If you followed English-language anime news, you probably have heard about it. It feels redundant to repeat the news here so we will make this a master post to include other details you might want to know about AWM, Cinderella Girls at AWM, and AX in general.
Aqours and THE IDOLM@STER CINDERELLA GIRLS join Anisong World Matsuri at Anime Expo 2017!
And really, this post is coming up so late because the 5 days since the announcement have been a frenzy of handling different aspects of planning and ticketing. In light of that here are the upcoming key items.
As things are updated we will update this page and/or post in a new blog post. Please keep an eye on @houkagoptime on twitter for updates.
Latest update: Call book info & offkai info!
AX ticketing info: In brief, Anisong World Matsuri is a type of concert produced by ACJ, the company that includes Daisuki.net and others, and it is independently managed from Anime Expo, in Los Angeles. There are two AWM shows at Anime Expo this year, “Kawaii Live” on June 30th and “Japan Super Live” on July 1st. THE IDOLM@STER CINDERELLA GIRLS is scheduled to appear in the 6/30 AWM and will include the following performers:
- Takano Asami (Frederica),
- Yoshimura Haruka (Mika),
- Igarashi Hiromi (Anzu),
- Matsuzaki Rei (Kirari),
- Kurosawa Tomoyo (Miria),
- and Iida Yuko (Kanade).
Anime Expo does host the events (located in Microsoft Theater) and manage the ticketing for the AWM events, so in order to get in you will need to purchase a concert ticket for the specific AWM (there are no full AWM/2-day AWM tickets) and one of the below AX badges:
- A Saturday day pass, 3 or 4-day pass, or premium fan pass (as well as industry, artist, staff, vendor, press passes) to access both AWM events
- Note, Premiere fan passes have sold out well before the announcement for CG.
- AWM on 6/30 and 7/1, or
- A Day-0 pass to access the AWM concert on 6/30 only.
As mentioned above, to attend Anisong World Matsuri, you need a concert ticket for the concert you want to attend. The tickets for AWM 7/1 is already on sale here, and the tickets for AWM 6/30 is available at below dates:
- May 1: Premiere pass presale for Anisong World Matsuri 6/30
- May 3: General sale for Anisong World Matsuri 6/30
If you plan to participate in the general sale for AWM 6/30 on May 3rd, I recommend looking at the 7/1 ticket page to get familiar with how it works. However, there is no guarantee that the 6/30 ticketing situation will work out completely the same way 7/1 did. The tickets are First-Come-First-Served, there is no lottery. There is, however, a presale period where Premiere Fan members can purchase 1 set of tickets (has to be either all of the same type, up to 4 tickets) 2 days before the tickets go on general sale. Currently it is more than 80% sold out!
There are currently 3 types of tickets available: VIP, Orchestra, or Loge. VIP seats are location in the pit area (rows 4-6; there are no rows 1-3 seats available), 300 section up to row H, and seats near the theater center for sections 200 and 400 up to row H. There are over a hundred VIP seats for each day of AWM. The VIP tickets offer you some bonus items besides the better seats, you can find the details in the ticket purchase page. No, we don’t know what the “Special Goodbye event” is either.
The venue, Microsoft Theater, is a world-class facility and having been there a few times it is one of the best live music venues that I have visited, for this kind of an experience. The maximum capacity is 7100 or so, but that includes the mezzanine level (2nd floor) which is currently not open for the AWM live events. It is unlikely, but possible, that if AWM 6/30 sells out that Anime Expo will release more seats from the mezzanine level.
There are no news or information about the CINDERELLA GIRLS participating in any events at Anime Expo outside of the AWM, but in the past AWM artists often will have a tie-in event, so stay tuned to Anime Expo news to find out more. In general Anime Expo doesn’t release this kind of information until 1-2 weeks before the convention. The events may be hosted by third-parties exhibiting at AX as well, so as long as we know we will try to get the word out.
CG flower stand participation details will be available soon. For flowers it will be a generic flower stand (or multiple stands, as there may be more than one project) and you might be able to either contribute monetarily and/or participate in the project.
For the call book, we have gone to print! Thank you for all your support!
We are planning an offkai as well, and you can sign up now. Not all the details are finalized but it will take place after AWM on 6/30. It will have hanging out, food and drinks, and a place to wota on. Follow me on twitter for more updates! So far we have set the venue and time, and are just hammering out all the details now.
PS. Bushiroad Grand Fest: Side note, but the seiyuu and artist known as AIMI (Million Live’s Julia) is also coming to Los Angeles at the same weekend as Anime Expo, as part of Bang Dream! Poppin’ Party. Find out more here. Similarly, fellow Anisong World Matsuri act Wake Up, Girls! features Yamashita Nanami, who plays Yui from Cinderella Girls, will also perform on 6/30.