This year's Jump Fest will be held on December 17 and 18, 2016 and will feature the first public appearance by My Hero Academia manga author Kohei Horikoshi. Horikoshi previously asserted that he wanted to remain anonymous and let his work speak for itself while maintaining a private lifestyle. However, he recently stated that after speaking with some of his manga peers, he was convinced that his title will perform better if the public has a face to connect to his rising shonen manga.
Kohei's only other public appearance was a 2016 TV interview, in which he appeared on camera wearing a gas mask to hide his face. On the Jump Festa website, Horikoshi provided the following statement, "I have thought this is a kind of job I don't need to appear before public. But I have decided (to join) because I received advice from great people that I should. I will try not to bother the voice actors."
Joining Kohei for the My Hero Academia panel are two voice actors from the anime, Daiki Yamashita (Izuku Midoriya) and Nobuhiko Okamoto (Katauki Bakugo).
About Jump Festa
Jump Festa is an annual celebration contrived by Weekly Shonen Jump and its sister publications, Shonen Jump+, V Jump, Jump Square, and Saikyo Jump. Each year, the celebration is held in different areas in Japan. For 2016, the festival will be held in Makuhari Messe in the Chiba Prefecture.