The song list for Megumi’s concert is now available. Here’s what she’ll be singing at the concert:

1. Hohoemi No Bakudan [Yu☆Yu☆Hakusho OP]
2. Homework ga Owaranai [Yu☆Yu☆Hakusho ED]
3. Moonlight Densetsu [Sailor Moon OP]
4. Yuzurenai Negai [Magic Knight Rayearth OP]
5. Platinum [Card Captor Sakura OP]
6. Agape [UFO Princess Valkyrie IMAGE]
7. Fly Me To The Moon [Neon Genesis Evangelion ED]
8. Komm, Susser Tod (Come, Sweet Death) [Evangelion AIR IMAGE]
9. THANATOS – If I can’t be yours -　[Evangelion AIR ED]
10. Beautiful World [Rebuild of Evangelion ED]
11. ENDLESS LOVE [Ogata Megumi Original]
12. can’t go back my mission [Ogata Megumi Original]
13. Hare Hare Yukai [Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya ED]
14. Don’t Say Lazy [K-ON ED]
15. My Soul, Your Beats! [Angel Beats! OP]
16. Crow Song [Angel Beats! IMAGE]
17. chAngE [BLEACH OP]
18. Get Wild [City Hunter ED]
19. Unbalance na KISS wo shite [Yu☆Yu☆Hakusho ED]
20. + SPECIAL ENCORE

Additional details are available on the official event page for the concert on Facebook. Tickets are available for purchase online or at FanExpo (Line up and purchase your ticket while entering the concert or pre-purchase at the YOSHITAKA AMANO GOODS BOOTH).

More official details: concert tickets are $30 each (plus taxes and service charges). Purchasers of concert tickets who also purchase FanExpo tickets will receive priority seating at the event. This is a separate event from FanExpo and you do not have to purchase a FanExpo ticket to attend the concert. The concert starts at 7:30pm. Priority seating will be let in at 7:00pm sharp. The concert duration will be approximately 90 minutes.

We hope Toronto fans who attend the concert have a great time!

Megumi Ogata (Sailor Uranus) will be appearing at FanExpo 2010 in Toronto. Fans can attend her Q&A session on Saturday, August 28th at 1pm in room #206C. A deluxe/weekend pass is required to attend the Q&A session. If you have questions for Megumi, you can e-mail them to ogataqanda@punchgo.com

Autograph sessions with Megumi will be taking place on Friday, August 27th at 8pm in signing area BB and on Saturday, August 28th at 11:30 am in signing area AA. All FanExpo passes will allow you in for autographs.

Megumi will also be performing a concert on Saturday, August 28th at 7:30pm in the John Bassett Theatre. This is a special ticket event which costs $30. You do not have to buy a pass to FanExpo to get in, but FanExpo pass holders receive priority entrance into the venue. Tickets are limited to 1300 seats. If you would like to buy concert tickets in advance, you can buy them online here (scroll down to the bottom). Note that no food or drink is allowed in the venue and no photographs, audio, or video recordings are allowed during the concert.

This year’s FanExpo will be held at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre in the North Building. All events featuring Megumi will be in this building, with the concert theatre in the underground level. The address is 255 Front Street West. Directions are available here. Deluxe/weekend passes are $59, basic/day passes are $29 (for Friday or Sunday) or $35 (for Saturday).

Fans may also be interested in the “Breakfast with the Stars” special ticket event. This breakfast with anime voice actors will take place at 10am on Sunday, August 29th at Manpuku Japanese Restaurant. Tickets are $40 each and will be on sale at the Anime Info Booth (next to the Masquerade Info Booth) during Friday and Saturday of FanExpo.

More anime events at FanExpo are listed here. The full anime schedule can be downloaded here.

Here comes part two of our seiyuu update – Outer Senshi and Sailor Starlights!

