Freeze launches interactive online experience that anyone can participate in

Key insights

• The Frieren Online Festival brings anime events online and accessible worldwide.
• Offers interactive elements, AR and audio guides for a unique experience.
• The success of Freeze paves the way for more accessible events for global anime fans.

A new anime event has been announced that could well change the future of anime events, especially for fans outside of Japan. This new event is based on the extremely popular fantasy animeFreezing: Beyond Journey's End (herein Freeze) takes place entirely online. This means that it won't just be limited to people in Japan's largest cities, as is the case with many anime events, but that it will be open to people everywhere.

This event titled Freeze The online festival runs from early December to late May, although some parts of the event will change after January. Purchased tickets are required to access all parts of the online event, although limited portions are also available for free. Freeze The online festival will be interactive and the paid tickets include many digital extras that fans can keep as a memento of the event.

The Freeze Online festival

What to do and what to expect

The Freeze The online festival seemingly came out of nowhere, as an announcement from Shogakukan was released just a week before the event began on December 3, 2024. The majority of the event is a digital museum where fans can explore many parts of the festival Freeze Explore the series and its complex world in detail and at your own pace. The event is very accessible and can even be followed from a mobile phone. It will also be accessible in both Japanese and English, with a basic schedule of the event even being published in English, along with a very detailed English website.

Another part of the Freeze The online festival will be interactive. AnimeNewsNetwork describes this part as follows: “The interactive part of the experience allows fans to submit messages to the manga creators, exchange opinions with other fans, submit art, and design spells.” The interactive element will only be available from December 4th to January 31, but the digital museum will remain available until May 31, 2025. Finally, there will also be an AR function that will allow you to take photos of the sky anywhere in your real environment.

There will also be an audio guide for the digital museum part of the event. The audio guide is narrated in Japanese by Nobuhiko Okamoto, who provides the voice of the hero Sky. To ensure global accessibility, there will also be an English version of the audio guide, although Shogakukan has not yet announced who will do this. While the most basic parts of the experience are free, you will need a ticket to access the digital museum. Tickets cost 1,650 yen ($11) and include custom avatars and backgrounds.

Anime is becoming more accessible

Changes for a more global world

While of course Freeze The fans will be most happy about it Freeze Online Festival, all anime fans should be interested in this event. While interest in anime has continued to grow around the world, resulting in great opportunities such as watching anime films in theaters, anime music concerts, and more, anime museums and other limited events are often limited to Japan. And even within Japan, such events often only take place in large cities such as Tokyo and Osaka.

But anime is loved by people far beyond the borders of Tokyo and Osaka, and these special events are difficult for them to access. Without knowledge of Japanese it will be even more difficult. Freeze However, the Online Festival changes that, making it an event accessible to people all over the world, to people who don't speak Japanese, and to people who can't easily leave their homes. If successful, it could bring a big change to the future of otaku events.

Starting with Freeze was a perfect plan. The anime has an incredible 9.32 rating according to MyAnimeList and is ranked as the best anime in the world on the website. This makes it even better Fullmetal Alchemist, Attack on TitanAnd Steins; goal. Hopefully this means the event is doing well and there is a lot of interest in it, which will then lead to more similar, accessible events for anime fans in the future, regardless of where they are.

The Freeze The online festival runs from December 3, 2024 to May 31, 2025. Details and registration can be found on the official website.

Regard Freezing: Beyond Journey's End now on Crunchyroll.

Sources: AnimeNewsNetwork, Official Website