Anime producer, Kadokawa Shoten and Japanese media company, ANIMATE announced a new event to rival Tokyo International Anime Fair (TAF) called Anime Contents Expo!
This event will be held at the Makuhari Messe event center in Chiba Prefecture from March 26 to 27 of next year. Meanwhile, TAF will be held from March 24-27, two days earlier than the said event.
The companies in the new event's executive committee include asides from ANIMATE (CLAMP in Wonderland) and Kadokawa Shoten (Azumanga Daioh: The Very Short Movie, D.N. Angel, Full Metal Panic!) are: Aniplex (Angel Beats!, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Durarara!!), King Records (Arakawa Under the Bridge), Geneon Universal Entertainment Japan (Black Lagoon, Cardcaptor Sakura), Frontier Works (Amatsuki, Fate/stay night), Marvelous Entertainment (Gunslinger Girl, School Days), and Media Factory (Devil May Cry, Gankutsuou).
The committee cites Tokyo's recently passed amendment to its Youth Healthy Development Ordinance as the reason for boycotting TAF and holding a new event. The amendment will expand the number of manga and anime that fall under "harmful publications," the legal category of works that must not be sold or rented to people under the age of 18.
The announcement also noted that the committee supports The Japan Cartoonist Association, Copyright Network for Comic Authors in the 21st Century, Manga Japan, Comic 10-Shakai, and Association of Japanese Animations in their opposition to the amendment. Comic 10-Shakai, a industry group of 10 manga publishers including Kadokawa Shoten, had already announced its plans to boycott TAF next year. Thus this event will be their alternative outlet to showcase their recent anime ventures and the like.
More details regarding this event will be announced in January.
Source: Uri-Sure Matome R via ANN, MyAnimeList
It seems that even though TAF will be held in a longer time, it seems that this new event will have more visitors compared to TAF once it opens considering the major organizers!
