Looking back on AnimeJapan 2023, the event that overcame the Corona disaster! Interview with Makoto Asanuma, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Anime Japan

AnimeJapan, one of the world's largest anime events held every March, celebrates its 10th anniversary at this year's AnimeJapan 2023.

AnimeJapan, which started in 2014 as a merger of two anime events, "Tokyo International Anime Fair" and "Anime Contents Expo," has always attracted numerous manufacturers, anime production companies, and related businesses to exhibit their booths. In addition to providing information and exhibits on new and popular anime titles, the main stage features a variety of anime performers and staff members who give talks, plan projects, and perform live events, making it an anime festival that has a large presence both inside and outside the industry.

As a result, the number of general visitors has increased every year, reaching 152,331 (total number of visitors) in 2018, the largest number in its history.

However, due to the global outbreak of the new coronavirus, the 2020 event was cancelled, the 2021 event was held online only, and the 2022 event was held as a hybrid of the online event and the real event, but with restrictions on the number of visitors. As a result, the number of visitors in 2022 shrank significantly to approximately 50,000, but the number of visitors recovered to 100,051 in 2023.

Although "AnimeJapan" has had its ups and downs, it has successfully celebrated its 10th anniversary and has already announced "AnimeJapan 2024" to be held on March 23-24, 2024. It is sure to be an event that will be a critical success in boosting the animation industry, which has overcome the Corona disaster and grown to become a major presence in the Japanese entertainment industry.

We asked Mr. Makoto Asanuma, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Anime Japan (President of NAMCO BANDAI Filmworks Inc.), the organizer of AnimeJapan, to look back on "AnimeJapan 2023" and to give us his views on the future of AnimeJapan and the current state of the animation industry. and the current state of the animation industry.

--I heard that the chairmanship of Anime Japan is rotational. When did you take office, Mr. Asanuma, President of NAMCO BANDAI Filmworks?

Asanuma: I have been the chairman of the board of directors since last June. I had been a board member for four years before that, so I have been involved with AnimeJapan since before the Corona disaster.

-In the first place, AnimeJapan started when "Tokyo International Anime Fair" and "Anime Contents Expo" were combined and held for the first time in 2014. When you first became a board member, it was right around the turn of the century.

Asanuma: In the game industry, the "Tokyo Game Show" exists as a large-scale trade fair. In the landscape I saw when I was in the game industry department, I felt that compared to the Tokyo Game Show, AnimeJapan was less flashy for the popularity of anime. In the case of games, you can actually touch and play the new releases, which motivates people to come to the show. But in the case of anime, the talk shows with voice actors and staff are very popular, but you can't actually watch the full length of the show. So I felt there was a difference in motivation. It was in this situation that I decided to participate in AnimeJapan as a board member.

-The number of visitors has been steadily increasing, reaching a record high of about 150,000 in 2018.

Asanuma: What I have felt since becoming involved in AnimeJapan is that fans enjoy Anime in a variety of ways. Not only do they enjoy anime at home, but many of them buy goods, enjoy the event with other people, and even plan to watch the talk events up close. There are people who line up early in the morning, whether it is hot or cold, and the level of enthusiasm is very high. At the same time, the popularity of anime has been growing, and many fans have come to the AnimeJapan venue.

-However, the 2020 event was cancelled due to a new coronavirus infection, and the 2021 event was held without an audience. The restart will start in 2022, when the number of visitors will be reduced. Last year (2022), the number of visitors was about 50,000, and this year (2023), about 100,000 visitors.

Asanuma: I don't feel that the demographics of the visitors have changed significantly after the Corona Disaster. If we hold a stage, people will gather there, which is also the same trend. However, I think the level of perfection of each company's booth has increased. I think that each company's booth has become more complete. The atmosphere has changed a bit from the past.

Many visitors came to the booths (from the "THE iDOLM@STER" booth at AnimeJapan 2023).

--I think the number of foreign visitors also increased this year with the lifting of the ban on overseas travel.

Asanuma: We don't have exact data, but we are very happy to hear that some visitors came to Japan for AnimeJapan. The number of visitors to "GUNDAM FACTORY YOKOHAMA," which we operate, has also increased since the travel restrictions were loosened, and AnimeJapan has been affected by this to no small extent. However, the whole world is not yet coming to Japan, so I have high expectations for next year and beyond.

---In terms of changes, the "Family Anime Festa," which used to be attached to the Corona Disaster, has not been reopened. It was an attempt to attract families, but is there a possibility that this will be revived next year or later?

