News

One Piece Orchestra Concert Postponed Due to COVID-19

The official website for the One Piece franchise announced on Monday that the One Piece Orchestra Concert Tanaka Kōhei Sakka Katsudō 40 Shūnen Kinen concert is postponed due to the spread of the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and Japan's current state of emergency. The Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra concert was originally scheduled for June 20 at Tokyo's SUNTORY Hall.

Other events and performances cancelled or postponed in Japan and the United States due to COVID-19 include:

• The International Tokyo Toy Show has cancelled this year's event. The event was scheduled to take place at Tokyo Big Sight on June 11-14.

• The Tokyo Wonder Festival (Wonfes) has postponed its second event for the year to November 1 at Makuhari Messe in Chiba. The event was previously scheduled to take place in August. The event typically holds two events per year in February and August, and the previous event took place on February 9. Next year's first event is still scheduled for February 7, 2021.

• The Project Anime event for convention directors and executives cancelled its Los Angeles event. The event was scheduled for June 30 to July 1.

• The staff of the Anime Midwest convention announced on Tuesday that they will decide by June 1 whether they will hold a smaller version of this year's planned event. They are "hopeful" that the COVID-19 situation will improve before the planned convention, but said it is "likely" that this year's event will be cancelled. Additionally, all tickets for this year's event will be valid for the 2021 convention. This year's convention is currently scheduled for July 3-5 at the Hyatt Regency O'Hare and Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Illinois.

• The Power Morphicon convention for Power Rangers and tokusatsu fandom announced on Wednesday that this year's event is postponed to June 18-20, 2021. The event was originally scheduled to take place at the Pasadena Convention Center on September 4-6. The Pasadena City Council approved an agreement to turn the venue into a field hospital earlier this month.

• The Final Fantasy VII Remake Orchestra World Tour concert series has postponed the dates for three of its planned venues to 2021, including Los Angeles (from June 14, 2020 to March 6, 2021), Toronto (from June 26-27, 2020 to May 20-21, 2021), and Singapore (from July 4, 2020 to January 23, 2021). The other planned events remain unchanged.

• The official website for Marvelous' stage play adaptations of Nitroplus and DMM Games' Touken Ranbu franchise announced on Thursday an updated schedule for the new stage play. The play will run from June 12-14 in Tokyo, from June 23-July 5 in Kobe, from July 10-12 in Fukuoka, and again in Tokyo from July 17 through August 2. The website also unveiled an additional performance that will run from August 5-9 in Tokyo. The website noted that the schedule may change again based on the spread of COVID-19.

• The staff of the World Cosplay Summit (WCS) event announced on Thursday that it has cancelled this year's World Cosplay Summit Championship and International Representative events, and it will resume them in 2021. The "Cosplay Summit Online Presentation" on May 29 will reveal more finalized details regarding the WCS event as a whole, with regards to the COVID-19 situation. The event is scheduled to take place on August 1-2 at multiple venues including "Oasis" in the Sakae ward of Nagoya. WCS Team USA 2020's participation will also roll forward to 2021. Teams who plan to compete at Anime Expo 2021 will compete to become WCS Team USA 2022.

• Bandai has postponed the Gunpla Builders World Cup 2020 event. The company instead plans on hosting a tentative "Gunpla Builders World Cup 2020-2021" event on dates that it will announce later.

• The Hiroshima International Animation Festival announced on Thursday that it is scaling back this year's event, slated for August. The official competition will be held online, and all special programs are cancelled.

• Maaya Uchida's "Live for All Stars" live concert event scheduled for July 5 is cancelled.

• Konami announced on Thursday that it is continuing to postpone Yu-Gi-Oh!-related "Organized Play" and promotional events through May 31. The company is instead starting a "Remote Duel" Organized Play initiative to run sanctioned tournaments.

Sources: One Piece franchise's website, International Tokyo Toy Show's website, Tokyo Wonfes' website via Transformer World, Project Anime's website, AnimeCon, FFVII Remake Orchestra World Tour's website via Siliconera, Power Morphicon, Touken Ranbu stage plays' website, 4Gamer, World Cosplay Summit's website, World Cosplay Summit USA's Facebook page, Gundam.info, Hiroshima International Animation Festival via Animation Business Journal, Maaya Uchida's Twitter account via Yaraon!, Konami press release