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Anime Central 2020 Convention Canceled

posted on by Alex Mateo
Toronto Comic Arts Festival canceled; Pokémon GO events postponed

The organizers of the Anime Central convention announced on Thursday that this year's event is canceled due to concerns about the COVID-19 coronavirus illness. Two of the convention's hotel partners, the Hyatt Regency O'Hare and the Westin O'Hare, had also notified the organizers that they would not be able to host the convention. The dates for the next Anime Central are May 21-23, 2021.

All attendees who pre-registered for the convention this year will be automatically rolled over for next year's convention. Attendees may also request refunds by filling out a form by April 20. Retailers and artists will also be automatically rolled over, or they may also request refunds.

This year's event was scheduled to take place from May 15-17 at the Hyatt Regency O'Hare and Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Illinois.

The event was scheduled to host voice actress and singer Riho Iida, voice actress Rie Tanaka, Didn't I Say to Make My Abilities Average in the Next Life?! novelist FUNA and illustrator Itsuki Akata, and rock band OLDCODEX.

The Toronto Comic Arts Festival (TCAF) announced on Thursday that this year's event has been canceled due to concerns about the COVID-19 coronavirus illness. All exhibitors will receive refunds for their tables.

This year's TCAF was scheduled to take place from May 9-10 in Toronto, Canada. The event was scheduled to host Kamome Shirahama, creator of the Witch Hat Atelier manga.

The Universal Studios Japan theme park is extending its closure, originally planned from February 29 to March 22, until March 29. It will consider any future announcements from the government to decide when it will reopen, and will announce any decisions as soon as they are made.

Game developer Niantic also postponed its "Safari Zone Liverpool" and "Safari Zone Philadelphia" events for its Pokémon GO app, which were scheduled for April 17-19 in Liverpool, United Kingdom and May 8-10 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, respectively. The game is offering in-app refunds for tickets to the event. People who choose to keep their tickets will be able to access the event's encounters and Special Research during the Safari Zone's scheduled hours in local timezones.

The first reported cases of COVID-19 were in Wuhan, China in December, and then the disease began to spread in varying rates and intensities across many parts of the globe through incubation in human hosts. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared a world health emergency on January 30, and announced on March 11 that it is classifying the outbreak as a pandemic. As of Wednesday, the WHO reported that there are 191,127 infected individuals worldwide. 7,807 individuals have died from the disease.

As of Wednesday, the WHO reported that Japan has 829 cases of COVID-19 with 28 deaths. These numbers do not include the number of cases from the Diamond Princess cruise ship docked in Yokohama. That cruise ship had 712 infected passengers with seven deaths.

Sources: Anime Central's website and Twitter account, Toronto Comic Arts Festival, email correspondence, Universal Studios Japan, Niantic


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