Asanuma: Yes. This year, we decided not to hold the event because we thought that the new coronavirus infection would still affect the event. However, we did not plan to hold this year's event because we thought that children would still be affected by the new coronavirus outbreak! Anpanman" and "Chibi Maruko-chan" that children watch. We hope to resume the program from next year onward, depending on the situation.

--This year the number of visitors was about 100,000, but do you have any plans to bring the number back up to the 150,000 recorded in 2018?

Asanuma: First of all, I regret that we were unable to come up with any new concrete measures this year. This time, in part because we were not able to step into the stage of making a large-scale set-up at the time of last year. Even if we had pressed harder on the accelerator, there was a possibility that it would have been canceled at the last minute. However, under the current circumstances, we seem to have moved away from such a possibility, and we are now preparing for next year. As you say, without new measures, we will not be able to increase the number of visitors and raise the presence of animation. Whether that direction is promotion or events, that is what we are trying to figure out as well.

It is only at AnimeJapan that you can enjoy information store events for new anime! (From AnimeJapan2023, Small Productions booth)

--As regulations for events have been eased since this spring, could the AnimeJapan to be held next year change drastically? ......

Asanuma That depends on the future situation, but since "Demon Slayer" became a hit during the Corona disaster, public attention to animation has expanded. In order to attract more attention to the animation business in such an environment, I think it is necessary to think of a mechanism that goes one step further from what has been done so far. What exactly that will be is something we will have to think about from now on, but I would like to think of something that will please all the visitors.

--After AnimeJapan was held, there was a lot of talk on SNS about opinions such as "AnimeJapan is all about talk shows by voice actors, with little exposure for the staff. As the chairman of the board, how did you feel about this opinion?

Asanuma: Each exhibitor has its own agenda, so it is difficult to say, but the popularity of voice actors has been tremendous over the past decade or so. Voice actors have been at the forefront of getting people to know about anime. Besides, in the last few years, "Love Live! has appeared on the Kohaku Uta Gassen and "Demon Slayer" has become a hit, voice actors have become more recognized among the tea party crowd. So, in terms of increasing the number of visitors to AnimeJapan, we are happy to see talk shows featuring voice actors. But at the same time, anime staff and studios are also gaining recognition.

Some booths displayed original drawings of popular works and other valuable materials (from the Aniplex booth at AnimeJapan 2023).

--Certainly, there are many people who remember the names of animation studios such as ufotable after the success of "Demon Slayer" and MAPPA after "Jujutsu Kaisen" and "Chainsaw Man".

Asanuma: In Japan, nine out of the top ten films in the Japanese box office rankings are animations. In addition, from last year to this year, "ONE PIECE FILM RED," "Suzume no tojikomari," and "THE FIRST SLAM DUNK" have all been hits that have exceeded 10 billion yen. With such a situation, I feel that a definite change is coming to the AnimeJapan lineup in the future. Staff talk shows may also start to be held in a prominent way.

--As the president of NAMCO BANDAI Filmworks, which has NAMCO BANDAI Pictures, SUNRISE BEYOND, and Actus within its group, as well as several animation studios within the company, including SUNRISE Studios, Mr. Asanuma is also the president of the "Demon Slayer" animation studio, SUNRISE Studios. How do you feel about the continuing success of films such as "Demon Slayer" and "ONE PIECE FILM RED" as the president of BANDAI NAMCO FILM WORKS?

Asanuma: I was simply impressed by the fact that if it is an interesting work, it will be a hit. I am not comparing live-action films and animated films in terms of fun, but as the president of an animated film production company, I am happy to have a ticket to a hit film with box-office revenues of over 5 billion yen. Making a live-action film and saying, "Let's aim for 10 billion yen at the box office!" the realistic hurdle is quite high, but in the case of animation, I believe that there is still a possibility. In addition, our company has been involved in the "Gundam series," "Love Live! series, Space Battleship Yamato series, and Code Geass series. I wonder if we should not aim for a hit film with box-office revenues of over 10 billion yen! I feel this way every day.

At the booth of NAMCO BANDAI Filmworks, there was a large gathering of the main characters from previous generations (from the booth of NAMCO BANDAI Filmworks at AnimeJapan 2023).

--A major change in the Corona disaster has been the increase in the number of subscribers to subscription distribution services such as NETFLIX and Amazon Prime Video. Even in this situation, there are some films that trend on social networking sites when they are broadcast on TV.

