Last year Aniplex Japan started the “Aniplex Online Fest”, an online global virtual festival celebrating Aniplex’s anime series. This year, “Aniplex Online Fest” returns, showcasing the latest news and series that anime fans can expect from Aniplex. The theme to this year’s festival is “Dive into the World of Anime”, in addition to news announcements, fans will also be able to enjoy exciting music performances!
The festival kick-started with a musical performance from ReoNA, performing the hit opening for Sword Art Online Alicization “ANIMA” and “forget-me-not” followed by a performance from Japanese composer SawanoHiroyuki’s “nZK” and Japanese singer mizuki performing “ALDNOAH.ZERO” ED”aLIEz” and “86 -Eighty Six-” ED “Avid” to get fan’s blood pumping for all the exciting stage events that followed.
▍10 Years of Puella Magi Madoka Magica
This year celebrates the 10th anniversary of the beloved Puella Magi Madoka Magica anime series. In celebration of this joyous occasion, a special program “Tracing the ten years of Puella Magi Madoka Magica” was aired during the festival, going through the major milestones of the series. The program was hosted by Chiaki Matsuzawa and invited Ryota Fujitsu (Anime Critic), Aoi Yuki (Voice of Madoka Kaname), Eri Kitamura (Voice of Sayaka Miki), Momo Asakura (Voice of Iroha Tamaki), Sora Amamiya (Voice of Yachiyo Nanami), Tatsuya Ishikawa (Anime Producer), and Yusuke Toyama (Game Producer). From the first season of the anime which was released in 2011 to the series’ spin-off mobile games, the program took fans down a memory lane of all the things they have been through with the series.
▍「Fate/Grand Order ANIME PROJECT」Special Program
From a mobile game to a global phenomenon, Fate/Grand Order, quite literally took the world by storm. During the 「Fate/Grand Order ANIME PROJECT」Special Program, Kenji Akabane and Minami Tanaka talked about their experience with the game and the scenes that made the biggest impression on them in the new movie “Fate/Grand Order Final Singularity Grand Temple of Solomon”.
The main cast “Fate/Grand Carnival” also made an appearance in the form of VTR to tease details for the upcoming OVA “Fate/Grand Carnival 2nd Season”.
At the end of the program, a special video featuring Daisuke Namikawa dropped the news that a special edition of “Lord El-Melloi II’s Case Files: Rail Zeppelin Grace note” has been confirmed!
▍Upcoming Show Highlights
In the “Special Program Highlighting Upcoming Shows” special program, Aniplex showcased their 2021 upcoming series including “The Honor at Magic High School”, “86 EIGHTY-SIX”, “VISUAL PRISON”, “Ranking of Kings”, “BUILD_DIVIDE -#000000- CODE BLACK”, and “The Idaten Deities Know Only Peace”.
Additionally, anime studio BONES also shared some of the behind-the-scenes for “The Case Study of Vanitas”!
▍Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Overseas Trip 2021
The second half of the festival started with the critically acclaimed Demon Slayer series. The “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Overseas Trip 2021” special program took a look at how the recent movie “Demon Slayer-Kimetsu no Yaiba-The Movie: Mugen Train” was received outside of Japan, from regions including the US, France, Germany, Spain, Taiwan, and Singapore, etc.
Footage from the highly anticipated second season for the series was also revealed during the special program. Natsuki Hanae the voice of Tanjirô Kamado and Satoshi Hino the voice of Kyôjurô Rengoku also played a demo of the upcoming console game “Demon Slayer – The Hinokami Chronicles”, revealing some of the incredible skill animations from the game.
▍Sword Art Online the Movie -Progressive- Aria of a Starless Night
Also celebrating their 10th anniversary is “Sword Art Online ” which will have a new title coming in Fall 2021 titled “Sword Art Online the Movie -Progressive- Aria of a Starless Night”! The movie will focus on Asuna and her time in Ainsclad before she met Kirito.
The program invited the main cast from the movie, Yoshitsugu Matsuoka the voice of Kirito, Haruka Tomatsu the voice of Asuna, Rina Hidaka the voice of Silica, and Ayahi Takagaki the voice of Lisbeth was joined by others to talk about the charms of Asuna as well as reveal that the movie will air in Japan on 30th October!
To draw the curtains on the festival, Aniplex invited Aimer, LiSA, and ClariS to perform songs from Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Fate/stay night, and Demon Slayer Kimetsu no Yaiba, ending the six-hour-long celebration of anime.
▍「Aniplex Online Fest 2021」Full Stream
The stream will be available until 11th July 2021, 23:59 JST.
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