A month ago, the 2nd Tokyo Marui Festival was held at the same venue where the first festival took place, at the Belle Salle Akihabara. Just like the 1st Tokyo Marui Festival, it was a gathering of fans and customers of the company to find out what's up, what’s new, and what's coming up last 5th to 6th of September 2015.

The 1st Tokyo Marui Festival was held at the height of summer (26 - 27 July 2014) and as based on our report, it was hot at the venue during those days, that most customers and staff were already sweating even before the doors were opened. They even had to put strict control of admissions to ensure that there was no overcrowding to avoid heat issues. But for this year, it was held in September, with the weather cooler and it was the onset of the Autumn season.

The setup looks almost the same just as like last year, albeit with newer and upcoming products on display. Here, fans were able to get their hands of the products of the company has in production and finally holding the AA-12 AES and test it at the firing range that was put up at the venue.

There were three products announced at the Festival with two more of a variation of existing products whilst the third one being totally new:

1. The Tokyo Marui M870 Gas Shotgun Wood-Type (though this is not actually real wood)
2. The Tokyo Marui MP7A1 Electric Compact Machine Gun in Tan
3. The Tokyo Marui Glock 34 Gas Blowback Pistol

The Tokyo Marui Glock 34 GBB still uses the Tokyo Marui Glock 17 mechanism with the inner barrel longer than the Glock 17. For those who have been doing custom Glock 34 GBB Pistols, this means that they don’t have to buy kits to convert their Tokyo Marui Glock17s to achieve this, as an actual Glock 34 from the company will be available.

The AA-12 AES was a much sought after product at the Festival with people queuing up to try and shoot the Shotgun. Much has been said about the AA-12 though there are now updates to product and the only thing that needs to be done is to release it to the market as it is probably the most anticipated airsoft gun product for this year.

The real news at the 2nd Tokyo Marui Festival is the update to the Tokyo Marui M4A1 MWS (Modular Weapon System) Gas Blowback Rifle. It is also a much anticipated product having been revealed last year and we were looking forward to it being released last year. However, the product engineers at Tokyo Marui were not satisfied with the durability and decided to do further improvements on it before  they release it to the market.

The result is the Z Endurance System (ZET System) which Hyperdouraku assumes, and we agree with him, is probably called due to the Z-shape of the mechanism. The blowback function was optimised and the recoil even more powerful with a system that has impact mitigation, or shock absorption, to avoid damage to the bolt catch.

According to the company, they subjected the M4A1 MWS with the ZET System to endurance tests, going through 10,000 shots and can handle it well. This durability is comparable to the NEGs or the New Generation Blowback and Recoil AEGs of the company such as the HK416 DEVGRU Custom NEG. The shot cycle doesn't decline even after shooting a full 30-round magazine. The feedback was that it was fun to shoot with the recoil being sharp and heavy. The plan is to release first the M4A1 MWS before the AA-12 AES and hopefully they get released one after another late this year. Fingers crossed, as many airsoft players want to get hold either of these airsoft guns or both by Christmas.

With Akihabara being the centre of the Otaku universe, fans of anime and video games are also interested in guns that many of them came to attend the Festival and also watch a survival game anime shown at the event. It actually was popular for the Cosplay girls and they also checked out the airsoft guns especially the Desert Eagle .50AE Gas Blowback Pistol which is used by popular anime characters.

The Express Gun or the "Train Gun" that is being marketed to children is also popular amongst airsoft players and many adults bought it for their own use. Some are actually planning airsoft skirmishes using the Express Gun.

Again, it's another smashing success for the company. Holding the Tokyo Marui Festival is a good move for the company to find its footing in the airsoft industry annually and draw inspiration from their customers and fans who came in throngs to visit them in Akihabara for two days in Autumn of this year. Seeing the happy and amazed faces of the people who touched and tried the products they had on display should be more than enough motivation to spur them to create even more innovative products which they have been doing for 50 years.

More photos of the 2nd Tokyo Marui Festival at the Popular Airsoft Facebook Page.