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 Web
Exclusive: Check
out some of the latest anime related products at the Tokyo International
Anime Fair. You’ll find lots more of Patrick’s photos from
the Anime Fair in our exclusive web coverage than we could fit in the
magazine. Trying to make sense out the Tokyo International Anime Fair is like trying to reconstruct the Kennedy assassination or the damage wrought by hurricane Katrina. There are mountains of evidence for what might have happened during those fateful hours, but trying to reconstruct a coherent picture is going to be tricky. This much I do know: I have half a million handbills and fliers pilfered from anime company booths and a lot of pics of hot chicks in cosplay.  Chairman: The honorable
nutjob right-wing governor of Tokyo Shintaro Ishihara.Purpose: A feeding frenzy for anime production agencies, buyers for film and TV, character licensors, potential investors, entrepreneurs, wannabees, lookie-loos, and people who managed to sneak in through the back door like myself. Like bringing in food and drinks from outside to multiplex movie theater, members of the public are not allowed to cosplay inside. Happily, every company worth their salt seeks to correct this fundamental flaw in the system by offering up a bevy of costumed booth babes. Seems you can learn a lot about a company based on what kind of cosplay they endorse. The Osamu Tezuka booth is staffed by kindly, maternal looking young women. (Get it? Tezuka manga is good for you!) The Tatsunoko booth has full-on race queens, befitting the makers of Speed Racer. Mecha designer Shoji Kawamori’s Satelight’s booth was filled with tall women built kind of like the sleek fighter planes he creates. But most companies on a budget just settled for maids. Production I.G. didn’t have to bother with the ladies at all. Head honcho Mistuhisa Ishikawa caused a commotion just by appearing at his own booth where TV crews and media people swarmed him. So what do the folks who brought you Ghost in the Shell have coming up next? For starters, more tales from the Masamune Shirow crypt beginning with a 30-minute 3-DCG short called TANK S.W.A.T. 01 based on that old chestnut Dominion Tank Police. I.G. is also supervising a new entry in the Reideen series, with amazing mecha and bad-guy designs. Nearby was the Fuji TV booth, a massive spectacle created to advertise the ghostly Ge ge ge no Kitaro franchise. A rotating team of costumed mascots lured attendees to join them in a game of Yokai Yakyu ("Spook Baseball") where fabulous prizes could be won from a guy dressed like a human rat. Only at the Anime Fair, I guess …  To the immediate right was the monstrous Toei Animation booth. Since they already rule most of the world (and outsource many of their shows to Third World nations), the bulk of their exhibition was devoted to celebratory dioramas of their biggest properties like One Piece and Digimon. Not much going on, but fun to take pictures of. Robots were pleasingly a big part of the Fair this year, with a lot of new mecha shows in the offering, almost too many to keep count of. In addition to the booth for the new "Giant Robo" OVA series, which offered free oversized bags to carry con loot in, there was a giant ‘bot walking around to promote Gainax’s new TV series Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. An entire section of the convention center was roped off for a riveting "Robot Anime Expo." Inside, con-goers could take a leisurely walk and watch video from the entire history of mecha-centric anime, beginning with 1961’s historic Astro Boy, taking pit stops along the way for Gundam and Voltron, even, before being deposited in the very state of the art with promos for the new show Dancougar Nova. The other great theme at the Anime Fair was DARK HEROES. You know the gobs of money that shows like Hellsing and Karas generated was good at the bank, because there’s a lot of big-budget broody action ahead of us including The Skull Man, the super-hyped spy thriller Darker Than Black, and Capcom’s highly anticipated Devil May Cry. Meanwhile, the Japanese market continues to get flooded with moe titles and borderline lolicon like Strawberry Marshmallow and Shakugan no Shana. If only some enterprising company could just make a show about a Dark Hero with a cute big-eyed underage female protagonist, then everyone could be happy. Until then, the cute stuff keeps the locals happy, while the macho violence is exported abroad. What else? Studio 4C made a big deal out of their long-awaited experimental anthology film Genius Party. Sunrise Animation, Bandai, and Namco are still pimping the old-skool hits like Gundam, Ideon, and Pac-Man. And Studio Pierrot still has a license to print money with Naruto. Same as it ever was. It kind of makes a guy wonder, is this really the current state of the animation industry in Japan? Product placement, government sponsorship, and girls who won’t cosplay unless paid to? Well, as long as there are still some giant robots kept about, then I’m willing to give the Anime Fair another shot next year. BACK TO TOP. |
