Over 62,000 Attend Animate Girls Festival 2015

The female otaku event Animate Girls Festival 2015 (AGF) was held on Nov. 7 and 8. Over its two days it recorded a total attendance of 62,894.

AGF is a yearly event for female otaku held primarily in Ikebukuro Sunshine City close to Otome Road 1. In addition to the main venue at Sunshine City, there were also four satellite locations this year at which there were otome games, anime, BL (Boys Love) comics, and hobby goods for sale, areas for cosplay photography, food stalls, and more.

AGF Day 1 at Sunshine City. At a portion of company booths crossplayers were doing PR for products and content.

A booth display themed after Tsukasa Domyouji from Shueisha’s popular shojo manga *Boys Over Flowers*. It was filled with love.

Many of the girls in attendance had bags and suitcases covered in badges of their favorite anime characters. All over the venue we caught sight of attendees exchanging badges between each other.

The main Sunshine City venue was divided into four colored areas with over 100 company booths exhibiting. Attendees were alotted an entry time to avoid congestion and gained entrance according to their number. Even still, popular booths were flooded with attendees trying to get products they were eyeing.

In the main venue. Each area was comprised mainly of females. Lines formed in front of popular booths as attendees flooded to try and get products they had their eyes on.

Each booth also had ingenious displays set up for fans. The sense of unity among attendees was close to that of Comic Market held in summer and winter.

In addition to the main venue in Sunshine City, there were also satellite locations at the Toshima Public Center Cultural Hall and other venues, at which talk shows and mini live events were held both days. There were also areas open for cosplay photography including the East Ikebukuro Central Park adjacent to the main venue and a roadside photo spot near Animate Ikebukuro Honten.

AGF closed as a massive success. The event is poised to become one that female otaku will be familiar with for many years to come.

^1^ A street on the west side of Ikebukuro Sunshine City. The area is dense with retailers of anime goods and doujinshi for females. It is visited by many females, which has earned it the nickname “Otome Paradise.”

Animate Girls Festival 2015 Official Site

This is a Tokyo Otaku Mode original article written by Kohji Sakurai and translated by Jarrett Meuser. Photos by Kohji Sakurai.