The cast of "Millimass", idols, and Pokemon ambassadors visited Taipei!　Taipei International Animation Festival 2020" Shaken by Coronavirus Local Report

In early February, after the Chinese New Year, Taiwan was in the midst of a series of major anime and game content events, including the Taipei International Animation Festival (January 31-February 4), the Fancy Frontier Pioneering Animation Festival (February 1-2), and the Taipei International Electronic Games Show (February 6-9).

What sparked my interest in Taiwan during this season was the news that the newly announced "THE iDOLM@STER STARLIT SEASON" would hold its first stage event at the Taipei Game Show. Since this was an event for the latest home video game featuring idols from each of the IMAS titles, it was a historic event to see two of the biggest "I don't want to work" idols from IMAS, Hiromi Igarashi playing Anzu Futaba from "Cinderella Girls" and Ryoko Maekawa playing Taika Osaki from "Shiny Colors", together. The co-starring of the two idols was supposed to be a historical stage ...... (details to follow).

The other day, the broadcast of the TV anime "Hetero-Reviewers" on TOKYO MX and other stations was cancelled due to "programming reasons," and in many ways it is a remarkable work. The fact that the first episode was distributed on the Taiwanese website Bahamut (巴哈姆特) in a completely uncensored version became a major topic of conversation in Japan. Taiwan is a hot place in many ways, with an outstanding affinity for Japanese content. In this issue, we report on Taiwan's hot Content Week.

The Corona Riots Hit Content Week after Chinese New Year

In Japan, the New Year is celebrated mainly from New Year's Eve to the third day of the New Year, but in Greater China, the Chinese New Year, or Chinese New Year, is the real celebration. This year's Chinese New Year falls on January 25, and in Taiwan, the holiday weekend runs from January 23 to 29. During the Chinese New Year, all stores except for a few, such as convenience stores and department stores, close their doors to celebrate the New Year.

Even during the Chinese New Year season, Taipei's underground shopping malls are as lively as ever, if not more so than usual. The underground shopping mall in front of you when you arrive in Taipei on the MRT (subway) from Taoyuan Airport is all about video games!　The underground mall is covered with game advertisements as far as the eye can see, including large advertisements for the PlayStation and Nintendo Switch. Most of them are familiar Japanese titles such as "New Sakura Wars," "Yakuza 7," "DEAD OR ALIVE," and "Liza's Atelier," with perhaps 70 to 80% of the content coming from Japan.

In one area, as far as the eye could see, it was "Azure Lane," a Chinese title. Game stores, merchandise stores, and arcade game centers lined up endlessly in an underground mall in the middle of the capital city of Taipei, and all of them were booming with activity, a sight that game fans would both miss and envy. Even on the ground level, flags flying from poles on the main thoroughfares displayed "Taipei International Comic Festival (TICA)" or "Taipei Game Show," indicating that this is an important event for Taiwan.

Therefore, it was a great blow that the coronavirus outbreak hit the show just after the Chinese New Year. The Taipei Game Show, which has a strong international flavor, was cancelled. The "Taipei International Animation Festival" and "Pioneer Animation Festival," held a week earlier, were also held under strict precautions, with fever tests and alcohol washing conducted at the entrances to the venues and at each booth. What was surprising was the high level of quarantine awareness among Taiwanese, with almost 100% of visitors wearing masks. While there have been reports of a shortage of masks in many countries, there was no major confusion in Taiwan, partly because the government purchases and manages masks in bulk and distributes them at the low price of NT$6 (approx. 20 yen) per piece.

The "Taipei International Animation Festival," which was the main event we covered this time, is a large-scale content event centering on animation and comics. Exhibitors consisted mainly of local publishers and goods stores, and seemed to be separated from the Taiwanese version of Comiket, the "Pioneer Animation Festival," which is held on the same weekend and consists mainly of a coterie magazine exhibition, stage events, and cosplay. Many local publishers that purchase Japanese comics and light novels, such as Taiwan Tohan, Seibun Publishing, Taiwan Kadokawa, and Toritsu Publishing, exhibited at the "Taipei International Comic Festival," and it was interesting to see that titles that have a strong image of specific publishers in Japan were dispersed among the various companies.

Among the well-known Japanese publishers, Kotobukiya exhibited new figures, and Bushiroad also had a booth. We were impressed by the way they carefully broadened the scope of their content by teaching card games such as "Weiss Schwarz" and "Rebirth for you. The "Taipei International Animation Festival" as a whole often invites authors as guests for stage events, and the "Idolish Seven" booth invited Arina Tanemura as a talk guest, which made me want to watch as a regular spectator.

Taiwan iM@S fans cheer with the same language and tension as in Japan

The "Japan Pavilion ICHIBAN JAPAN" booth connected Japan and Taiwan during the "Taipei International Animation Festival. The booth usually invites anime song artists, voice actors, and idols from Japan to participate in events.