Mika Doi (Queen Serenity) can be heard playing Kotoko Fujioka (Haruhi’s mother) in Ouran High School Host Club (one of our staff favorites)! She also played Queen Dessert in the last Pretty Cure Movie Yes! Precure 5 GoGo! Happy Birthday in the Land of Sweets, playing Queen Dessert*. The 2003 movie Levity was just released in Japan, and Mika is the Japanese dub voice of Holly Hunter’s character, Adele Easley.

Masako Katsuki (Sailor Neptune): She is used as the Japanese dub voice for Kim Cattrall’s legendary character from Sex and the City, Samantha Jones. It is very likely she will be used again for the upcoming movie sequel set to hit theaters this coming Summer. She is also the voice of Princess Rose in Gokujo!! Mecha Mote Iincho, a silly romantic comedy about a high school girl who tries to reform a trio of bad boys. She is teaching voice acting as well, and for those of you who want to see a more recent photo of her, here she is hugging one of her students! The student’s blog entry says that she is finding her acting classes tough, but that Masako is a great teacher! Unfortunately, despite our best efforts we were unable to find out what school she is teaching through.

Megumi Ogata (Sailor Uranus) continues to play one of her most famous roles as Shinji Ikari in the new Evangelion movies! She also sang at a concert celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Japanese music label Lantis. Lantis is a special music label since it specializes in anime and video game soundtracks. She began her performance in her voice as Shinji saying “The Pilot of Evangelion is Shinji Ikari!” and sang Silver Rain ~Piano Version~. She also debuted a new song at this concert, Silent Decide.

Chiyoko Kawashima (Sailor Pluto) retired in 2001.

Yuko Minaguchi (Sailor Saturn) has had a few roles in some recent anime. In Jigoku Shoujo Mitsuganae (Hell Girl: Cauldron), she played Nanami Kikuchi. In Hayate the Combat Butler, she played Nagi Sanzenin’s mother, Yukariko (another one of our staff favorite animes). In a recent episode of Detective Conan, she played Mina Eguchi.Yuko is also the third star of Sailor Moon to be a part of technology launch parties in Japan, next to Toru Furuya and Kotono Mitsuishi. Earlier this month, she took place in an event at Ikebukuro Sunshine City. At the “Windows 7 Lenovo Enhanced Experience” she demonstrated how to use the new Lenovo Thinkpad. She posted a photo of herself learning how to use the Thinkpad with an office staff member on her blog! Unfortunately we couldn’t find any photos of her at the event.

Shiho Niiyama (Sailor Star Fighter) tragically passed away almost ten years ago. She is still dearly missed by her family, colleagues, and fans.

Narumi Tsunoda (Sailor Star Maker) can be heard in the supernatural romantic anime Tayutama: Kiss on my Deity. She plays Toshie Takayama in this show about a high school boy who accidentally summons Goddesses in the forms of teenaged girls who want to be humans for a while! Toshie is the school’s director, who intended to destroy these ancestral grounds which the boy used to summon these spirits, thinking that they were useless.

Chika Sakamoto (Sailor Star Healer) leant her voice to an audio tour of a major exhibit about dinosaurs in a museum in Japan this summer. The exhibit featured dinosaur facts, models, and a few near-complete skeletons of over 280 species of dinosaurs!

Sakiko Tamagawa (Princess Kakyuu) is currently playing the mysterious girl Juiz in Higashi no Eden (Eden of the East). She is an advanced work of artificial intelligence that is a mysterious female voice which is connected to twelve special assassins in the series, the Selecao. The anime series ended last June, but two movies are set to be released, one on November the 28th, and the other sometime in January.

And as a bonus, Sailor Galaxia!

Mitsuko Horie (Sailor Galaxia) sang at a special concert on November 15th, celebrating her 40th anniversary singing songs for anime (pictured). She shed a few tears during this concert! Also, the concert featured songs from her fellow judges from the ANISON Grand Prix panel, Ichiro Mizuki and Yumi Matsuzawa. Mitsuko also released an album last August commemorating her 40th anniversary.

