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NEWS: Tokyo International Anime Fair 2011 Cancelled


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matrixdude



Joined: 02 Sep 2009
Posts: 71
PostPosted: Wed Mar 16, 2011 1:08 am Reply with quote
Well, it was already having major issues, so it's best that it just gets cancelled.
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ConanSan



Joined: 13 Jun 2007
Posts: 1818
PostPosted: Wed Mar 16, 2011 2:33 am Reply with quote
Of course it makes sense that the TAF got axed this way but the romanticist in me was hoping it would be cancelled out of it's being made a ghost town by Governor Nutjob's law.

Mostly because it gives Nutjob his excuse if/when he's brought up to committee and asked why it didn't go to head.
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enurtsol



Joined: 01 May 2007
Posts: 14761
PostPosted: Wed Mar 16, 2011 2:54 am Reply with quote
Oh well, guess that makes the boycott and con wars moot. Laughing
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TsukasaElkKite



Joined: 22 Nov 2005
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 16, 2011 2:58 am Reply with quote
It's okay. It's better for people to stay safe and not get hurt.
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Daemonblue



Joined: 05 Jul 2006
Posts: 701
PostPosted: Wed Mar 16, 2011 3:06 am Reply with quote
The cynic in me makes me believe they're using the earthquake as an excuse to cancel it because they don't want to admit the major publisher's pulling out greatly affected it.

That said, many lives have been broken from this earthquake and one can only hope that nothing else major occurs in the near future, as well as hope for the well being of those still alive.
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TopGunman



Joined: 21 Dec 2010
Posts: 498
PostPosted: Wed Mar 16, 2011 4:34 am Reply with quote
They have earthquakes every week in Japan, I don't know how they don't design buildings to withstand very strong ones, this ain't the first time strong ones like that have appeared and even though it's rarely that powerful it never hurts to be prepared.

In regard to the 'major issues' before the earthquake, while I do agree that some manga need to be regulated, I mean series like Baka and Boing are in SHONEN magazines and that is a very fan-service-filled manga, but something like Urusei Yatsura which features brief fan service don't deserve to be listed as 'harmful', that as well as a couple of other issues I can understand but it is true that anime and manga are made for EXPORT which is why they make certain series even if they're frowned upon in by the people in Japan but freedom of expression allows them to make whatever they want, and it worked wonders for revenue from outside Japan.
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jsevakis
Former ANN Editor in Chief


Joined: 28 Jul 2003
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 16, 2011 4:38 am Reply with quote
a) Let's not make this yet another discussion about the obscenity law. Early indications seem to point towards yet more misinformed blather (Seriously, you bring up Urusei Yatsura, a 35-year-old manga, as an example of something that might get censored? The law doesn't even cover general fan service in new titles, let alone decades-old "classics".) So let's just end that right here and now.

b) I'd be very surprised if Tokyo Big Sight had that major damage (as has been reported to death elsewhere, very few buildings in Japan suffered major structural damage due to their insanely high building standards), this probably has more to do with the ongoing blackouts and transportation/infrastructure issues than anything else. Not to mention the fact that everyone's still freaked out by aftershocks, the terrifying situation with the Fukushima nuclear power plant and the warnings to stay indoors, the other countries putting up travel advisories and evacuation notices for their citizens, etc.

Yeah, I'm a little relieved they made this decision. Trying to proceed with this would have been utter chaos.
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mdreura



Joined: 04 Nov 2010
Posts: 106
PostPosted: Wed Mar 16, 2011 5:47 am Reply with quote
I'm sure infrastructure is a factor, and a serious one, but disasters are always political game-changers, and after Gov. Ishihara's previous inflammatory comments about anime & manga and the ensuing boycott, followed by his divine punishment comments, it seems pretty clear the TAF situation is not favorable to himself and the other organizers and not something they would want to expend political capital on right now whether the logistics are feasible or not.

I'll be interested to see if the competing event the industry was putting together in Chiba will be canceled also. Probably it will be, because of infrastructure concerns as Justin said, and especially because its location was closer to the earthquake site, but if for some reason it does take place I could see that being a significant blow to TAF and its organizers in future years.
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enurtsol



Joined: 01 May 2007
Posts: 14761
PostPosted: Wed Mar 16, 2011 5:55 am Reply with quote
jsevakis wrote:

b) I'd be very surprised if Tokyo Big Sight had that major damage (as has been reported to death elsewhere, very few buildings in Japan suffered major structural damage due to their insanely high building standards), this probably has more to do with the ongoing blackouts and transportation/infrastructure issues than anything else. Not to mention the fact that everyone's still freaked out by aftershocks, the terrifying situation with the Fukushima nuclear power plant and the warnings to stay indoors, the other countries putting up travel advisories and evacuation notices for their citizens, etc.


