Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation (SPJA) Celebrated the 25th Anime Expo with Unparalleled Guests, Performers and Special Events
Santa Ana, CA – (July 6, 2016) Anime Expo, produced by The Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation (SPJA), presented its 25th event this past weekend at the Los Angeles Convention Center, celebrating with a variety of appearances and performances. Attendance increased by more than 10% over the previous year, making 2016 the biggest year ever for Anime Expo and continuing the ongoing growth trend since the event first took place.
Unique attendance for Anime Expo reached 100,420, marking a 10% increase of attendees from 2015. Overall turnstile attendance was marked at 304,799, representing a 15% growth increase from last year.
The Exhibit Hall featured 40% more space versus previous years and more than 100 guests, performers and guest of honor were on-site to mingle with attendees and provide special performances, sneak peaks and premiers.
Highlights of the four-day long expo included the world’s first Anisong World Matsuri event, featuring a variety of live music and experiential performances. DJ TeddyLoid, electronic pop icon, performed a live set during the event’s fashion show, and additional performances included J-pop band Dempagumi.inc performing the newly released “Phantom of the Kill.” The Cowboy Bebop Jazz Cat Experience gave an immersive presentation with music, storytelling and visuals celebrating one of the most influential and celebrated anime of all time, Cowboy Bebop.
Director Makoto Shinkai treated attendees to the world premier of “your name,” a film that was completed only a few days before it was shown at Anime Expo. Attendees also had a first-look at clips from season two of the original series FLCL, co-produced by Toonami. Other anime industry top names in film and entertainment at Anime Expo included Shoji Kawamori, Kenji Horikawa and Nami Sano, to name a few.
Parties, demos and panels filled the weekend and attendees had the opportunity to interact with featured guests including Cosplay Senpai participants like Stella Chuu, Vampy Bit Me and J. Hart. Video game creators Koji Igarashi (Castlevania, Bloodstained), Keiji Inafune (Mega Man) and Kotaro Uchikoshi (Zero Escape) were on hand to discuss their latest work.
Anime Expo 2016 worked with over 1,500 volunteers to make the event run smoothly for all attendees. More than 70,054 volunteer hours were put in over the 4-day event.
Next year’s Anime Expo will include the addition of a full preview day to the line-up, showcasing the exhibit hall for select guests. The event is scheduled for July 1 – July 4, 2017.
For more information on Anime Expo, please visit http://www.anime-expo.org/registration/.
For more information about Anisong World Matsuri, please visit http://www.daisuki.net/awm2016/.
About SPJA
SPJA is a non-profit organization dedicated to popularize and educate the American public about Japanese entertainment and pop culture, as well as provide a forum to facilitate communication between professionals and fans. For more information, please visit www.spja.org.
About Anime Expo
Anime Expo (AX) brings together fans and industry from Japan, the US, and all over the world for the largest celebration of Japanese pop culture in North America. Taking place every year since 1992, Anime Expo features the best in Japanese entertainment, music, fashion, and video games. For more information, visit www.anime-expo.org.
About “ANISONG WORLD MATSURI”
Through the direction of 6 Japanese companies, “ANISONG WORLD MATSURI” is an Animation/ANISONG event that will take place on July 2nd and July 3rd jointly with ANIME EXPO 2016. Events pertaining to “Love Live! Sunshine” and “ONE PUNCH MAN” will be held in the Main Events Hall. “Love Live! Sunshine” is slated to be aired as a TV anime program from this summer, and is a new series of “Love Live!” which has a tremendous international following. “ONE PUNCH MAN” was aired in Japan from October to December 2015 and achieved popularity worldwide. Also, at the Microsoft Theater adjacent to Anime Expo, a four-hour long, festival-type live event “Japan Super Live” featuring 8 popular ANISONG artists such as JAM Project, T.M. Revolution, and sphere. At another venue called The Novo by Microsoft, two popular bands FLOW and OLDCODEX will compete against each other under the title “Japan Band Battle.” By actualizing an event that delivers the magic of Anime and the thrill of high-quality ANISONG live entertainment through the collective efforts of 6 Japanese companies that focus on Animation-related contents, the event aims to transmit Japan’s Animation/ANISONG culture, and to maximize its value throughout the world.
Media Contacts:
The Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation
Blaze PR