Animate Girls Festival 2024, a large-scale event celebrating "everything for girls"—anime, manga, voice actors, merch, otome games, cosplay, and more—was held again this year on November 9 and 10 near Ikebukuro Station.
This year marked the 15th anniversary of the event. Under the hope of creating bright memories for attendees, and making it an event overflowing with fun and happiness, the theme this year was "colorful."
A total of 155,982 attendees visited the area, including the city's Downtown Project—45,414 of which entered the main venue at Ikebukuro Sunshine City (109.6％ of last year's count)—the most attendees ever! Plus, the event drew 343,143 online attendees, many of whom viewed the stream of the Ikebukuro Sunshine City Fountain Square (Alpa B1 Hall) stage.
The main event venue in Ikebukuro Sunshine City hosted 97 booths with merch counters and exhibits for anime, games, and other beloved content. Many booths also hosted events starring voice actors, mascots, and more, creating fun experiences for attendees all day.
Even without a ticket to the Animate Girls Festival main hall, there was lots to do in the area. To celebrate the 15th anniversary, an "Eve-of Festival" was held for the first time. Plus, the Ikebukuro City Downtown Project put on a collaboration coaster campaign, where participants collected coasters from six popular titles, including TV anime "Blue Lock VS. U-20 JAPAN" and "Bungo Stray Dogs."
Other attractions inside Ikebukuro Sunshine City included the “Durarara!! x2” animate café food truck "Ikebukuro Cafe Duraraya!" and "FRAGARIAMEMORIES Satellite Shop in AGF2024." At Naka-ikebukuro Park (the park in front of the animate store), there was an "Anime & Manga Holy Land EXPO Special Stage in AGF2024" concert starring wonderful performers. And, a walking tour of Ikebukuro was put on by "Tokyo Color Sonic!!" who made use of their connection to the area with an event titled "Karasoni x AGF2024 SPECIAL Gathering." All these events saw the whole city of Ikebukuro bustling with activity for two whole days.
(Header photo: Animate Girls Festival 2024 Special Flower Installation (Co-operation: Start Flowers)
Eve-of Festival
▲Photos from the Eve-of Festival
This year, to celebrate the 15th anniversary of Animate Girls Festival, the first-ever "Eve-of Festival" was held November 8. The main hosts were Shouta Aoi, Mitsuo Iwata and Tsubasa Yonaga, and guests included Nobuhiko Okamoto, Tatsumaru Tachibana, Yukihiro Nozuyama and Shota Hayama.
During this event, they held the second annual "animate game fight!!" The star-studded case of performers brought down the house playing games including "Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition" and "Nintendo Switch Sports."
▶Animate Girls Festival 2024 "Eve-of Festival" Page
Main Venue
▲Photos of the main venue
The main venue hosted 97 booths with merch counters, exhibits and mini events for all kinds of content. There was a great deal of exclusive AGF2024 merch on sale, and the event ended with amazing success.
Some of this merch will be available in limited numbers at the "After AGF2024" post-event sale starting November 23 (Japan time).
Fountain Plaza Stage
▲Photo of the Fountain Plaza Stage (from left to right: Kazuki Ura, Gen Sato, Takeo Otsuka)
▲Photo of the Fountain Plaza Stage (from left to right: Shu Uchida, Kikunosuke Toya, Shiori Izawa, Shunichi Toki)
A massive 11 titles took the stage at the stellar Ikebukuro Sunshine City Fountain Plaza (Alpa B1)! Talk shows, vocal performances, news drops, and more got everyone fired up around the fountain.
On the first day (November 9), the "Astro Dive Special Stage in AGF2024" section saw the three members of the unit ATOMOSUREINN, who have a CD releasing in November, chat and sing live.
The next day (November 10), four cast members from the hit anime airing now "The Do-Over Damsel Conquers the Dragon Emperor" talked about the show up to episode five and had everyone screaming with a "Hadis vs Gerard improvised confession corner."
Collab Coaster Present Campaign
▲Photo from the Collab Coaster Present Campaign
Participating stores in Ikebukuro City's downtown gave out free coasters to customers on a first-come, first-served basis (6 titles, 30 types total.)
Plus, to celebrate Animate Girls Festival's 15th anniversary, a "Double Chance Prize" lottery for a deluxe gift was also held this year.
▶Collab Coaster Present Campaign page
Karasoni x AGF2024 SPECIAL Gathering
▲Karasoni x AGF2024 SPECIAL Gathering photos
"Tokyo Color Sonic!!" is a series with a special connection to Ikebukuro. For this special project, stores in Ikebukuro City's downtown participated in a collab, and the "NAVITIME Map" app hosted a guide to each character's spot, allowing fans to enjoy "Tokyo Color Sonic!!" over a whole day!
▶Karasoni x AGF2024 SPECIAL Gathering page
Anime & Manga Holy Land EXPO
▲Anime & Manga Holy Land EXPO Special Stage in AGF2024 photos
The deluxe "Anime & Manga Holy Land EXPO Special Stage in AGF2024" concert held in Naka-ikebukuro Park (the park in front of the animate store) showcased ten acts.
Seiichiro Yamashita, Daiki Hamano and Shunichi Toki took the stage for the "TV anime HANA-Doll*-Reinterpretation of Flowering- AGF2024 Stage." They spoke about the upcoming "HANA-Doll*" 2025 anime. The audience was riveted as they revealed many interesting points about the original series and what to look forward to in the anime... and unveiled brand-new news such as never-before-seen concept art.
The "TSUKIPRO Channel AGF2024 Stage" was presented by Taishi Murata, Chiharu Sawashiro, Shunichi Toki, Yoshitaka Yamaya and composer for the ALIVE Series and more John (Akira Takizawa). They talked passionately about the best parts of the original series, the music, and ALIVE, recounted tales from recording, and shared thoughts on the songs. ALIVE/SQ will celebrate their 10th anniversary in 2025, and they shared news about upcoming plans: both the hosts and the guests were very excited.
▶Anime & Manga Holy Land EXPO Special Stage in AGF2024 page
acosta! Animate Girls Festival 2024 Special Edition
▲Photos from acosta! Animate Girls Festival 2024 Special Edition
While Animate Girls Festival 2024 was open, a cosplay event was held again this year in the Ikebukuro East Exit area. A massive number of cosplayers participated in the event.
After AGF2024
Some of the merch sold at Animate Girls Festival 2024 will be available at animate International. Don't miss this chance to get your hands on AGF2024 exclusive items!
SALES PERIOD: November 23 2024 10:00AM - December 10 11:59PM (JST)
WEBSITE: animate International
WARNINGS:
- Sales may end early if stocks run out.
- Not all items from AGF2024 will be available. Only a select line-up will be available.
- Some items may reappear in our catalog after the After AGF2024 pre-order deadline has closed depending on cancellations etc.
(C)18TRIP PROJECT (C)蒼川なな／SQUARE ENIX・「合コンに行ったら女がいなかった話」製作委員会(C)TSUKIUTA.MOVIE (C)金城宗幸・ノ村優介・講談社／「ブルーロック」製作委員会 (C)朝霧カフカ・春河35/ＫＡＤＯＫＡＷＡ/文豪ストレイドッグス製作委員会 (C)見里朝希／PUI PUI モルカー製作委員会 (C) COLORATION (C)Astro Dive (C)永瀬さらさ・藤未都也／KADOKAWA／「やり直し令嬢は竜帝陛下を攻略中」製作委員会 (C)HANA-Doll.RF (C)TSUKIPRO (C)yura (C)AGF2024