On February 1, "THE iDOLM@STER Million Live! Theater Days" ("Idolmaster Million Man Performance! Theater Time Light") stage, which was packed with fans, especially local producers (i.e., iM@S fans), in front of the stage due to the release of the traditional Chinese version of the same work on August 30, 2019!　Haruka Yamazaki, Azusa Tadokoro, Machico, and others gave talks and enjoyed a mini live stage performance. The cast members seemed to be just as excited and enthusiastic about the live performance as they are in Japan.

This was the third time for "THE iDOLM@STER" producer Yozo Sakaue, a.k.a. "Gami P," to appear at the festival. When Sakagami P appeared on stage in his trademark orange shirt, the audience shouted affectionately, "Pervert! (It is pronounced in Japanese, as promised. (It is pronounced in Japanese, but locally it is pronounced "pien-tay"). After the stage, a "Producer Business Card Exchange" was held as a separate event, where General Producer Sakagami and "Millishita" producer Hidefumi Komino met directly with local fans.

After the exchange, we asked General Producer Sakaue about the company's expansion in Asia, including Taiwan.

The "THE iDOLM@STER" content started in Japan, so when we started to develop it overseas, we started in Asia, especially in the neighboring regions of Taiwan and South Korea. Taiwanese fans are very serious and I feel that they love "iM@S" very seriously. When we interact with them, they don't just gather together in a big rush, but they greet us politely. I feel that the Taiwanese fans are also aware of us as "producers" (Producer Sakaue).
According to Producer Hidetsufumi Komino, the traditional Chinese version of the game has attracted a lot of attention since the pre-registration stage. The "Idol Master: One Hundred Million Performers! Gekijo Jikou" is based on the Japanese version, but also differentiates itself by having "Glorious Trinity" as the basic costume, which has a different design from the Japanese version, and by implementing cards that are exclusive to the Traditional Chinese version.

Pokémon will appear as an ambassador to thank for the recovery.

One of the most unique features of the ICHIBAN JAPAN booth in the Japan Pavilion was the "Thanks for Reconstruction Hospitality Castle Market with Pokémon" stage. Representatives from Otsuchi Town and Noda Village in Iwate Prefecture, Minamisoma City and Kitashiobara Village in Fukushima Prefecture, along with Pokémon Lucky and Ishitsubute (stuffed animal), appeared on stage to express their gratitude for the recovery and their wishes for a successful Olympics.

Since there was a traffic jam of information on reconstruction, the Olympics, and Pokemon, I grabbed a person in charge and asked him for more details.

The Japanese government is implementing a host town project to provide hospitality to the countries and regions participating in the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, and municipalities throughout Japan will hold training camps and exchanges prior to the games. Within this framework, the three prefectures of Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima are participating in the "Thank You for Reconstruction Host Town" program to express their gratitude to the countries and regions that have cooperated in the recovery from the earthquake and tsunami. Taiwan is the target area for the local governments who spoke at this event," he said.

It seemed to be a government-led activity, and I was surprised to see a business card of the "Cabinet Secretariat" from the person in charge. Why did Pokemon appear there?

Pokemon has been serving as "Thank You Ambassadors" since last November. We want to attract the younger generation to Pokemon because of its high recognition. Ishitsubute is originally from Iwate Prefecture, Laplace is from Miyagi Prefecture, and Lucky is from Fukushima Prefecture. This will be the first time that the three of them will work together.

As Lucky's stuffed animal circled the venue, a crowd gathered, indicating its popularity.

Anime songs and idols transcend national borders!

On the event stage, many idols from Japan, such as Mirai Skirt, DANJYO, Luce Twinkle Wink☆, and Igirinari from Tohoku, performed live. The idol that caught Akiba Research Institute's attention was Luce Twinkle Wink☆ (hereafter referred to as "Luce"), which aims to bridge the gap between ani-songs and idols.

The area was sparsely populated just before the stage, but when it was time for Luce to start the show, the place was packed with fans one after another. Luce took the stage with four members due to Saki Fukasawa's health condition, but she showed no sign of it as she performed a total of six songs including "go to Romance>>>>>," "Wonder Five," "Symphony," etc. During the MC, she showed the music video of "go to The main focus of the performance was the singing and dancing, which was performed in a tremendously athletic live performance. The performance was a reminder of the strength of being able to compete in physical language that transcends national borders.

It was very funny to see the Taiwanese fans imitating the dances and calls of the Japanese fans. The winker to the lyrics of "I love you, too!　Me too! I was laughing when I saw the surprised faces of the audience. I laughed.

The manager in charge of the group told us that "Symphony", the theme song of Nekopara's OVA "Kitten's Day Promise", is very popular in Taiwan because of the popularity of "Nekopara" there. The power of anime and ani-song also seems to be playing an important role in the overseas activities of idols.

(Reporting and writing by Kiri Nakazato)