The Anime Festival Asia (AFA) is Southeast Asia's "biggest event celebrating all things related to Japanese animation and popular culture". While the AFA is set to happen on 21 and 22 Nov in Suntec Convention and Exhibition Hall in Singapore, its more serious brother the Animation Asia Conference will take place a day before. (20 Nov) If you're just as serious about anime, this conference is a must-go. The Animation Asia Conference (AAC) 2009 will be ground zero for some of the world's leading visionaries in the anime and manga industry. Keynote address will be delivered by Tsuguhiko Kadokawa, who is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Kadokawa Group Holdings - a company that deals in publishing, fillm, visuals and cross media.

Other speakers on the list include Mamoru Hosoda (director of Summer Wars and The Girl Who Leapt Through Time), CK Phoon (deputy chairman at Imagi International) and Malaysian Danny Choo (from Mirai Inc) amongst many others. Besides gaining some valuable insight into the industry, the conference also provides plum networking opportunities!

If you're keen to attend the AAC, take advantage of special discounted prices of $300 (normal attendee), $180 (student) and 50% discount for group bookings. To purchase tickets or for more info,