*SPEAKING OF PRETTY CURE: it appears sometime last month, the show was pulled mid-run from YTV’s schedule. As of this writing, we cannot confirm why this has happened. There is a rumor floating around that the show may finish its run on Nickelodeon Canada, however we’re taking that with a grain of salt since most if not all of the programming on that particular channel comes from Nickelodeon. Pretty Cure probably wouldn’t jive with programs on that channel!

In Pictures with Voice!

Japanese Yu Yu Hakusho fans will be getting an extra bonus added onto the upcoming Blu-Ray release of the first season – a new episode! Well, sorta. Imagine still pictures with voices, and that’s what this new episode will be like (known as a “picture drama” in Japanese). The four main characters of the show, Nozomu Sasaki (Kurumiwario), Shigeru Chiba, Megumi Ogata (Sailor Uranus, Petz), and Nobuyuki Hiyama (Mercurius, Tsunawataro, Eda Yosaku) will return, along with others. We’re thinking it will be like the Flashimated manga episodes on Sailor Moon Channel, except in full color. The episode is said to be a brand new story that takes place right after the final episode. We look forward to seeing what this will be like, and we hope fans of YYH will be satisfied. As of this writing we can’t say for sure whether FUNImation will release this series on Blu-Ray with this episode, but we’ll have to see. The series will be released on October 27th, and will feature 32 episodes over 5 discs. The jackets will also feature new artwork from Togashi himself. Extras include a bonus disc with episodes of the OVA Eizō Hakusho: Ankoku Bujutsukai. For you tech buffs, the episodes will be featured in 4:3 with 1080p resolution in MPEG-4 AVC format with PCM sound. For more information on what all that stuff means, feel free to ask The Me. The boxart for the upcoming release is pictured above, and it will cost at ¥42,000 , which is approximately $435 USD. Yes, we’re having a heart attack too just looking at that price!

Each of the actors involved also had a few comments to say about this experience! Nozomu says he was happy to work with them all again and looks forward to getting a Blu-Ray player so he can watch all 50 hours of episodes together! Shigeru felt that nothing had changed in the ten years since they had recorded. Megumi is happy that the series is being released in better quality, and she is happy to work on it again. Nobuyuki is happy that the cast had a reunion after so many years.

Toru Furuya Reprises Role in A Ramen Commercial?

Some say it was bound to happen. The Nissin Freedom Project reminded us a lot of other anime series, mainly Gundam, Evangelion and Eureka 7. Now we have learned of a new crossover between Nissin and the Gundam series, wherein Gundam characters revel at the sight of a bowl of noodles after being starved from fighting their battles. The noodles are inserted into memorable scenes from the first-ever Mobile Suit Gundam series. Toru Furuya (Tuxedo Kamen) reprises his role as Ray Amuro, who can be seen here (left side) joyously relieved after seeing a floating bowl of noodles in space, before his delusion causes him to fall out of his spaceship. Banjou Ginga also reprises his role as Gihren Zabi in the commercials (on the same page as above, but on the right). We find it funny the lengths some Japanese companies will go through to have their products appeal to the masses – we couldn’t help but laugh at the randomness of the noodles that floated in space.

Ai Nonaka Inspired by Megumi Ogata

Ai Nonaka is 26 years old, but has dreamed of being an actress since she was very young. In high school, she was the head of the drama club and dreamed of playing the male roles in the famous Takarazuka Revue. However she was not tall enough for an audition there, and turned to radio acting school. Today she is both a singer and a Seiyuu, and sat down with Famitsu for an interview. She revealed that she was inspired by the performances of Megumi Ogata (Sailor Uranus) who typically plays roles of women who are tomboyish, sometimes playing even boys and men. She even got to meet Megumi Ogata when she was a guest star on one of the radio shows that she was acting in, and stayed behind so that she could meet her idol. Ai says that while she is happy to have achieved her dream, she has very little time to herself. She has just added aromatherapy to her daily regiment to help relieve all the stress from being an actress and singing! Ai Nonaka is famous for such roles as Shima Katase in Stellvia of the Universe, Konoka Konoe in Mahou Sensei Negima, and most recently, Fuko Ibuki in Clannad.

