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Anime and Japanese popular culture fans are in for a special treat in June as Anime Festival Asia Malaysia will be staged for the very first time in Malaysia.

The festival will showcase an electrifying line-up of anisong (anime songs) stars from Asia's music powerhouse, Japan. Japan's top talent and latest offerings in the animation and Japanese Popular Culture scene will be featured. Visitors can look forward to being transported into Japan's famous Akihabara without requiring a passport - with premium original merchandise, movie screenings, cosplay-related activities, and maid and butler café experiences.

This is made possible by Anime Festival Asia (AFA), Southeast Asia's biggest and most anticipated showcase of the latest Japanese popular culture and anime content as well as stars. Organisers of the highly-established and successful festival announced plans last year to hold satellite events beyond Singapore's shore. Malaysia was one of the countries identified. Anime Festival Asia Malaysia will focus on popular content and the latest trends that are relevant to the Malaysian audience.

Anime Festival Asia Malaysia (AFA MY) will be held on 9 & 10 June, 2012. Occupying a floor space of up to 10,000 square meters, Anime Festival Asia Malaysia will showcase the highly popular "I Love Anisong' concerts which will be staged for two evenings.

Commenting about the forthcoming AFA MY, Mr. Abe Foong, Managing Partner, Anime Festival Asia Malaysia and Director of Mochiro Sdn Bhd. said, "Anime and Japanese popular culture has a strong following in Malaysia. There are approximately 500,000 people who are exposed to anime and this number is growing with the industry.

"Through Anime Festival Asia Malaysia, we hope to make this an annual showcase of the latest and popular content and merchandise. The festival will offer business opportunities to network with Japanese content providers as well and take this industry to a new level," said Mr. Foong.

Mr. Shawn Chin, Festival Director, Anime Festival Asia and Executive Director, SOZO, said, "Through Anime Festival Asia, fans from the region have grown to love the Anime Festival Asia brand and associate it with premium anime and J-pop content. Today, we are happy to stage Anime Festival Asia Malaysia here in response to fans' requests.

"We will offer our Malaysian audience an experience with top quality Japanese popular culture, with local interests and preferences, supported with iconic Anime Festival Asia favorites. With this, we hope that Anime Festival Asia Malaysia will grow into an event that Malaysians can be truly proud of and call their own," concluded Mr. Chin.

Visitors to the Anime Festival Asia Malaysia will be able to catch 6 Japanese Anisong J-Pop Acts performing over 6 hours in 2 days. They will perform songs from some of today's biggest anime titles in Malaysia and Japan.

A special cosplay championship will be held during the festival. The winner will represent Malaysia to compete with the region's best cosplayers from Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand and Philippines, at the Regional Cosplay Championship. The Regional Cosplay Championship will be held in Singapore during Anime Festival Asia in November 2012.

Apart from the concerts, AFA MY will have something for everyone, depending on their interests. Avid shoppers can look forward to original anime merchandises from Akiba Town by some of Japan's top brands such as Good Smile Company and Bushiroad.

More details on participating brands to be announced at a later date. Visitors to the festival can also experience the iconic Moe Moe Kyun Maid Cafe and Atelier Royale Butler Cafe, exclusively available only at Anime Festival Asia Malaysia, for a memorable dining experience. At AFA 2011, the cafes received over whelming response, with over 2,000 customers served in just 2 days! Anime Festival Asia is a platform created by the commercial industry and is a 100% piracy free event.

As part of this festival, visitors will be enlightened on ways to differentiate original and fake products and be informed on the harm caused by piracy. The festival hopes to encourage visitors to buy original products. Beyond a consumer showcase, Anime Festival Asia Malaysia is also a rare platform for business owners who are keen to explore collaborations with Japanese content owners to get better insights into the music, animation and publishing industries.

Mr. Mitsuhisa Ishikawa, Co-Founder and President of Production I.G, a Japanese Anime entrepreneur, who was also the producer for the Ghost in the Shell film will be present to share his experience. He will be joined by Mr. Ishii Tomohiko, a renowned Animation Producer for Ghost in the Shell, Sky Crawlers and TV series Eden of the East, who will be sharing some of their latest releases scheduled for 2012.

Commenting about the first Anime Asia Festival Malaysia, Mr. Gaku Shinoda, Vice-President of Dentsu Malaysia Sdn Bhd, said, "We are indeed very privileged to be involved in this anime festival and are happy to leverage on Anime Festival Asia as a premium platform. Armed with Dentsu's strength in content, we are able to partner with AFA Malaysia to bring and introduce premium content to the masses."

Partners and sponsors have been specially invited to match the significance of the inaugural event and its relevance to the local audience. Events partners include SOZO, Mochiro Sdn Bhd, and Dentsu Malaysia Sdn Bhd. The hotel for Merdeka - the Federal Hotel Kuala Lumpur, and Hotel Capitol Kuala Lumpur are the official hotels for the event. Plaza Low Yat, Malaysia's largest IT Lifestyle mall, is the official shopping centre, while Bushiroad is a sponsor. More sponsors and partners will be announced at a later date.

Danny Choo, one of the most well-known and respected bloggers of Japanese pop-culture in the world will be the official host of AFA MY 2012 for many of the main stage events. In addition to his blogs, he also manages MIRAI Inc, an Internet solutions provider, and produces and hosts Culture Japan, a weekly program on Japanese culture on Tokyo MX.

Anime Festival Asia Malaysia will be held at Tun Razak Hall 1 & 2, Putra World Trade Centre on 9 & 10 June 2012. Several tiers of ticketing will be available depending on the level of content the customer wishes to access. General festival tickets are priced at RM15 per day, customers who wish to additionally access exclusive stage contents from Anime celebrities will need to purchase the Festival + Stage RM30 per day ticket.

For access to the concerts in the evening, customers will need to get the RM88 / day (Free Standing) and RM168 / day (VIP Seating). To make it more accessible to fans, a RM308 2-day VIP Package & RM148 2-day Standing Package will also be available. Each concert ticket is bundled with a festival and stage ticket. Details on ticket sales will be announced at a later date.