During Crunchyroll Expo 2018, we had the honor of interviewing voice actor Clifford Chapin, most famously known for voicing Connie Springer in Attack On Titan & recently, Bakugo Katsuki in My Hero Academia. Watch as Clifford tells us about his career origins and his experiences voice Connie & Bakugo:
Stay tuned for our NEXT INTERVIEWS taking place at Los Angeles Comic Con 2018
DEBI DERRYBERRY
KIRBY MORROW
Since our initial announcement, the Hello Kitty Grand Cafe officially opened at The Irvine Spectrum in Irvine California!
The Hello Kitty Grand Cafe is now officially opened. Previously, the Irvine Spectrum had a temporary cafe Pop up that was in service for two years and half from 2015 – summer of 2018.
Concept design of the temporary cafe Pop up that was in service from 2015 – 2018
There are two sections of the cafe; One, the cafe which serves cakes, cookies and other Hello Kitty pastries. The second section is The Bow Room, which serves Afternoon Tea or evening Cocktail Service.
Bow Room hours are as follows:
AFTERNOON TEA HOURS:
•Wednesday-Friday: 11am-4pm
• Saturday and Sunday: 10am-4pm
COCKTAIL SERVICE HOURS:
• Wednesday, Thursday, Sunday: 5pm-9pm
• Friday and Saturday 5pm-11pm
You can also make reservations for the Bow Room here. We suggest you plan out your trip as there are other wonderful place to explore within the Irvine Spectrum.
Here are the official Cafe hours:
These hours are for the first section of the Cafe.
Check our photoset from the grand opening:
While you’re visiting Irvine, California, make sure to also visit Hello Kitty’s latest collaboration with Tanaka Farms for their Hello Kitty X Tanaka Farms Pumpkin Patch. Read our article about that here!
Set to be released on October 6 2018, Fans got the opportunity to watch the first, one-hour season premiere of SAO’s newest season, Sword Art Online Alicization. Along this one-day primere, Japan, Australia, France, Germany, Russia and South Korea also had their own special screening.
Aniplex had exclusive SAO items for those attending this special screening and set up shop, selling SAO exclusives and Alicization merchandise.
![SAO: Alicization poster that was given out to attendees [this particular poster is signed by some of the English cast of SAO]](https://i0.wp.com/thekitsunetwork.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/dsc1421.jpg?w=430&h=583&ssl=1 "_DSC1421")
![Exclusive Shishiki of Manabu Ono's Kirito sketch [This was signed by Kirito's English voice actor, Bryce Papenbrook]](https://i0.wp.com/thekitsunetwork.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/dsc1426.jpg?w=522&h=583&ssl=1 "_DSC1426")
Although we will not spoil the episode for you guys, the episode continues from where it left off in Ordinal Scale; This new season shines light on old characters from season one & two as well as, a new series director, Manabu Ono known for Hellsing, Saki, The Asterisk War & Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere.
Manabu Ono during Japan Expo 2017. Photo Credit: Coyote Mag via Twitter
For those who do not know, Alicization takes place during volumes 9 (Alicization Beginning) through volume 18 (Alicization Lasting) of Reki Kawahara’s Sword Art Online Alicization arc.
After the screening, we meet up with some special surprise guests, Bryce PapenBrook (Kirito) and Michelle Ruff (Sinon)
Check out our photoset for this event:
![SAO: Alicization poster that was given out to attendees [this particular poster is signed by some of the English cast of SAO]](https://i0.wp.com/thekitsunetwork.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/dsc1421.jpg?w=285&h=388&ssl=1 "_DSC1421")
![Exclusive Shishiki of Manabu Ono's Kirito sketch [This was signed by Kirito's English voice actor, Bryce Papenbrook]](https://i0.wp.com/thekitsunetwork.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/dsc1426.jpg?w=347&h=388&ssl=1 "_DSC1426")
Aside from newest SAO season, there are loads in store for Kawahara’s series, beginning with its new video game app,
During the game, you meet a young inexperienced female player named, Koharu and much like Kirito and Asuna, they both take on the dangerous world of Aincrad, ‘this is a story that might of happened in Aincrad’
The game is now available for download on Google Play and the Apple Store, make sure to read the official prologue manga, illustrated by Yu Uonuma, here! Learn more about the game on its official website, SAO: Internal Factor.
Since its initial release, Sword Art Online has been Kawahara’s most popular series with Accel World as a runner up and much like many popular mainstream anime series, they get a live action adaptation;
Back in 2016, Television production company SkyDance Media, announced that they’ve acquired the rights to Sword Art Online and are currently working with producer & writer, Patrick Massett, John Zinman (Lara Croft: Tomb Raider; The Blacklist; Friday Night Lights) & Laeta Kalogridis (Alita: Battle Angel; Terminator Genisys) whom are currently writing the pilot episode. Since the announcement, not much as been released regarding the progress of the series, however SkyDance Media release a small summary via the series’s official IMDB page stating:
“The series will follow a brilliant young beta tester Kirito and his group of friends when they are trapped – alongside 10,000 other people – in a next-generation virtual reality online role-playing game. The game is a world unto itself: filled with sword fighting, monsters and mystery, where the stakes are life and death. Kirito and an ensemble of diverse characters must fight their way through this hostile environment while making lives for themselves in the fantastical world that is known as Sword Art Online.”
The cast is yet to be revealed.
Sinon Cosplayer, SketchBook; Kirito Cosplayer, Mystic Taku
Who do you think will prefect for Kirito and Asuna? Comment below, we’d love to hear your opinions!
