Tokyo Anime Center

Hello everyone and welcome back to Tiro Finale where today we will be taking a look at the recently relocated Tokyo Anime Center. Prior to its relocation in the middle of 2017, the Tokyo Anime Center was located in the Akihabara UDX building and was a prominent feature for many visitors to Akihabra. Since then, the center has moved from its prime location in Akihabara to the DNP Plaza in Ichigaya.

First reopened in October 2017, the new Tokyo Anime Center has remained relatively obscure in its new location with not many visitors to boot. Just a short walk from the nearest JR Ichigaya station, the center itself is located in the basement floor of DNP Plaza and may prove to be a little difficult to find if you are not specifically looking for the location. As of the time of visit, the current exhibition was the Norio Shioyama Sunrise Exhibition highlighting many of Sunrise's earlier animation works featuring Norio Shioyama.

Just like the original Tokyo Anime Center, entrance for the permanent exhibition zone is free and with public opening hours from 11:00 am till 8:00 pm. Meanwhile, the temporary exhibition zone has a small admission fee.

Together with several exhibits from the temporary exhibition, the main area featured signatures from various famous individuals in the industry. These signatures remain as permanent exhibits and would accumulate along the way as more exhibitions are held in the venue. Just a month before, an exhibition for Studio Wit's work was held which explains the number of signatures related to the studio's releases.

While they have yet to have an exhibition of their own, Production I.G. had a signature board accounted for too as Wit Studio was a subsidiary of Production I.G.

Besides the signature boards, there was even a "Creation Board" where visitors were allowed to put up their own illustrations. Some of which were drawn as part of a group activity during special visits. 

Right next to the "Creation Board" is the creation area which aims to mimic what a production studio would look and function. On certain days, seminars are even held to give visitors a better understanding on the inner workings of making anime and, perhaps even, encourage avid visitors to pursue a character in animation. 

Earlier I mentioned that the permanent exhibition area also held several exhibits to the temporary exhibit area. This is likely as a means of promoting the ongoing exhibits available in the temporary exhibition area.While, the Tokyo Anime Center does have a very helpful English website, every other exhibit in the center is in Japanese. 

Before I forget, the entire center is split into three main areas taking up the entire basement floor of the DNP Plaza. These areas include the permanent exhibition area, temporary exhibition area and the merchandise area. In terms of floor space, the permanent and temporary exhibition area occupy roughly the same amount of space while, the merchandise section is the smallest among the three.

Depending on the temporary exhibition and time of week, the center can have a varying number of visitors. But for now, the center appears to be relatively quiet with only a handful of visitors on weekdays. If you are looking to pay the anime center a visit, a weekday afternoon would probably be the best time to pay it a visit.

Surrounding the merchandise area are several posters of upcoming events and exhibits, something that was very much present in the original Tokyo Anime Center in Akihabara. But perhaps the biggest difference between the new and the old is the sheer size of everything. The previous anime center occupied only a fraction of the floor space of the current anime center and that immediately shows upon visiting.

With many empty spaces on the walls and room to comfortably walk around, the Tokyo Anime Center is in the perfect venue to grow. It may only be a vaguely known area for now but, as time progresses with more and more exhibits held, the new Tokyo Anime Center certainly has the potential to be a staple for every anime fan. 

With that, we come to the end of our coverage today on Tiro Finale. As usual, if you have any questions do not hesitate to ask them in the comments section below. Until the next time, thank you so much for reading and have yourself a wonderful day ahead!