PHOTOS: AnimeJapan 2023 Returns in the Biggest Show in Four Years
All photos taken by Daryl Harding
There’s nothing bigger in the anime world than AnimeJapan, the largest industry event of the year. With it comes a gluttony of booths, displays and, of course, news. Over the last couple of years, the event has taken a backseat due to a certain worldwide pandemic, but AnimeJapan 2023 brought its A-game to Tokyo Big Sight for the largest and most complete outing since 2019. But does that make it fun and worth it?
Last year saw the first in-person event since before the pandemic, but due to the regulations and closed borders, AnimeJapan 2022 was still a more muted affair. Yet, in my opinion, a smaller show meant more fun all around. Does a larger show still stack up?
The Big Booths of AnimeJapan 2023
With a return to form – including a lot of attendees – every company was on top of their game, including Kadokawa, who pulled out all the stops for the Kadokawa Anime Park. For some reason despite having pictures of shows like Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World-, Oshi no Ko, Megumin’s KONOSUBA spin-off KONOSUBA – An Explosion on This Wonderful World and more, I don’t remember going in…
Bandai Namco brought the spring party by showcasing some of the biggest anime from their own studios, including every Love Live! girl currently in existence (both versions in that case of Aqours), some life-sized Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury standees, Tiger and Bunny, bringing BLUELOCK to real life, that time Rimuru was reincarnated into a fluffy statue and more!
As with every year, TOHO Animation has one of the biggest booths in the entire hall, rivaled only by the likes of Kadokawa and Aniplex. Of the endless amount of shows TOHO produces, of course, SPY x FAMILY would be found here, as was TRIGUN STAMPEDE, My Hero Academia, JUJTSU KAISEN showing off the second season visuals, as well as the new series Kaiju No. 8, Frieren and more.
Universal was another booth that towered over the halls of Tokyo Big Sight with displays that stretched to the ceiling, featuring hits like My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU, Girlfriend, Girlfriend, Golden Kamuy and more alongside upcoming shows, The Duke of Death and His Maid, Rokudo’s Bad Girls and more.
Aniplex, Suzume and Toei Animation at AnimeJapan 2023
Every expo, event, or exhibition of anime in Japan features Aniplex on full display, showcasing all the anime they help produce in one way or another. Their booth, as always (pre-pandemic), was filled to the brim with fun little interactive elements, such as a Urusei Yatsura wire loop that was a touch too sensitive for my liking, a The Elusive Samurai cosplayer, as well as photo spots for any of Aniplex’s biggest series and the best display of the whole event —BOCCHI THE ROCK!’s retro TV displays showing the series, Sony branded of course.
Right next door to Aniplex was the Fate Grand Order booth which did something a little different this year. In the center of the booth, they had about eight cosplayers dressed as summons from the series where attendees could walk around taking photos of all of them, or just the one character they liked!
Further along in the hall next to TOHO was a giant booth set up for Suzume, one of the biggest anime films of all time. While photography wasn’t allowed inside the booth, which held in-production shots of the film and animation workflows with production shots of Suzume used as a reference, the outside held many great photo opportunities.
Speaking about the biggest anime films of the year, the Toei Animation booth was as good as usual with their own properties on display, including exclusive details on the upcoming Digimon Adventure 02: The Beginning anime film, Luffy looking as majestic as always, Run for the Money with a very ominous countdown and more!
Key Animation Ruled Over AnimeJapan 2023
While the most notable stages got voice actors talking about their characters and playing games, the show floor itself showcased the building blocks of anime: key animation.
The biggest purveyor of key animation at AnimeJapan 2023 was studio BONES, who returned to the show with a range of frames from Bungo Stray Dogs, My Hero Academia and Mob Psycho 100.
But it wasn’t only BONES that brought some Killua key animation, over at the VAP booth, the anime producer showed up with keyframes from Hunter x Hunter, along with standees from the show and the upcoming Reborn as a Vending Machine, I Now Wander the Dungeon TV anime.
But the key animation fun doesn’t stop there. Anime producer infinite looked forward with their key animation from the upcoming TV anime Yuri Is My Job! getting a display wall next to the information about the Kissuiso Museum project, based on Hanasaku Iroha, and much more.
Strolling Around AnimeJapan 2023
The thrill of walking around AnimeJapan with all the latest and greatest anime on show makes it easy to get wrapped up in, especially when you see something like Laid-Back Camp on an actual camper van. But the mere act of walking around wasn’t easy when people started flooding into the halls, with lines for most booths and tight spaces inside and out.
But that didn’t stop attractions from being a blast, like The Super Mario Bros. Movie booth which was a big 3D experience. Attendees got to watch the Japanese trailer in 3D alongside a special video featuring Mario voice actor Mamoru Miyano being classic Mamoru Miyano and riffing off Luigi’s voice actor Tasuku Hatanaka. The trailer also looked pretty cool in 3D!
All in all though, while more people doesn’t always equal a better time – especially when that time includes lines – I was happy to see AnimeJapan back to its seemingly pre-pandemic days with all the booths and interactivity that came with it.
