Warner Bros. Japan holds its first lineup panel at Anime Expo!　Surprise screening of "Accel World

Warner Bros. Japan has received a report from a panel discussion held during Anime Expo 2016, an anime convention held in Los Angeles, USA.

Below is the report.


　Anime Expo 2016, one of the largest anime conventions in North America, is currently being held in Los Angeles, and on the second day of the event, July 2 (July 3, Japan time), Warner producers and promoters such as Akihiro Kawamura, Kohei Kawase, and Shinya Tsuruoka took the stage to discuss their company's works The panelists talked about the company's This is the first year that the company has held a panel introducing its lineup at Anime Expo.
　The event was packed to capacity with some 540 people, who listened with bated breath, not wanting to miss a single moment of the talks, as they were able to hear live talks by staff members active on the front lines of animation.
　Prior to the talk, a VTR of Warner Bros. Japan's anime lineup was shown, introducing popular titles such as "Jojo's Bizarre Adventure" and "Shirobako" as well as various anime titles that will be released in Japan and North America this year and next, along with the producers in charge of each. The lineup included the latest titles such as "Masked Noise" and "MARGINAL#4," both of which have only been announced as anime in Japan. It was also announced that "Lostorage incited WIXOSS," the latest in the "WIXOSS" series, will be produced by Warner Bros.
　Each of the speakers introduced themselves and explained the highlights of their past works and upcoming works. Among them, Mr. Kawase was greeted with loud cheers. The "Shokugeki no Soma" series, for which Mr. Kawase serves as producer, is popular in North America as well, and the audience cheered whenever he talked about "Shokugeki no Soma".
　Mr. Tsuruoka also gave a brief overview of the upcoming new anime titles, including the new July program. Following "Mob Psycho 100" and "Alderamin of the Heavenly Mirror," Mr. Tsuruoka explained about the "Rikyujo (!!!!!!!!)," in which girls in swimsuits perform butt wrestling, a content that was difficult to convey before the anime aired. When explaining about the "KYOTOGIRL ," a swimsuit girl performs butt wrestling, Mr. Kawase and the audience laughed as they performed a demo-monStration of butt wrestling.
　Next, a surprise 7-minute clip from the beginning of "Accel World - Infinite Burst," which will be released in theaters in Japan on July 23, was shown for the first time in the world.
　In the video, familiar avatars such as Silver Crow, Black Lotus, and Scarlet Rain are shown fighting in a virtual world.
　Before the screening, Mr. Kawase said, "This is a newly completed film, and you will be the first people outside of the related parties to see this footage. By the way, we couldn't add subtitles because it was just in time," he said, explaining the surprise screening. Regarding the theatrical version of "Accel World - Infinite Burst," he said, "Action, action, action, and action. It's just action, action, action," he said, introducing it as a work packed with action elements.
　Following the screening, there was a Q&A session, which also served as a chance to interact with the audience. Since the questions were answered by the current producers, questions about what it takes to work in the animation industry and other questions about the field popped up. Some of the questions were unique, such as "How true is the content of "SHIROBAKO"? One unique question was, "How true is the content of "SHIROBAKO"? In addition, there were several questions about "Shokugeki no Soma" (Shokugeki is a Japanese word meaning "food fight" in Japanese).
　As the hour-long panel discussion drew to a close, the final event of the day was a rock-paper-scissors-scissors tournament in which all attendees participated. A number of valuable items, such as scripts and posters signed by the cast, director, and staff, were sent to the winners.
　In addition to Aniplex and other companies operating through local subsidiaries, Warner Bros. Japan participated in the marketing from Japan. It seems that awareness of overseas markets, including North America, is growing stronger by the day.