1 - Press kit Anime 2018 / The Anime, Cosplay & Game Festival / June 15 - 17 2018 / World Forum, The Hague

AnimeCon is a 52-hour non-stop fan convention, featuring Japanese movies (both animated and cinematic), cosplay, video games, competitions, concerts and other stage performances, workshops, presentations and the sale of art and merchandise. Our doors will open in the early afternoon on Friday, June 15th, and will remain open until the end of the afternoon on Sunday, June 17th.

The festival offers a vast choice of entertainment. Guests can enjoy the continuous video programme in high definition in our video rooms, play a diverse selection of video games, enjoy performances by Japanese artists, enter competitions and visit one of the many workshops, workouts or lectures covering a range of the many aspects of the Japanese culture. Another well visited part of the convention is the large dealer room, as well as the catering, food and drink tastings, and karaoke.

-oO Fan conventions Oo-Fan conventions satisfy two of the most basic human needs: the desire to meet up with like-minded people, and the pleasure of behaving differently for a couple of days. It all began with small science fiction conventions in the 1930’s; today’s fan conventions are a multi-billion dollar industry in the United States alone. Nowadays, conventions attract over hundreds of thousands of people from all over Europe, while some American and Asian events attract over a million visitors. In the Netherlands, commercial fan conventions such as Dutch Comic Con, Castlefest and Elfia attract tens of thousands of people. Although somewhat smaller, AnimeCon, a non-profit convention, welcomed a little under 15.000 visitors in 2017, and expects around 16.000 visitors in 2018.

-oO Japan & Asia Oo- Asian culture with its ancient roots has fascinated the West ever since Marco Polo returned from his journey. The enormous economic growth of the last few decades has further increased interest, as knowing the East has become an economic necessity for many people. As the first Asian nation to reach the Western level of prosperity, Japan holds a special interest.

Games, comics and animation are some of Japan’s main export industries and make it the only global cultural competitor with Hollywood. This industry thrives because of the many comic artists in Japan. While it has almost eight times the population of the Netherlands, a conservative estimate is that about 500 times as many people try to make a living as a comics artist. Japanese popular culture has also invaded our own culture, although most people don’t realize this. Everybody is eating sushi, and making bento lunch boxes is incredibly popular. Most people in the Netherlands are not aware of the fact that they own one or more Japanese game consoles and many of the animations we watched as children were Japanese, such as Transformers, Dragon Ball, Sailor Moon, Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh; but also Alfred J. Kwak, Heidi, Nils Holgersson and Maya the Bee, just to name a few.

-oO Anime 2018 Oo-AnimeCon is a fan convention for people who are aware of and are enjoying the Japanese elements of common popular culture and want to find out more. AnimeCon is the largest Japan-oriented fan convention in the Netherlands, however with just under 15,000 visitors in 2017 our convention is of average size compared to major European conventions, such as Japan-Expo in Paris, which attracts over 250.000 visitors annually.

We hold our own, however, as we are the best fan convention in Europe. Where larger conventions consist mostly of giant sales and game areas, AnimeCon hosted over 150 separate events and more than 80 video screenings, in addition to the game and dealer areas in 2017. The new food court raises the bar even higher for our European competitors. With 10% foreign visitors, we truly are an internationally recognized festival. We expect an even higher percentage of foreign visitors in 2018 as our international cosplay competition has contestants from 17 different countries. Our visitors agree on our claim of being a high quality convention since almost 10% of our visitors answered our online survey, rating the convention on average 8.1 points out of a possible 10.

l Ambaran artgroup, tea ceremony, calligraphy and drawing workshops © Kees Stravers - 2017

l Princess Peach from the Mario Games © Kees Stravers - 2017

2 - Press kit Anime 2018 / The Anime, Cosplay & Game Festival / June 15 - 17 2018 / World Forum, The Hague

-oO Manga & Anime Oo- Manga and Anime are respectively the Japanese words for comics and animations. Some non-Japanese people associate manga and anime with the “big eyes”-style of drawing. However, this style was actually copied from Disney by Osamu Tezuka, as one style among many. Tezuka was the Japanese equivalent of Walt Disney in the U.S.A, and Marten Toonder in the Netherlands. He used a wide variety of styles, targeting a wide variety of audiences with comics for girls and adults, as well as comics for young boys seen elsewhere. As the instructor of a large group of comic artists, Tezuka had a lasting influence, with the result today that Japanese comics use a larger variety in styles and target a wider variety of audiences than comics in any other country in the world.

