This weekend, AnimeJapan2015, a large-scale anime carnival, will be held at the Tokyo Big Sight. Since the last event attracted 110,000 visitors over the course of two days, this year's Executive Committee system was also introduced. Among them, the policy for children is also worth paying attention to. In order for children to further enjoy AnimeJapan, the organizer has added a "Children's Animation Zone". Admission is free for children under elementary school age.

Tencent Animation has previously reported interviews with heads of other districts, so why is AnimeJapan2015 geared towards children? What exactly is the feature of the "Children's Animation Zone"? Recently, some Japanese media conducted an exclusive interview with Katsuya Ota, the person in charge of this area, and the full text is as follows!

■ "All the qiē of children's animation is here" - this is the children's animation area

Q: In order to serve children, AnimeJapan 2015 has also added a "Children's Animation Zone". I think that's the biggest difference from last year, but is there any reason for that?

Katsuya Ota: In the last session, we had a reflection on "Why don't children come?" "After confirmation, it was found that there were probably thousands of children who came, and it cannot be said that there was no harvest at all. It's just that I feel that there are still too few children's groups.

Originally, AnimeJapan2015 was held in conjunction with some of the previous events, but if you want to play a new trick, you have to combine the best of both worlds. So we want to have an area that is reliable in terms of security.

Q: So why is Mr. Ota in charge of this children's area?

Ota: I learned about the implementation of the children's strategy from the members of the Executive Committee last year, so I told them that I wanted to join them as well. Last time, I was on the executive committee under the name of the company (NBC), and I was not a specific member of the committee. I was too busy at the time, so I refused.

It's just that I created a fun activity with everyone, and when it comes to "Do you want to have a children's area?" I feel like I can make a contribution to it.

Q: I think there's something interesting about it. When it comes to children, there are a lot of animation companies that are very good at it. On the other hand, NBC, to which Mr. Ota belongs, is more involved in late-night anime and fan-oriented works.

Ota: I don't really care about that. After all, it's just a matter of taking responsibility for the region. Then we will discuss who will be in charge of each ward and fill in the name of the person in charge (laughs). Of course, I also have the desire to contribute and work hard.

Q: Can you tell us about 2014? To be honest, there are also some opinions on the Internet that AnimeJapan does not put too much effort into the issue of children.

Ota: Actually, I didn't participate in the committee last year, so I didn't pay much attention to that. Our company's booth and stage events were very scrambling. Judging from the results, the event attracted 110,000 attendees, so it should be a good event.

Q: On the other hand, since Shunlì has finished AnimeJapan 2014, the next task is to think about what to do in 2015.

Ota: We have to hold an event that goes beyond 2014. Activity is something that is constantly evolving, so if you repeat what you have done before, it will be counterproductive. So we need to add something.

This time, the regional head system was also born to better grasp the dynamics. As for whether it's good or bad, I think we won't be able to see the results until the event is over.

Q: As a form of evolution, we saw the "children's zone" in this event. So how was it conceived in the first place?

Ota: Before I became the person in charge, my first consideration was "safety and security." We allow children to enter the venue through other entrances, and elementary school students and younger are free of charge. But once you've decided on this, what's next? I'm also very worried about this.

In 2014, the slogan was "All the Qiē of the Animation is Here", so naturally the Children's Zone must also be "The One Qiē of the Children's Animation is Here".

Q: That's a pretty cool slogan.

Ota: When the kids come here, they find that everything they like is here. Of course, I think there are a lot of great events outside of AnimeJapan. It's just that it shouldn't be able to make children like it. Therefore, the core of the children's area is to gather all the things that children like.

At the time, I was worried that some of the works might not allow this, but as a result, when I went to talk to them, all of them participated.

Q: Why did everyone choose OK?

Ota: After all, it's AnimeJapan. The Executive Committee alone consists of 19 companies and 1 organization. And being able to do so smoothly is also the result of the cooperation of all parties in the committee.

■ Gathering many popular works, a "festival" for which Zào anime was created

Q: I took a look at the page of the "Children's Animation Zone" and I felt that there were many popular works. It's really emotional: you can find so many works to join. So how do you mobilize them all? Do you find it difficult to do this?

Ota: I'm wondering: What do children like? Therefore, we proposed a "festival" that can be enjoyed by both children and adults. We decided to "let these works create a festival." ”

For example, "Beautiful Girl of Light" can be a "everyone makes zuò jewelry together" activity, while "Dragon Ball" is an activity of "everyone looks for dragon balls together". I feel that there are a lot of things related to the work.

Q: Is there anything else?

Ota: In the children's animation studio, we will create a platform for children to make zuò animations, for example, where children can actually create Maruko together, and in the photo booth, "Idol Event! ", "Pretty Girl of Light", "Doraemon", "Crayon Shin-chan", "Pokemon". In addition, there is also content related to "Idol Event" in the game area...... Of course, there are also everything from "Yokai Watch" and "ONEPIECE" to the table, and we are holding 5 stage events every day that you can watch for free! This is unprecedented.

Just a "children's animation area" is enough for everyone to play all day. The stage event is free to watch. There are two types of games: free and paid, but you can play it three times for 1,000 yen. So if you play from morning to night, you'll have a lot of fun (laughs).

Q: It's a very difficult choice from a business perspective to make it free for elementary school students and younger. So what made you decide to do this?

Ota: Some people say, "It would be nice if elementary school students didn't want money," and I agreed, "I think it's better too." "Of course, money is important, but we have to expose children to animation and sow the seeds of the future. The committee also made the proposal more straightforward. That's why it would be nice if the children could have fun here.

Q: On the other hand, only adults are not allowed to enter the "Children's Animation Zone". I think the contents of it can also make adults happy.

Ota: Of course, judging by the names of the works, there are many of them that are very popular with adults. We hope adults can go and see it, too. However, this time, I wanted to make a special group of children, so I made a special distinction. To be honest, I'd like to say to the adults, "There's a lot of fun stuff going on here" (laughs).

First of all, we have to make the children happy. After all, this is an event for children. If you want to let adults in, the main idea is a little wrong. We are simply looking forward to "gathering the things that children love here".

■ "If the children say: Everything I like is here. Then I'm happy. ”

Q: What did you put a lot of effort into this time? Please also tell us about it.

Ota: I think the effort is to collect so many works. Although our organizers felt that "many companies were invited to participate in this event", it had nothing to do with the guests. If we only invite so many businesses to brag to our customers: how, awesome, right? Then it would be a big mistake.

If the kids say: everything I like is here. Then I'm happy. I hope they can tell others that there is no event like AnimeJapan!

Q: If you don't mind, have you ever thought about bringing your child to the "Children's Animation Activity Zone" as a father?

Ota: My inner goal is to make activities that all my children enjoy enjoying. It's an activity for your children to see. In other words, I want to be able to provide a place where parents can play with peace of mind for their children.

Q: Can you finally say a few words?

Ota: We are doing our best to make an event that will make both parents and children happy, so please come over. Let's also take a look at the entire AnimeJapan content.

In addition, we have gathered a lot of popular works this time. This is a Japan-wide selection. And this year's new slogan is "Let's enjoy animation more", so I hope that everyone will enjoy animation even more when they come. And whether you are a father or a mother, you all recall your feelings when you were chasing animation.

Q: Thank you for your time today.