News
Animax Names Animation Competition Regional Finalists
posted on by Mikhail Koulikov
Animax, the leading animation cable channel in Japan and Southeast Asia, has announced the titles of the winning entries in the Pan Asia Animation Competition of this year's Animax Awards. This contest has been held in Japan since 2002, but this is the first year that it has been open to contestants from other countries. Competitors were invited to submit a script, novel excerpt, or comic suitable for adaptation into a 30- to 40-minute anime episode, based on either an original character or one of the characters Animax created for the contest. Over three thousand entries were received from seven different regions, and six of the twelve finalists represent various countries throughout Northeast, Southeast and South Asia.
Each of the regional finalists will receive a prize of US$2000. An all-star panel of anime and manga industry professionals, including A-1 Pictures president Hideo Katsumata, Kadokawa Shoten producer Takashi Watanabe, Animax Broadcast Japan president Masao Takiyama, and manga artist Hirohiko Araki (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure) will then select the grand prize winner. The creator of the winning entry will be awarded a cash prize of two million yen (about US$18,000). The winning entry itself will be animated by A-1 Pictures and broadcast on Animax sometime next year.
The stories that won the non-Japanese regional competitions are:
Hong Kong: "Serial Burglary"
India: "Legend of the Scarlet Samurai"
Philippines: "Laminated Woman"
South East Asia (Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand): "Guardian: Invader" (Malaysia)
South Korea: "Nuri the Secret Helper"
Taiwan: "The Final Dream Match"
They join the six Japanese finalists ("Hound Tooth," "The Mystical Era," "Seizure of the Encyclopedia," "Jiku-uro, the Time Cutter," "Takane's Bike," "A Message from Myself"). Brief descriptions of the twelve winning stories can be seen on the Animax Awards site. Visitors from around the world are invited to select their favorite in an online poll. The results of the poll will not affect the final voting, but fifty voters will have a chance to receive a prize pack containing various Animax promotional materials.
