Less than a week after octogenarian Hayao Miyazaki scored his second Academy Award, another 80-something anime legend, “Gundam” creator Yoshiyuki Tomino, greeted a packed auditorium at the second annual Niigata International Animation Film Festival (NIAFF). Striding onstage in a funky black-and-white jacket, billowing slacks and a baseball cap, Tomino urged the artists in the audience to surpass his longtime rival, who he said had raised the artistic bar for the medium — “Let’s beat Miyazaki!”
Tomino’s rousing ebullience kicked off this year’s six-day NIAFF in Niigata, a mid-sized city two hours north of Tokyo by train. Despite brisk winds and spurts of snow, the city’s welcome felt even warmer this year, with local restaurants offering specials highlighted in the program guide and a cosplay parade snaking through the central shopping district.
NIAFF is devoted to feature-length animation over animated shorts, making it the largest festival of its kind in Asia. The 2024 edition showcased over 65 films, nearly 20 more than last year, from countries as far-flung as Latvia, Israel and Ireland, with 12 films from 11 countries in competition. Entries surged 250% over 2023, with 40% coming from Europe, and rising numbers from Asia and the Middle East — the latter being the next major growth market for anime and Japanese popular culture.