Yep, people are advised against unnecessary travel. Major events all over the Tokyo area have been postponed, like the World Figure Skating Championship and other sports. Companies are still assessing their operations after the quake. They're sending affected employees home to their families on leave. They have other things on their minds than plan an event. They're not out of the crisis yet.
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giapet
Industry Insider


Joined: 18 Jan 2006
Posts: 205
Location: Washington DC
PostPosted: Wed Mar 16, 2011 8:31 am Reply with quote
jsevakis wrote:
b) I'd be very surprised if Tokyo Big Sight had that major damage (as has been reported to death elsewhere, very few buildings in Japan suffered major structural damage due to their insanely high building standards), this probably has more to do with the ongoing blackouts and transportation/infrastructure issues than anything else. Not to mention the fact that everyone's still freaked out by aftershocks, the terrifying situation with the Fukushima nuclear power plant and the warnings to stay indoors, the other countries putting up travel advisories and evacuation notices for their citizens, etc.


I didn't confirm this, but I heard from a couple of friends (who heard off event sites or from their friends in Japan) that Big Sight is "visibly" damaged, that what damage their was was largely to the east wing, and that the damage was something like a large crack you could see in the building's wall or something to that effect.

I don't know if any of those three items are accurate though.

The U.S. State Department is also advising against travel through April 1, which is the information I cited when talking to the airline about my ticket (at the time, all the airlines were still only offering refunds/waived change fees for travel through the 18th, and I was leaving on the 21st).

It looks like they've updated though; Continental is offering through March 31, American through April 10, JAL through April 10, and Delta through March 31.
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loka



Joined: 05 Nov 2006
Posts: 373
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
PostPosted: Wed Mar 16, 2011 9:50 am Reply with quote
jsevakis wrote:
the terrifying situation with the Fukushima nuclear power plant


Someone has been listening to misinformed blather himself.
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firedragon54738



Joined: 24 Sep 2007
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Location: wisconsin
PostPosted: Wed Mar 16, 2011 11:20 am Reply with quote
Well that sucks the boycott isnt going to happen well I guess they have to do it next year
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chefneer
Aria Company



Joined: 27 Aug 2009
Posts: 1686
Location: Fort Worth, Texas
PostPosted: Wed Mar 16, 2011 12:00 pm Reply with quote
loka wrote:
jsevakis wrote:
the terrifying situation with the Fukushima nuclear power plant


Someone has been listening to misinformed blather himself.

Please bear in mind that the events transpiring at Fukushima Daiichi are serious and a lot of people are terrified. If containment is, in fact, breached at any of those reactors it's going to be a real problem. It is extremely unlikely that another Chernobyl type event will happen, but that doesn't make people feel any better about it. Most people are not nuclear scientists or engineers and have no understanding of what radiation is, how it works, or what effects it may have. When they hear the word 'radiation' they immediately equate it with cancer and death and they react accordingly.
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bayoab



Joined: 06 Oct 2004
Posts: 831
PostPosted: Wed Mar 16, 2011 1:59 pm Reply with quote
mdreura wrote:
I'll be interested to see if the competing event the industry was putting together in Chiba will be canceled also. Probably it will be, because of infrastructure concerns as Justin said, and especially because its location was closer to the earthquake site, but if for some reason it does take place I could see that being a significant blow to TAF and its organizers in future years.

It's not that much closer to the earthquake to make a difference but liquefaction was spotted around Makuhari Messe on the day of the earthquake.

The ACE website just says they are meeting right now but yaraon reports that Starry Sky radio said ACE will be canceled.
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isoge



Joined: 27 Nov 2010
Posts: 64
PostPosted: Wed Mar 16, 2011 2:06 pm Reply with quote
And nothing of great (or small) importance was missed out on...

Good riddance to TAF. With some luck on our side, Captain Nutjob (inspired by the first poster of this thread) may have forgotten all about the Youth Healthy Development Ordinance since, well... there are other things threatening their health.

Just hoping that media has exaggerated the situation in japan. They make it look like a holocaust or something, and with France upgrading the incident to a level 6 on the 7-level INES scale, it looks like tokyo is going to become a ghost town.

Anyone got any (trusted) updates regarding the power plants?
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