Some media coverage of last week’s Tokyo International Anime Fair:

Summary:

• The video begins with some foreign cosplayers declaring that the Tokyo International Anime Fair is amazing.
• The reporter finds an American tour group waiting in line at the entrance to the event. They came as part of a special H.I.S. USA tour that costs $1,700 for 7 days and 5 nights of anime-related touring in Tokyo. One girl in the group says she loves anime produced by Sunrise (the makers of Gundam).
• After waiting in line for 40 minutes, the American tour group enters the fair and gets to check out the latest anime titles, including something that involves 3D glasses.
• The news cameras find an Australian cosplayer (apparently she is pretty famous on the internet). They follow her around Akihabara while she buys cosplay goods and gets her picture taken.
• The most unexpected visitors to the fair were a big crowd of older Japanese women. It turns out that an anime version of the Korean drama Winter Sonata is being shown off at the event and the women are fans of actor Bae Yong Joon (Yon-sama). Of course, the real Yon-sama provides the voice for his character. This new version apparently tells a new story that can only be told through anime, whatever that means. It will be released next year.
• In addition to fans, there were also many representatives from foreign companies at the fair. A representative of the company making the Winter Sonata said that buyers from New York and Dubai had inquired about rights to the anime. Official Anime Fair statistics show that over one thousand foreign business representative attended this year’s event.
• Foreign business representatives featured in the last minutes of the report include a couple French guys looking for stuff toe feature at their new Japan EXPO, an Italian buyer looking to secure the rights to some new and entertaining anime, and the CEO of a Chinese animation company researching Japanese animation techniques.