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Anime Expo to Host X Japan Leader Yoshiki for We Are X Screening
posted on by Karen Ressler
The official website for Anime Expo announced on Tuesday YOSHIKI, leader of rock band X Japan, will appear at the event for a screening of the X-Japan documentary We Are X. The screening will take place on Sunday, July 2 from 12:00-2:00 p.m. and will be followed by a Q&A session.
We Are X is also sponsoring the convention's masquerade and World Cosplay Summit U.S. Preliminary.
YOSHIKI recently underwent surgery in Los Angeles, and is expected to make a 90% recovery within six months. He was previously diagnosed with cervical foraminal stenosis (narrowing of the cervical disc space) in 2009, and his symptoms reappeared last October.
X Japan's most notable anime contributions were the songs in the X² music video collection and later X movie. The animation Studio Madhouse adapted both productions from CLAMP's X manga. The surviving band members — Toshimitsu "Toshi" Deyama, Yoshiki Hayashi, Tomoaki "Pata" Ishizuka, and Hiroshi "Heath" Morie — reunited in 2007, ten years after they first disbanded and nine years after the death of guitarist Hideto "Hide" Matsumoto.
This year's Anime Expo convention will run from July 1 to July 4 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. In addition, the convention will formally include a preview night a day before on June 30.