This variety is what draws a large group of fans to Japanese comics. When your own country does not create comics that spike your interest, chances are that you will be able to find something you like in Japan. Stories about girly romances, office intrigues, economics, food, soccer, baseball, gaming, and more can all be found there in great abundance.

-oO Dutch Manga Awards Oo- Our organisation wants to promote the variety of comics written in The Netherlands by supporting comic artists through the Dutch Manga Awards. The Dutch Manga Awards is a collaboration of our J-POP Foundation, AniWay magazine and Hanabi Publishers - a new subsidiary of Syndikaat Uitgeverij that was officially launched at Anime 2017. Artists can participate in two contests: the short story award and the character design award. Up to 5 winners in each contest will be on show in a special exhibition during the festival, as well as win several prizes.

-oO Cosplay Oo- Cosplay is a portmanteau of the words costume and roleplay. People with this hobby create their own costumes, based on their favourite game, animation or comic book character. With this costume, they perform a short play on stage, either as a single person or in a team. The material used in these costumes ranges from fabric to complex technological constructions with added light and sound effects. Cosplay may be just a hobby for most participants, but the best of them plan to make a living using costumes, either by wearing them while performing on stage or by creating costumes and props for theatres and movie studios. One of our 2011 representatives at the World Cosplay Summit is now earning a living by making props for popular TV shows, such

as Game of Thrones, Doctor Who, and has just finished a clothing project for a Channel 4 period drama. There are six renowned international competitions in the cosplay scene, and the AnimeCon organisation is the only one in the world hosting preliminaries for all of them. We also host our own international competition for the fourth time in 2018: Clara Cow’s Cosplay Cup is now the seventh international cosplay competition!

As The Hague is a city of international allure, we decided to start our own international cosplay event in 2015 named after our mascot Clara Cow. In the first Clara Cow’s Cosplay Cup, or C4, teams of two cosplayers from ten countries competed for the Golden Marieke statue and a week-long trip to Japan, all expenses paid. C4 is a relaxed event: the World Forum Theatre offers ample space backstage to relax, top notch facilities, a hotel on top of the venue, and all judging is done by veteran cosplayers from non-competing countries. In 2017, teams from seventeen countries competed, including the United States.

l Splatoon Cosplayers © Kees Stravers - 2017

l A large group of cosplayers © Kees Stravers - 2017

Clara Cow’s Cosplay Cup Participants• UK: MCM London Comic Con since 2001, attendance: 120.000• Spain: Salon del Manga since 1991, attendance: 130.000• France: Mang’Azur, attendance: 20.000• Germany: Animuc, attendance: 20.000• The Netherlands: AnimeCon, attendance: 14.500• Poland: Japanicon since 2009, attendance: 10.000• Denmark: Genki! since 2005, attendance: 7.000• Romania: Otaku Festival or Nijicon (Alternating) since 2001,

attendance: Not measured• Portugal: Iber Anime, attendance: 25.000• Switzerland: Japanimanga Night since 2001, Attendance: Not measured• Australia: Oz Comiccon, attendance: 40.000.• USA: Holifay Matsuri, fl, attendance: not public• Belgium: F.A.C.T.S, attendance: 40.000• Italy: Romics, attendance: 200.000 (Twice a year)• China: CICAF, attendance: 2.000.000• Czech Republic: Animefest, since 2004, attendance: 5.500• Malaysia: AMG-chan (information not yet available)

More participants to be announced soon.

InternationalCosplay Competitionsn World Cosplay Summit, WCS

(attendance not measured), Nagoya, Japan, for pairs

n China International Cartoon and Animation Festival, CICAF (attendance 2.000.000), Hangzhou, China, for teams from the Benelux

n Yamato Cosplay Cup, Anime Friends Festival (attendance 150.000), Sao Paulo,. Brazil, for individuals from the Benelux

n ECG (European Cosplay Gathering), Japan Expo (attendance 250.000), Paris, France, for pairs and individuals

n Cosplay World Master, Iber Anime (attendance 25.000), Porto, Portugal

n Clara Cow’s Cosplay Cup (C4), AnimeCon (projected attendance 15.000), The Hague, The Netherlands, for pairs

3 - Press kit Anime 2018 / The Anime, Cosplay & Game Festival / June 15 - 17 2018 / World Forum, The Hague

-oO Exhibitors and traders Oo- A multitude of stands can be found throughout the festival, offering a wide variety of playable games, activities to participate in, purchasable goods, and information.