New Gackt Album Inspired by Gundam!

Japanese Rocker Gackt released a new album of covers from 0079-0088 Gundam Series on December 21st. Entitled 0079-0088 , the limited edition features narration from none other than Toru Furuya and Shuichi Ikeda. There was a party held that day in Kinokuniya to commemorate the album’s release, and Keiko Han (Luna and Queen Beryl) was in attendance. She once played the role of Lalah Sune on the series. A video message was also shown from Toru Furuya, who was in China for a cultural exchange on that day. Fans looking to purchase either narrated version (Toru’s or Shuichi’s) or the normal version can click the links to find them on YesAsia.com.

Jadeite and Artemis in Upcoming Anime!

Masaya Onosaka (Jadeite) is set to voice the character Jade “J.D.” in an anime to debut this April, Neo Angelique Abyss. There will also be a video game out for Sony’s PlayStation 2 at around the same time. This one is a romantic, magical girl anime which continues from the previous series, Angelique. Angelique is now a Queen and must defend her kingdom from Thanatos, which has consumed many other societies around her in darkness. The show also stars Kappei Yamaguchi (PGSM Artemis) in the role of René. Jade is on Angelique’s side and wants to help so he can see lots of people smiling, however René is a very gloomy and devilish person. The series was created by Koei and is expected to be a big hit.

Aya Sugimoto Takes On New Role…

As a producer! Aya, who is famous to us for playing Queen Beryl in PGSM , and to others for her “modelling”, produced a Kabuki show in Japan on the 23rd of December. She attended one of the classes to learn Kabuki, and found that it took a lot of energy ! She found the restrictive movements difficult, and admired the 12 women for their grace and persistence in the art. For those of our readers who are unaware what Kabuki is, it is a style of dance drama that is usually performed by females, though in recent history some men perform it as well. They are usually short comedic plays based on stories along the walk of life. The performers always wear fancy kimonos and a lot of makeup when they perform these on stage.

Mika Kanai Soldiers on!

Mika Kanai (Mimete) put on quite the show at the Suchi Pie Christmas Special December 16th! Despite recent news of her divorce, she sang alongside several maids and put on a very successful concert along with the rest of the cast of Suchi Pie. When she came to perform, not many people knew that it was her, since she rarely appears in public, let alone even to sing. She sang You And Me , the second ending to the most recent video game of the series, Idol Sparrow Suchi Pie IV. Mika also serves as the voice of a character in this game, Misaki Kyoko. Rika Fukami (Sailor Venus) plays the role of Nanjou Rie, but she was not at this event. Mika was supported by a chorus of girls dressed up as café maids, which serve as the premise of this game. She came dressed in a cute black elf costume and sang with lots of enthusiasm! This game is unique because it was formatted for the home market, and is based on the popular Asian matching game of Mahjong. Fans can check out some more information about the series here. As of this writing, we have not heard if this game will be released here.

Masaya Kikawada to Appear in Chronic Complainer!

Chronic Complainers is a short TV Movie that is set to air January the 6th on Fuji’s Tokai TV. It is about life in a department store, specifically the complaints that are received at the returns counter. The department store is 140 years old, and has an aging management that has to deal with a variety of occurrences at the store, such as a drunk person who passes out while shopping, and not wanting to have to reimburse a customer for a faulty piece of kitchenware – that should be the manufacturer’s job! It looks like it will be a heartwarming comedy about the skills needed to cope with such a job, as well as the relationships among the workers. Masaya Kikawada (PGSM Motoki) plays Eren Tatsuya, a clerk at the store.

And thus ends our last article of the year! Thanks for a great 2007!