The American incarnation of the Japan Expo convention announced on Friday that it will host character designer and manga creator Yoshiyuki Sadamoto as a Guest of Honor.

Sadamoto designed the characters in the original Neon Genesis Evangelion television anime series from Gainax, as well as Hideaki Anno and Khara's ongoing film revamp of the story. He also just completed the manga version of Neon Genesis Evangelion this month, over 18 years after he started.

Sadamoto designed the characters in other Gainax projects such as Royal Space Force - The Wings of Honnêamise, Nadia, FLCL, and Gunbuster 2: Diebuster. He collaborated with Mamoru Hosoda on the director's three most recent films: The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Summer Wars, and last year's Wolf Children. Sadamoto's other design credits include "A Tale of Two Robots: Chapter Meiji" in Robot Carnival and the .hack game and anime franchise.