Anime spectacle returns to Tokyo Big Sight.

The weather was cold and rainy in Tokyo last weekend, but that wasn’t going to keep us away from making the trip to the Tokyo Big Sight convention center in the Odaiba neighborhood for Anime Japan, the anime industry’s largest convention in Japan.

In contrast to the largely run-by-fans Comiket, Anime Japan is chiefly organized by anime publishers themselves, with the scale and polish of the booth displays being professional-grade. Outside the Aniplex booth, for instance, were gigantic walls of monitors running previews of their upcoming titles.

Inside there was some cool physical artwork on display, like a real-life version of Rurouni Kenshin’s reverse-blade Sakabato katana…

…and chalkboard doodles of Lycoris Recoil’s Chisato and Takina, plus handwritten messages from their voice actresses Chika Anzai and Shion Wakayama.

▼ “Had an awesome time! So happy!” – Chika
“So much fun! So happy!” – Shion

The Aniplex booth also had some interactive spots, like a giant version of those old-school “don’t touch the sides or you’ll get an electric shock” games celebrating the new Urusei Yatsura.

▼ Everyone who tried got a post card, and if you made it to the end without hitting the sides you got a clear file too.

▼ The Lum-inspired outfit worn by voice actress Sumire Uesaka in promos for the series.

For the upcoming Rascal Does Not Dream of a Sister Venturing Out, a photo spot, complete with umbrellas, let fans recreate the movie’s key art.

Meanwhile, if you wanted characters themselves in your photos, a team of super-deformed Demon Slayer cast members were ready to help.

Also on hand for photos were official cosplayers and booth models, like the crew for upcoming motorsports anime Highspeed Etoile who were handing out Chill Out relaxation drinks and clear files.

There were also official cosplayers for multimedia fantasy franchise Armagia…

…Classroom of the Elite…

…and at the booths of Bandai Namco…

…accessory maker Picpin…

…and video-streaming service BS11.

Getting back to the booths, Fate/Grand Order had its own massive space…

…and inside was an array of weaponry from the hit mobile game that official cosplayers periodically came out to pose with.


The family-friendly Toei booth had creatures from Digimon and magical girls from PreCure…

…and over at the booth hyping the second season of The Ancient Magus’ Bride there was a classroom hiding a clever secret.

Turn your camera’s flash on when snapping a photo…

…and special messages of thanks from the voice cast magically appear on the blackboard.

Speaking of classrooms, there was also one for KonoSuba: God’s Blessing on This Wonderful World.

Here, no camera tricks were necessary to see the cool chalkboard art being drawn for the series.

And rounding off our rundown of the most dramatic displays are the booths for Bandai Namco (with a special section of panel art just for the Idolmaster franchise)…

…and Toho Animation.

And of course, we can’t wrap this report up without including this photo of an SD F/GO character seemingly giving someone a solid boot to the butt.

It’s one of the special moments we’ll always remember from Anime Japan 2023.

Photos © SoraNews24
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