Bandai has announced Digimon Con, a new event dedicated entirely to its classic monster raising and battling series.
As announced by the official Digimon website, the online convention will stream its activities globally through YouTube on Feb. 27 at 10:00 A.M. JST. The event will be completely free and will be streamed in both English and Japanese, though Bandai's announcement does state that there may be content differences between the two languages' streams. The English website describes the event as "The first iteration of DIGIMON CON seeks to be a celebration of all things Digimon, presenting a wide range of content for the enjoyment of people all over the world who love Digimon." Presentations will be held for both the Digimon anime series and the franchise's upcoming games. New information will also be discussed for the Digimon Vital Bracelet device and its associated mobile app.
The livestream will also feature a live performance from Ayumi Miyazaki, the singer-songwriter who created the original Japanese theme songs for Digimon Adventure, Digimon Adventure 02 and Digimon Frontier. Miyazaki is also known for composing the original theme song to the popular shojo anime, Nana.
Bandai is also holding a Digimon drawing competition. The grand prize winner of the art contest will win 300,000 yen (about $2,600 USD) and will have their art featured on a Digimon trading card. In addition to the winner, 30 - 50 pieces will be chosen by Bandai's judges and will be showcased during Digimon Con's livestream. The contest is open to Digimon fans in Japan and the United States, with Bandai accepting submissions from Dec. 17 to Feb. 7. The art must fit into the contest's theme of "Digimon's cool or cute scenes" and must feature one of the eight Digimon that are listed on the contest's website.
The Digimon franchise began with the release of Bandia's Digimon virtual pet toy in 1997, which was followed up by the release of the original Digimon Adventure anime in 1999. The franchise has continued to this day with numerous spin-off and sequel series, as well as dozens of video games spanning a wide variety of genres and platforms. The latest Digimon anime, Digimon Ghost Game, premiered earlier this fall. The next video game in the franchise, the strategy RPG Digimon Survive, was originally announced by publisher Bandai Namco in 2018 but has been hit with numerous delays, and is now scheduled to be released sometime during the third quarter of 2022. The game was originally announced for the Sony Playstation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch.
Source: Digimon Official Website, Digimon Contest Website
