Designed to be the ultimate celebration of anime and Japanese culture, Madman Anime Festival will debut later this year in Melbourne. Held on 3 and 4 September at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, the event is a collaboration between Madman and Animelab.
What can you expect? Think international guests and exhibitors, cosplay, live stage performances, pop-up shops, screenings, and “exclusive anime events”.
Image: Madman
“Madman was founded because we loved anime and wanted to share it with audiences in Australia,” Co-Founder and Managing Director of Madman Entertainment, Tim Anderson, said in a statement.
“Our twentieth birthday is this year and we could think of no better way of celebrating it than creating an amazing event to bring Australian fans even closer to the genre we all love. We are working hard with Madman’s many partners and contacts to make this event truly an exceptional one!”
Confirmed special guests so far include Yuko Miyamura (Asuka Langley in Neon Genesis Evangelion ) and Tiffany Grant (Nojiko in One Piece , Martel in Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood ) with “many more notable names in Japanese anime and pop culture to be announced”.
Gaming will get a look in too, with Bandai Namco locked in to have games from Square Enix and NIS America on show.
The Tokyo Ghoul Art Exhibition will be there in an Australian first, featuring original storyboards, sketches, character settings and more straight from the production studio.
The Victorian preliminary round of the Madman National Cosplay Championship will be held at the event, with the winner going on to the finals at Supanova Expo Brisbane in November.
Price-wise, you’re looking at $40 for a single day pass, $60 for a weekend pass or $290 for one of 200 limited “Madman MegaFan” passes — which get you premium seating in AnimeLab Arena, access to the concierge hotline and VIP lounge, a priority queue for special guest autographs, early access to exhibition hall and a merchandise pack.
Tickets for the expo will go on sale today, 22 March.
Comments
13 responses to “Australia Gets A New Convention: The Madman Anime Festival Is Coming To Melbourne”
Cool, sounds good! This should fill up the hole that Manifest left 🙁
I think I went to Manifest in 2007 or 2008 can’t remember which, I even went down to Oakley to do the whole volunteer day training thing.
Honestly never went back, didn’t enjoy it much, guess I’m not a convention type guy.
Apparently it was better in it’s later years, I started going from 2011 to it’s end.
@raejohnston Tiffany Grant also does Asuka’s voice in the english dubs of Evangelion.
All the information used was copy/pasted from the press email that was sent out this morning. I’ve got the same email in my inbox
#journalism
$200 priority pass… Annnnnnnnnnd I’m not going. I’m sick of this type of treatment that hurts the general attendees on mass. Your level of access should not be determined by the depth of your wallet. When conventions started up in Australia, everyone had the same access, waited in the same lines, paid the same price. Now it’s just an exercise is seeing how much money conventions can take out of people.
This is nothing new. Most (if not all) conventions have this practice.
Why would you want this though?
Because I’m sick of waiting in line an hour before a photo session to make sure I have a place, only to have to wait an extended 2 hours for “VIPs” to rock up at the moment the photos start and instantly get first in line status. Also the fact that VIPs can walk up to the line at any point during a photo session and get instant access, while someone at the very end of the line who paid money too, ends up getting shoved off to another later session or get told they won’t get what they paid for as they “ran out of time”.
You want access? Then do like we all do, get in line early and wait, then go through the process as it was intended.
Ah. We have very different attitudes to these experiences then. I hate lines. They’re the worst thing about these conventions. I enjoy going to conventions like PAX and I find enough to do, but I am incredibly disappointed to find so many activities gated off by long lines. I straight up hate the concept of paying for entry only to be forced to stand still for hours.
That’s ‘the point’ though. They’re entitled to not waiting because they specifically paid not to. That said, I’m not fond of the blanket VIP system. I’d much prefer a paid ticketed event system, where everyone who lines up will get what they deserve because they have a ticket. Should they undersell, they should then open up lines to walk-ins and refund the ticket holders.
Same deal with business/first class on flights, they get to board first, they get their luggage first, they get better and more frequent meals and drinks, etc. It’s just extended here, if you’ve got the cash, you can buy better treatment.
@Writer: Madman OWNS AnimeLab….. At least, I am pretty sure it dose, considering its Madman’s streaming serves….