Recently, during the 2016 Anime Expo, Aniplex of America announced a special animation and technology festival that will be taking place later this year in Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo. The event is called AkibaFest, and it will be held in the Little Tokyo section of LA on October 15-16.
The event is described as “a new type of anime convention,” that will be inspired by the popular aspect of Japan’s Akihabara, the pop cultural capital of the country. Speaking on the event, Aniplex of America President Hideki Goto commented: “It’s clear from the passion exhibited by anime fans, cosplayers, manga collectors, tech enthusiasts and gamers that there is still a thirst for new experiences. However, it is only with the support of the fans that we can make AkibaFest a successful event. Only with their enthusiastic participation can we turn Little Tokyo into ‘Little Akiba’ on the weekend of October 15th and 16th.”
Aniplex America Director of Business Development John Inada added on the festival: “A lot of events offer different facets of Japanese culture, but there hasn’t been an event that really brings it all together. Our goal for AkibaFest is to fill this void in as authentic manner as possible. We’re going to transform Little Tokyo into the closest thing to ‘Akiba’ as possible. If we can’t bring you to Akihabara, we’re going to bring Akihabara to you.”
Aniplex will be cooperative with other notable anime and video game publishers, technology partners and the Little Tokyo business community for the festival. The event is set to feature film screenings, expert panels, workshops, playable video game demos, technology demos, cosplay contests, themed cafes, exclusive merchandise offers, Japanese food and beverages and more. It sounds like an exciting event that will not be like your typical anime convention. It should be interesting to see how it pans out.
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