Star-Studded Anime Awards Presenters Include Actors, Football Players And Robert Rodriguez

Crunchyroll just revealed the slate of guests that would be presenting the seventh annual Anime Awards in Tokyo next month, and…we have to hand it to them. One would expect the stars of the evening to be voice actors or anime directors, but this time they’re shelling out the BIG bucks to rope in some A-list names (and I guess as the largest US anime distributor post-merge with Funimation, they have the money).

Here’s who is currently scheduled to appear:

• Aidan Hutchinson,  American football defensive end for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League.

• Finn Wolfhard, actor, musician and director (Stranger Things, Pinocchio, Ghostbusters, IT)

• Hunter Schafer, actress and artist (Euphoria and the upcoming The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes)

• Jacob Bertrand, actor (Cobra Kai)

• Juju Smith-Schuster, American football wide receiver for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League

• Robert Rodriguez, film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer, editor and musician (Desperado, From Dusk Till Dawn, Alita: Battle Angel)

• Zelina Vega, WWE Superstar

• Sykkuno, one of the largest streamers on YouTube Gaming (9.8M+ followers)

• Valkyrae, one of the biggest female streamers in the world (13M followers) and the co-owner of 100 Thieves

“I love anime, it’s an art form that has always inspired me. For the creators, it’s unbound creativity and freedom of expression, where they can make truly iconic, creative worlds and characters,” said the aforementioned Robert Rodriguez. “Anime is a crucible for new ideas and fresh perspectives in entertainment. So I’m very excited to help celebrate the grand winners being honored at the Crunchyroll Anime Awards in Japan.”

Crunchyroll says this isn’t even the full list! More names as well as musical performers will be announced closer to presentation day. We would’ve been impressed with just Rodriguez.