Since 2015, there are several Japanese caterers with stands in the Food Court, enabling our visitors to discover that there is more to Japanese food than just sushi, and more to Japanese drinks than sake. The latest video games can be played in the Game Room, where stands from Namco Bandai, Warner Bros and many others are showcasing new and upcoming games.

We also make sure our visitors can play old arcade games from the 1980’s, as well as more recent classics. The Event Plaza stands showcase non-electronic games like Shogi, Go or trading card games, but we also host workshops to learn how to crochet, build gunpla or fold origami. The Event Plaza is a great place for groups, associations and sellers to involve the visitors in a new activity, promote their goods or group, and let visitors try something before buying it.

The largest number of stands can be found in the Dealer Room. With more than 90 vendors, spread across a surface of more than 2.500m², the Dealer Room is by far the busiest room of the festival. The vendors sell all kinds of Japan-related merchandise. The largest number of stands can be found in the Dealer room.

-oO Activities Oo-AnimeCon spoils its visitors with an abundance of events. There is never a dull moment: in 2017 there were over 150 events varying from Japanese concerts and cosplay competitions to lectures, exhibitions and workshops.

After the succes in 2016 we continued with the Anime Open Stage at the entrance. During the day, the stage was used for interviews with special guests and staff, as well as several events. At night, Japan inspired bands played music and a varied video programme of short animation sequences into the wee hours of the night. Visitors could and did use the stage whenever there were no planned events, resulting in a small burst of improv music shows, dancing and cosplay photoshoots.

Whether visitors want to improve on their costume making, manga drawing or cooking skills, learn about the history of manga and Japan, dance to the music or sing at karaoke, they can do it all at Anime 2018.

l Dealerroom © Gerwin Derks - 2017 l Calligraphy workshop © Kees Stravers - 2017

l The Deshima Sounds party © Kees Stravers - 2017l Sig Plamo workshops © Gerwin Derks - 2017

• Fabricator Djinn• Combat Dojo• Cosplay

Competitions• Drawing workshops• Hoku Props

• Led Programming• Maid and Butler Cafe• Onigiri Workshop• Mongolia vs Japan• Sake tasting• Several 18+ events.

• Sushi workshop• Ball de Magnifique• Whisky tasting• World Karaoke

Grand Prix

Popular activities in 2017

4 - Press kit Anime 2018 / The Anime, Cosplay & Game Festival / June 15 - 17 2018 / World Forum, The Hague

-oO Games Oo-The single largest cultural export category of Japan consists of video games. Consoles from big brands like Sony and Nintendo along with big publishers like Namco Bandai, Capcom, Sega and many more ensure Japan’s position as one of the top players in the videogame industry.

Today, game consoles are found in over a third of Dutch households and almost everybody young or old is familiar with gaming in one form or another. The Game Room is a show on its own, featuring more than 1800m² filled with everything a gamer could want. This event features a selection of all the latest hardware from all major companies as well as a retro library. The Game Room also hosts many tournaments, including qualifiers for national championships for big titles with up to 200 participating players. Visitors of the Game Room are not only able to play the newest games, but also preview builds for unreleased games by both indie developers and big studios. The event even featured some world premieres for unreleased games. AnimeCon has featured over 60 independent developers over the last 5 years.

-oO Press opportunities / Special guests Oo- Our festival offers a wide range of interesting material for media coverage, such as lectures by internationally acclaimed author Helen McCarthy, local and international comic artists and publishers, voice actors and last but not least, the performance of the band. Every year

we invite a Japanese band or artist to perform at our convention. We try our best to get acts from the top of the Oricon chart (the Japanese equivalent of charts like the Dutch Mega Top 50, UK Top 40, Billboard Hot 100 and so on). In the past four years we successfully invited some of Japan’s most popular artists to perform in the Netherlands. Most of these artists had never performed outside of Japan at the time, providing our guests a once in a lifetime opportunity to see a live show of one of their favorite artists.

