From March 23-24, AnimeJapan 2019’s public event took place at Tokyo Big Sight in Koto Ward.
While we have covered AnimeJapan since Tokyo International Anime Fair and Anime Contents Expo (and those two events prior to AnimeJapan), one thing that interested us in seeing how much has changed since AnimeJapan began back in 2014.
While the event held it’s fifth anniversary in 2018, which brought 152,331 attendees, while members attended last year’s event, we did officially cover the event, wanting to wait until 2019, a non-anniversary year to see how the event has grown and changed since we were there.
One thing was quite obvious, while I left extra early (at 7:30 a.m., I had to be there before 9:30 a.m.), deciding that I may go get breakfast at a restaurant at Tokyo Big Sight or head to Odaiba quickly, plans changed as we noticed the train was packed.
Were people going to work? Or was this all for AnimeJapan 2019?
Well, it appears that everyone was on the train for the event as early as 7:30 a.m., so I figured, I better head to Tokyo Big Sight and immediately, I saw hundreds of people there, making there way to the attendance line. So, I figured, I better head to the press line. Just in case this happened, prior to leaving, I was able to have water in my backpack along with two onigiri. So, I figured, let’s get the press badge and then I can think about going to Tully’s or somewhere to grab a bite.
While I know the attendee line will be huge (it was huge back then), one thing that I have loved about AnimeJapan is the efficiency of getting attendees in and not making people wait in line too long (unless you were there super early in the morning). “LineCon” is something we deal often with major anime conventions and for some conventions, especially in America, lines at anime conventions are always a work in progress and for some major cons, sometimes the lines are so long that they extend so far into some dangerous areas (and it’s even worse in high head and for some states, humidity). But for friends who have attended AnimeJapan, they have always said that while the line is long, getting inside doesn’t take too long at all.
Well, there was a line at the press line early in the morning. This was longer than previous years and figured there would be a wait, so I started to livestream live for a bit. Remembering how things were in 2015, I figured I would stay with the two onigiri that I had and forsake any other breakfast and figured I would get something eat at lunch (note: For those who are wondering why I am bringing food, it’s important for press, writers/photographers to eat well and drink well, because if you’ve done this job long enough and cover major events, you are always busy and breaks are very few) and see if I could get shots of booths and available booth girls and cosplayers before people start filling the place.
As I went inside, I was quite impressed to see how much the event has grown. Looking at the program guide, it’s really interesting to see how much the event has expanded, as I could remember the past and how everything was in just two exhibit halls. But now, the event has grown to the point that it’s spread out to various areas.
One of the things that caught my attention immediately is how many companies are now going all out for their booths. In the earlier years of AnimeJapan, only huge companies had big booths, but everything else was small.
In fact, because of how small things were back then, it was normal for us (in the press and also some attendees) to talk about staying only for a few hours and then grabbing lunch together in Odaiba because you would have seen all there was to see.
But I know that AnimeJapan has changed to the point where they are having multiple stages of events and there are so many other companies just going all out with their booths, making one wanting to stay at that booth for more than five minutes.
There is so much to see, so many more interactive displays or games or something that keeps people in that booth longer. And that is important!
I’m glad to see not just large companies but also middle and even some smaller sized companies having learned that by having booths with content and more various things to see, will make people want to come and stay in the booth much longer.
So far, I’m liking the direction where AnimeJapan 2019 is going with the expansion to more exhibit rooms, more variety with events via stages and companies taking the initiative to have better booths that make people want to stay longer.
Stay tuned for AnimeJapan 2019 Convention Report – Part 2 later today!
More from my site
