ReportsAnime Expo 2025 feat. Kinoshita Itaru (Dinosaur Sanctuary) and Matsumura Tomoka (Shinchosha)

2025/9/1

Kinoshita Itaru, author of Dinosan (JP: Shinchosha, ENG: Dinosaur Sanctuary, Seven Seas Entertainment), and his editor Matsumura Tomoka participated in Anime Expo (AX) from July 3rd to 6th. Held in Los Angeles, California, Anime Expo is the largest anime/manga event outside of Japan. This event was the first ever overseas trip for the MINT project participants.

The MINT exhibition booth featured panel displays introducing the six manga artists, promotional videos, a display focused on Dinosaur Sanctuary, and the screening of a light anime introducing Dinosaur Sanctuary. Visitors were also able to receive a free sample catalog featuring the English translations of all six manga artists’ works. Kinoshita Itaru also attended two fully-booked autograph sessions, two panel talks, and conducted live drawings, allowing many fans to enjoy meeting and interacting with him in-person.

The two also appeared at a public lecture as part of the “Comics in the City” event hosted by the California College of the Arts in San Francisco, with MINT advisor Debora Aoki acting as moderator. Kinoshita spoke about his career as a manga artist and the worldview of Dinosaur Sanctuary and also demonstrated live drawing.

Kinoshita, who studied abroad in the United States, interacted with fans and participated in media interviews in English, charming many fans with his friendly and smooth communication.

Kinoshita at the autograph signing event.