Anime Festival Asia 2014 Welcomes Record Attendance
Singapore, 12 December 2014 – Anime Festival Asia (AFA) 2014, South-east Asia's most established experiential festival for Japanese Popular Culture, drew to a close with resounding success. Over 90,000 local and overseas visitors, up from around 85,000 in 2013, thronged the 12,000 square metre festival grounds at Suntec City Convention Centre, the largest since the festival started in 2008.
Featuring 140 exhibitors from 10 countries, including Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, China, Japan and USA, AFA 2014 showcased the latest content, culture, music and key industry personalities through a myriad of engaging activities. From sold-out anisong concerts to hotly-contested championships, visitors were treated to the best of Japanese Popular Culture and Anime-related talks, merchandise, activities and exclusive showcases.
Something for Everyone – 3 days of adrenalin-pumping non-stop content
With 6 halls consisting of exhibition booths, stage activities and concerts, fans were spoilt for choice over the three days. Anchor events included the I Love Anisong Mega Anime Festival, with tickets sold out for Saturday and Sunday's concerts and almost sold out for Friday's concert, as 13 anisong artiste and artiste groups performed to 7,800 music and anime enthusiasts. The AFA Regional Cosplay Championships saw Indonesia's Mohamad Yusuf Kurnlawan (27 years old), and Ingga Puji Salria (30 years old) beat contestants from Singapore, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand and the Philippines.
New festival highlights included the inaugural niconico KUNIKAGI (Japanese Internet Culture Festival) held outside Japan. Auditions and results of the first Asia Anisong-singer Audition were announced, with “Usagi”, 18 from Singapore and “RINRIN”, 19 from China emerging victorious among 202 contestants to secure a contract as an anisong artiste with a major Japanese record label.
Industry Players Confident in the Market Potential of Japanese Popular Culture in South-east Asia
A B2B networking session was held on 4th December, as part of AFA 2014, where 6 industry stakeholders, including JETRO Singapore, Sozo, Japan Content Expansion Department, Aniplex, GAINAX and Bushiroad shared trade insights. Key exhibitors at AFA 2014 included major record labels, talent management companies, anime content owners and more.
“We are delighted by the growing support from our customers every year. The bumper crop of content this year is a reflection of the increasingly sophisticated preferences among fans here, as well as the confidence industry partners have for the region. We will continue to work closely with key market players to push the J-Wave to new heights and help promote top quality Japanese content across South-east Asia,” said Anime Festival Asia's Executive Festival Director and SOZO's Founder and Managing Director Shawn Chin.
Anime Festival Asia will hold a satellite event in Bangkok International Trade and Exhibition Centre (BITEC) from 31st April to 3rd May 2015, in collaboration with BEC-Tero TrueVision (BTTV). Details of its 2015 line-up of overseas satellite events, as well as dates for its annual flagship event in Singapore will be announced closer to date.
For more information and updates on Anime Festival Asia, members of the public can check out www.animefestival.asia and www.facebook.com/animefestivalasia.
Anime Festival Asia 2014 Key Organiser Profiles:
About SOZO
Tapping on Japan's diverse wealth of entertainment content, SOZO has positioned itself to be the 'bridge', connecting Japan to SE Asia - by showcasing quality concerts, engaging retail experiences and creating meaningful online engagement to audiences and businesses across South East Asia.
Established in 2009, SOZO entertainment platforms include Anime Festival Asia, I Love Anisong, J-LIVE ASIA, Japan Music Festival and many more. Recent projects by SOZO includes solo concerts for J-Pop artistes such as Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, May'n, RADWIMPS, Mega-events like Miku Expo in Jakarta and many more. In 2014, SOZO moved forward with a capital alliance with one of Japan's largest talent management company HoriPro.
For more information about SOZO, visit: www.sozo.sg
About the Dentsu Group
Dentsu is the world's largest advertising agency brand. Led by Dentsu Inc. (Tokyo: 4324; ISIN: JP3551520004), a company with a history of 113 years of innovation, the Dentsu Group provides a comprehensive range of client-centric brand, integrated communications, media and digital services through its eight global network brands—Carat, Dentsu, Dentsu media, iProspect, Isobar, mcgarrybowen, Posterscope and Vizeum—as well as through its specialist/multi-market brands including Amnet, Amplifi, Data2Decisions, Mitchell Communications (PR), psLIVE and 360i.
The Dentsu Group has a strong presence in 124 countries across five continents, and employs around 40,000 dedicated professionals. Dentsu Aegis Network Ltd., its global business headquarters in London, oversees Dentsu's agency operations outside of Japan. The Group is also active in the production and marketing of sports and entertainment content on a global scale.
Dentsu Inc.: www.dentsu.com
About Zepp Live Inc.
As one of the best international concert promoters in Japan, Zepp engages in planning and producing a variety genre of shows, festivals, and concerts both in Japan and overseas markets as an organizer or co-organizer.
For more information on Zepp Live Inc. visit: http://www.zepp.co.jp
Anime Festival Asia 2014 Partner profile:
About CROONER
CROONER was recently established in April 2013 to provide bridge marketing services, connecting fans in ASEAN with Japan contents. Heading CROONER is Chief Executive, Mr Haruhiko Miyano, who has also been involved in organising various past Anime Festival Asia events. CROONER also sells Japanese TV programs and Movies, consults Japanese production houses and co-produces Japanese contents for ASEAN markets.
