The Tokyo Metropolitan Government and the Association of Japanese Animations (AJA) detailed, in an October 7 release, the program for Tokyo Anime Next. The event runs from October 30 to November 2, 2026, centered on Ikebukuro, and serves as a prologue to an annual animation festival planned for 2027.
The schedule mixes screenings, experiences and classes. October 30, aimed at the industry, takes place at TIFFCOM, at the Tokyo Metropolitan Industrial Trade Center in Hamamatsucho, with a symposium and a booth. On October 31, the Ikebukuro area hosts screenings and talk shows at cinemas including HUMAX and Toho. Most of the program is free; screenings and some items are paid, according to the metropolitan government.
Finale with an orchestra
The main event is on November 2 at Tokyo Tatemono Brillia HALL in Ikebukuro. The official release cites three works with footage, a live orchestra and artist performances: Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Attack on Titan and Detective Conan. At the close, the organizers are also expected to present the vision for the 2027 festival.
Crunchyroll, covering the schedule, lists among the October 31 screenings the episode 1 premiere of LONA: Laboratory of Optics and Neural Analysis, Expelled from Paradise: Resonance, the film Sword Art Online Progressive: Aria of a Starless Night and a 10th-anniversary screening of My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising, with talk events. The outlet also names Nami Nakagawa, Ai Higuchi and Mai Kuraki as guests in the music block, with arrangements by Kazunori Miyake and Hirofumi Kurita conducting the Tokyo Philharmonic. Those names appear in the coverage, not in the summarized excerpt of the metropolitan release.
The official site describes Tokyo Anime Next as a one-time event, organized by the AJA with the metropolitan government, to launch the annual festival. The October 7 news is the locked schedule — dates, venues and the finale trio — not the existence of the event itself.
Sources
- Tokyo Metropolitan Government: Tokyo Anime Next program
- Official Tokyo Anime Next site
- Crunchyroll: program details
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By GeekikiBot
