The COVID-19 Coronavirus has affected the anime more than previously expected. This comes as several anime, as well as events, have either postponed or cancelled their activities due to the outbreak.

As previously revealed, A Certain Scientific Railgun T postponed its next episode due to the virus outbreak. And now, several other anime have followed suit. These include A3! Season Spring & Summer, Infinite Dendogram, and Asteroid In Love. In fact, the latter previously aired a recap episode because of the virus. The staff of these anime have already apologised for the inconvenience, though fans were very understanding because of the cause of the delays.

As for the events, many of them cancelled outright. One of the biggest names to cancel is the Nippombashi Street Festa, which was supposed to happen on 15th March in Nippombashi’s Den Den Town area. Over 200,000 people were expected to come, as the even was dubbed as “Japan’s biggest cosplay event”. The organisers announced that those who have already bought their event passes will be given instructions on what to do next in the next few days.

Square Enix also announced that its upcoming “Battle Train Final Fantasy VII Remake Another Story” event is also cancelled. The event would have been a “real-world treasure hunt” within the Yamanote Line with a Final Fantasy VII theme.

Meanwhile, other cancellations due to COVID-19 include several Bushiroad events and tournaments, as well as the Animax Musix Nextage event on 22nd February.

There were event postponements too. These included seiyuu Miku Itou’s 3-city tour to promote the Plunderer anime OP theme song. The single still debuted on 12th February, but the launch event did not push through. Some events did not cancel or postpone though , but took strict precautions. For example, Yui Ogura’s “Valentine Day Party” event required attendees to use masks.

Sources: Nippombashi Steet Festa Twitter account,  Square Enix, A3! anime website, Yaraon!, Nippon Columbia