We also have some of the world’s best cosplayers coming to AnimeCon to compete in or to judge our cosplay competitions. These amazing artists can make fantasy into reality by using mere fabric and paint, and they have knowledge on how the cosplay scene has evolved over the years. In 2016 the Japanese Ambassador visited to see the workshop by one of our judges: the top robot-cosplayer Goldy.

Traditional Japanese is not neglected either: for example, in 2016 Yasuyuki Yoshida from Tedorigawa Sake Brewery and the star of the documentary “The Birth of Sake” visited us and presented a tasting of his brewery’s hand-made sake.

-oO Press access Oo-As an organisation, we offer many different opportunities for press and media coverage of our convention. We provide a wide range of opportunities for the media before, and during our convention, such as interviews with our organisation, special interviews with our foreign guests and video footage on some occasions. Please contact our press department at press@animecon.nl.

Members of the Nederlandse Vereniging van Journalisten can get a free Press badge at the V.I.P. line at the registration desk during the convention: please do bring your NVJ-Perskaart. Members of comparable international organizations are advised to contact us in advance so we can check their credentials.

l G.L.A.M.S. © Kees Stravers - 2017

l Gameroom sponsors © Kees Stravers - 2017

Supporting organisations

• Anigenda www.anigenda.nl

• Bandai Namco www.bandainamcoent.eu

• Crunchyroll www.crunchyroll.com

• DutchNoobz www.dutchnoobz.nl

• Embassy of Japan www.nl.emb-japan.go.jp• Game Mania

www.gamemania.nl• Japan Foundation

www.jpf.go.jp/e• JPCU

www.jpcu.nl• Lumière

www.lumieredvd.com• Kinjin

www.kinjin.nl• MangaKissa

www.mangakissa.nl• Sparkling Potpourri www.sparklingpotpourri.com• Viz Europe

www.vizeurope.com• Warner brothers www.warnerbrothers.com

Suggested events abroad

Stichting J-POP closely works together with foreign partners to assure our visitors do not miss out on some great new developments. Which is why we share information and knowledge with great events in and outside of Europe.

We would like to suggest some of these partners if you are interested in learning more about the world of Japanese Pop Culture:

Germany:Connichi: www.connichi.de, info@connichi.deDoKoMi: https://www.dokomi.de/en/contact/Denmark:J-Popcon: https://j-popcon.dk/en/, info@j-popcon.dkGenki: http://genki.de, info@genki.dk

Spain:Salon del Manga:http://manga-xviii.ficomic.com/default.cfm/cat, ficomic@ficomic.com

5 - Press kit Anime 2018 / The Anime, Cosplay & Game Festival / June 15 - 17 2018 / World Forum, The Hague

Visitors by gender in 2018n 42,14% female n 48,17% male n 9,69% unspecified

Visitors by age groupsn 0-11: 1,65%

n 12-17: 18,57%

n 18-23: 37,58%

n 24-29: 22,69%

n 30-35: 6,93%

n 36>: 5,76%

n Open: 6,83%

Visitors from the Netherlands or abroadn 88,83% Netherlandsn 11,61% Abroad

Survey:The past 4 years we have held a survey under our visitors. This way we can get insight in the needs of our visitors and can improve our festival to fit their needs. About 10% of our visitors participate in our survey. Average appreciation: 8.1 points out of 10 Referral rate: 8.7 point out of 10

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Anime 201815 June 2017 14:00 - 17 June 17:00World Forum, The Hague

Venue informationWorld ForumChurchillplein 102517 JW Den HaagThe Netherlands

The J-POP FoundationAnime 2018 is organized by the J-POP Foundation, a non-profit organisation that has been around since 1998. The main activity of the Foundation is the yearly AnimeCon convention. The foundation and the convention are run mainly by volunteers and a couple of very enthousiastic employees.

Usefull links and suggestions for pressContact informationE press@animecon.nl sponsoring@animecon.nlW www.animecon.nl www.animecon.nl/contact/press

Mail The J-POP Foundation Oostzeedijk 314 3063 CC Rotterdam The Netherlands

What’s in a name• AnimeCon: the name of our website and the name for all our

yearly conventions since 1999• Anime 2017: the name of last year’s convention• Anime 2018: the name of the next convention• Mariekes magical miracle: the theme for Anime 2017• J-POP Foundation:

the organizer of the AnimeCon conventions• World Forum: the location of the conventions since 2013• GLEvEnts: the management of the World Forum