Otakon 2014 to Feature Manga-ka and Character Designer Yusuke Kozaki

Otakon 2014 has announce it's first guest for this year's convention. This year character designer Yusuke Kozaki has been confirmed to be in attendance. Yusuke Kozaki began accumulating accolades at the age of 19, winning the Young Magazine young talent award, and the Chiba Tetsuya Award soon after. His first short story, "Mikakunin Higoshojo Kaoru", was published by Young Magazine, and in 2002 his long-form story "Kyoko Karasuma" appeared in B-Street. He's currently working on the surreal, apocalyptic manga Donyatsu. Kozaki is increasingly in demand as a character designer; his crisply detailed look lends itself well to both anime (Speed Grapher, Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto) and video games (No More Heroes, Fire Emblem Awakening, Osu! Tatakae! Oendan). He also designed the virtual idol duo Meaw for Starchild Records. In addition, his Donyatsu manga has been adapted as a series of CGI animated shorts over the last year, and he has several as-yet-unannounced projects in the pipeline. Kozaki will work as the main character designer and illustrator for a Kickstarter project titled Under the Dog, which will launch its crowdfunding campaign in August. In this capacity, Kozaki will be contributing illustrations, character designs, and other works of art necessary to make Under the Dog visually engaging. Otakon 2014 will be held August 8-10 at the Baltimore Convention Center in Baltimore, MD