Asanuma: That is an interesting situation. For example, our company is currently producing "Mobile Suit Gundam: Witches of Mercury," and we are very happy that it becomes a topic of conversation on Sunday evenings. Some people may argue that waiting for a weekly broadcast itself does not fit the current style, or that they don't have a TV in the first place, but considering that we are producing the latest Gundam series, it must be very significant to broadcast it every week on TV. In fact, by airing the series every week, some people will talk about it, wondering "What will happen next week? What is going to happen next week? In addition, since the program is broadcast on Sunday evenings, people will talk about it at work or school the next day. Nothing could make them happier. Personally, I am surprised that Güell is more popular than I expected (laughs).

--Guel's popularity was more than you expected. It was also a compilation piece that you narrated.

Asanuma Some of our employees asked me, "What is going to happen to 'The Witch of Mercury' after this?" I can't tell you!" I can't tell you! The viewers were also excited every week, and although we do not deny that we broadcasted the entire episode, we felt the significance of weekly broadcasts. The number of viewers has increased due to the Corona disaster, and I feel that the range of people who are interested in the program is expanding. Therefore, we are able to attract viewers regardless of whether they are watching new or past productions. Our challenge is not to neglect these users, but to continue to produce works that meet their expectations.

On the day of the event, a Gundam was parading around the venue! (From the d-Anime Store booth at AnimeJapan 2023)

--(From the dAnime Store booth at AnimeJapan 2023) - On the other hand, the low wages and working conditions of animators have remained an issue since before Corona. What are your thoughts on this point?

Asanuma: Compared to other industries, in the case of games, you can spend a lot of money to create a big title, and if it becomes a hit, you can earn a lot of profit. The game industry uses the profits to create the next work (......). However, the problem with the animation industry is that, unlike the game industry, there is a difference in the structure of the creation process and the fact that profits may not be generated to that extent. The same difficulties exist in terms of creating something from scratch, though. We have to come up with a system to ensure that all of our contracted staff members are properly paid, and then develop an environment that makes it easy for them to do their jobs. I believe that this is our responsibility.

--How do you create such an environment?

Asanuma: There are several possible reasons, but I think one of them is the large number of TV series produced. But there is also the romance of huge hits like "Demon Slayer" and "Shin Evangelion the Movie. I know that there are parts of our work that are not done solely on romance, but we should not forget the fun of creating something from zero, and I hope to continue to make the industry a better place to work.

--What are your plans for NAMCO BANDAI Filmworks?

Asanuma: One of the reasons why Japanese animation is attracting attention from around the world today is that it has a human-drawn quality, and although CG animation is increasing these days, we established the Sunrise School of Animation several years ago to ensure that the hand-drawn techniques are passed on. I think it is important to take various measures so that people will pay attention to our work while passing on the techniques.

Stage events by voice actors and animation staff are also an attraction of AnimeJapan (from the DMM TV booth at AnimeJapan 2023).

--So you are taking a new approach to AnimeJapan while taking such a situation into consideration.

Asanuma: Looking overseas, there is an event called "Comic-Con," which originally started as a fan event. Creators came to the event and started signing autographs and selling original artwork. On the other hand, "Anime Expo" functions as the headquarters of anime fairs around the world. I would like to incorporate the best of both worlds so that Anime Expo can be used as a place for business, while at the same time providing new information to the general public. In Japan, in addition to AnimeJapan, there is also the Kyoto International Manga/Anime Fair (Kyoto Mafu). We would like to make AnimeJapan a place where people can learn about the current state of anime and be satisfied with their visit, while referring to such events. We would like to make it a place where people can learn about the current state of anime and be satisfied with their visit.

--On the other hand, the significance of the existence of trade fairs is being questioned, as "E3," the world's largest game trade fair, has been canceled this year.

Asanuma: I was surprised by the cancellation of E3. People in the game industry shifted to making their own announcements like "Nintendo Direct" rather than exhibiting at E3. I am not sure that this will be the case for animation anytime soon, but I do feel the importance of creating a significance for exhibiting at AnimeJapan. This year's theme was to restart, so the significance of exhibiting should be questioned next year. That is something that everyone on the board of directors will seriously consider.

--I hope that AnimeJapan will continue to be a festival-like event where fans can get together.

Asanuma When I am interviewed again next year, I will be asked, "What exactly are your new initiatives?" I will do my best during the year to prepare so that I will be able to answer immediately when I am asked "What new initiatives are you working on? I will do my best to make AnimeJapan an event that everyone will want to go to next year, so please look forward to it.

I hope that we will be able to have a great time at the same venue again next year. ......