In addition to the awards ceremony, the event held talk shows and screenings of the prize winners.
The examination was done mainly by a panel of chief editors of magazines covering anime, such as Newtype, Animedia and Animage.
Only the Animation Kobe Theme Song Award is chosen by fans' votes in the first selection, though the decision is by the committee.
[3][4] * Watanabe, Okiura, Nagahama, Iso and Katō received the award for their first films as director.
[3][4] In the first year, the Yomiuri Award was posthumously given to Fujiko F. Fujio who died two months before the event.
However, the committee sees more importance in a point of view promoting young creators of Japan.
Especially, the committee sees more importance in original songs made for an anime, sung in the 'spirit' of the work.