Anime Expo announced on X (formerly Twitter) on Thursday illustrator Yoshitaka Amano will attend this year’s event as a guest.
Image via Anime Expo’s X/Twitter account
© Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation 2026.
The event previously hosted the artist in 2023.
Amano is most well known for his contributions to Vampire Hunter D and the Final Fantasy series, as well as his collaboration with English graphic novelist Neil Gaiman on Sandman: The Dream Hunters. He has been in the anime industry since he was 15, when he joined the veteran studio Tatsunoko Production, and has contributed to many anime and video game projects.
GIBIATE PROJECT, a global IP development group that includes Amano (Final Fantasy games), developed the Gibiate series. The group announced the anime at Anime Expo 2019. The anime premiered in July 2020. Amano also drew the character designs for the Exception Netflix anime, which debuted in October 2022.
Anime Expo 2026 will take place from July 2-5 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.
Last year’s event had a record turnstile attendance of over 410,000 attendees from more than 65 countries.
Source: Anime Expo’s X/Twitter account
