Chapter 522: The Anime Awards Begin

Chapter 522: The Anime Awards Begin

On February 21st, Meng Fan returned to Hangzhou. Strictly speaking, the Shanhai Anime Festival had already begun. Unlike most anime festivals, which habitually place the awards ceremony on the final day, the Shanhai Anime Awards were held in the middle of the week-long festival.

As for why it was different—well, mainly because the preparations had undergone too many changes along the way, and all for the better, so they had to revise the plan time and again, resulting in many irregular, last-minute alterations that both Penguin Anime Network and Station B had agreed to.

On the 20th, the festival had effectively started. Exhibitors from all over the country and some from abroad began gathering at the Xizi Lake Cultural and Creative Park. Various spontaneous or impromptu activities unfolded within the park. The number of units was large, the crowd immense, giving a somewhat chaotic but not disorderly impression.

Moreover, there were even more anime enthusiasts from across the nation and around the world. Before the awards ceremony, Xizi Lake Cultural and Creative Park had become a gathering place for anime fans. At every moment, various cosplay shows were taking place, and on the stage erected in the middle of the park, anime songs and dances were performed continuously. The richness of content aside, the number of performances and viewers was likely to break national anime festival records in the coming days.

Tourists passing by on their way to Xizi Lake were green with envy, precisely because the Xizi Lake Cultural and Creative Park was really not big enough to let all visitors in.

Of course, it was precisely because it wasn't large enough that the records hadn't been broken in the first two days of the festival.

After returning, Meng Fan first went home, took a thorough shower, and then headed to the Cultural and Creative Park. By then, the park was still buzzing with noise, and Meng Fan's appearance sent the atmosphere exploding to its peak.

"Iron God!"

"Iron God!"

"Iron God!"

Amid the roaring cheers, Meng Fan pulled a microphone out of his pocket like a magician—of course, it was a high-tech microphone—connected it to the park stage's sound system, and shouted, "Tell me, what do you want to hear?"

Then, from the park entrance, he walked and sang all the way to the main stage. After singing two more songs on stage, he left and headed to the Shanhai Studio. The whole atmosphere was incredibly electrifying; not only foreign anime fans but even domestic ones were astonished—everything felt as beautifully rehearsed as a script!

The entire process was recorded and posted online. Netizens, like the tourists, were green with envy, desperately wishing they could be there to experience that wonderful atmosphere.

When Meng Fan arrived at the Shanhai Studio, besides the studio members, the heads of Station B and Penguin Anime Network were also there, along with the park's director. This meeting was mainly to double-check the preparations for the next day's awards ceremony. Not only these people but even Meng Fan was somewhat surprised by the changes. The scale of the awards ceremony had now risen by more than two notches. Fortunately, the ceremony itself remained controllable; the uncontrollable parts were all after the ceremony—cooperation with domestic and international anime companies, studios, and individuals had far exceeded the initially set targets—and could only be dealt with after the awards were over.

"Although many uncontrollable changes have occurred, overall it's a good thing. For the rest, adapt as you see fit. We'll proceed with the awards ceremony step by step without chaos, and this anime festival will be considered a success. A few minor mistakes are fine—it's the first edition, after all. We understand, the fans understand, and the exhibitors understand. But don't let the big direction go wrong or become messy."

Meng Fan's greatest function nowadays was certainly not handling details, nor even steering the direction, but being a calming pill. As long as he didn't panic, the entire anime festival wouldn't go off the rails.

After the meeting, they left the studio and headed together to the pre-booked hotel. That evening, they still had to meet with some of the guests attending the next day. Many things had been settled in advance, but they still needed to go over them again. Besides, Meng Fan had been away these days, so he had to receive people properly.

The next day arrived, the 22nd. From 8 a.m., the park was cleared—since some fans had stayed overnight inside—and reopened at 12:30 p.m. Entry was via invitation or online credentials scanned on phones, with the park closing at 4:30 p.m.

The Shanhai Anime Awards also had a red carpet, starting at 5:30 p.m. Judging by the caliber of media reporters present, it was on par with some national-level film and television award ceremonies. Of course, in terms of Weibo trending traffic and duration, it had already surpassed most film and TV award ceremonies.

And the stars walking the red carpet also matched the caliber of most film and TV award ceremonies.

The red carpet hosts were a pair of highly popular anime YouTubers—there were plenty of first-tier TV hosts available, but all three parties had tacitly chosen anime-related professionals—responsible for interviewing guests at the end of the red carpet. They were instructed to focus on anime-related guests; if a film or TV guest had nothing to do with anime, no matter how big a star, they were to be skipped.

So why invite so many film and TV guests?

They came to ride the wave of popularity they wanted, and then obediently played the role of supporting leaves for the anime awards.

Of course, most of the attending guests had been contacted in advance. Even if they had nothing to do with anime, they could still come up with anime-related stories. The only difference was that the interview content shifted from their usual answers to anime-related topics—they were quite adaptable.

The first pair to walk the red carpet was a couple of cosplayers—the very ones who had proposed at Meng Fan's concert earlier. The media reporters weren't particularly interested, but the fans watching the red carpet gave them thunderous applause and screams, leaving some confused reporters wondering which huge stars had arrived.

Then came several more groups of anime professionals. Less than half piqued the media's interest, but the fans remained enthusiastic.

When the fifth group appeared at the end of the red carpet, the media reporters instantly perked up, clicking away with their cameras. This group was Shi Shiwu, Lin Gengxin, and Wang Sicong—the trio of singer, actor, and national husband.

Did the latter two have any connection to anime?

ACGMN is one big family; game enthusiasts are naturally related to anime. Hmm, not a stretch at all.

The appearance of this trio was clearly the first bomb on the red carpet for both media and fans. Hot on its heels came a second bomb: Meng Caiwei and her friend Shiyuan appeared together, cosplaying as Tuxedo Mask and Sailor Moon.

Meng Caiwei was handsome and A-plus cool, while Shiyuan was dreamily beautiful!

(End of chapter)