throughout his career, Jun has worked across multiple disciplines including action direction, stunt performance, suit acting, and directing. His ability to combine practical action, character-driven performance, and cinematic storytelling has made him a respected figure within the Japanese action industry. His Action Director credits include Kamen Rider Zero-One, Kamen Rider Saber, Kamen Rider Revice, Ohsama Sentai King-Ohger, Bakuage Sentai Boonboomger, and Kamen Rider Zeztz. As a Director, he has helmed episodes of Bakuage Sentai Boonboomger and Kamen Rider Zeztz, bringing together action design and visual storytelling. As a performer and suit actor, Jun has portrayed numerous heroes and characters throughout the Kamen Rider and Super Sentai franchises, including Kamen Rider Eternal, Kamen Rider Mach, Kamen Rider Todoroki, Go-on Gold, and GekiChopper, among many others. Internationally, he served as Second Unit Director on Power Rangers Cosmic Fury, further expanding his experience in global productions and international collaboration. Jun’s action philosophy emphasizes practical stunt work, wire action, high falls, actor-driven performance, and cinematic action storytelling. He believes that action is a universal language capable of connecting people across cultures and borders. His mission is to continue bringing the spirit of Japanese action and tokusatsu entertainment to audiences around the world through both creative collaboration and innovation.
Aoi Matsuyama
Featured Guest, Music
Aoi Matsuyama is a Japanese singer-songwriter, entertainer, and multimedia creator known for her uniquely self-produced approach to idol entertainment. With nearly 240,000 followers on TikTok and more than 73,000 subscribers on YouTube, Aoi has built a dedicated audience through her music, creative projects, and energetic personality. Unlike many performers, she is deeply involved in every aspect of her work, including songwriting, composition, costume design, merchandise production, video content, and animation projects. Aoi is the creator of the original television anime series Matsuyama Aoi Monogatari, serving as its writer, character designer, director, voice actress, and theme song performer. The series has aired multiple season on TV Saitama. She also hosted her own television program, Matsuyama Aoi no Kimagure, further establishing herself as a multifaceted entertainer. Her music career includes contributions to Konami rhythm game franchises such as Pop’n Music and Gitadora, where she performed and wrote songs featured in the games. She has also provided theme songs for film and television projects and appeared on numerous Japanese television programs. Career highlights include performances at Tokyo Idol Festival, Vivala Pop at Saitama Super Arena, the Kaohsiung International Animation Festival in Taiwan, and solo concerts at major venues including KT Zepp Yokohama, Zepp Shinjuku, and Shibuya WWW. Blending music, anime, creativity, and positive energy, Aoi continues to inspire audiences of all through her unique vision of entertainment.
