Everyone I know is pointed at Tokyo Big Sight for Comiket on August 15 and 16, but the week around it is when theaters and event halls turn over. Two films open on either side of that weekend, one exhibition closes right after it, and there is a free option in Ikebukuro if the crowds get to you. Here is what I am slotting around the C108 trip.

劇場版 魔法少女まどか☆マギカ〈ワルプルギスの廻天〉 (Madoka Magica: Walpurgis no Kaiten)

This one finally has a date. The sequel to the 2013 film 叛逆の物語 (Rebellion) was teased for late 2025, then postponed, and the official site now locks it for Friday, August 28, nationwide. Staff from the original run are back: SHAFT animation, chief director 新房昭之 (Akiyuki Shinbo), and writer 虚淵玄 (Gen Urobuchi). The theme song is 彼方 by FictionJunction.

The news I would act on came out on August 7: an IMAX version opens the same day, extra theaters were added, and 舞台挨拶 (stage greetings) are scheduled for the opening stretch. If you want the biggest screen with the least fuss, book that weekend early.

Need a refresher first? The 新編 (Rebellion) film gets a two-week limited revival from August 14 at 287 theaters, the same circuit that will carry the new film, so the timing lines up neatly. 公式サイト リバイバル上映のお知らせ

機動警察パトレイバー EZY File 2

Mecha fans get their own opening the Friday before Comiket. 機動警察パトレイバー EZY is running as three theatrical chapters, and File 2 lands August 14, after File 1 in May; File 3 follows in March 2027. File 2 covers episodes 4 through 6 of the new series from Bandai Namco Filmworks, and the first-week showings come with a visitor gift, with theater-exclusive goods and an AR photo contest announced August 7.

It opens the same day as the Rebellion revival, which makes August 14 a genuinely crowded film day in Tokyo, so decide your seat before you leave the house. 公式サイト

アニメ『爆走兄弟レッツ&ゴー!!』30周年記念展 (Let’s & Go!! 30th Anniversary Exhibition)

This one closes the Sunday of Comiket weekend, so it is a last-chance item. The show for the 1996 racing anime runs through August 16 at 東京アニメセンター (Tokyo Anime Center) in DNP PLAZA SHIBUYA, second floor of Shibuya MODI, from 11:00 to 19:00 with last entry at 18:30. It is a small venue, and the draw is the hardware: about 50 ミニ四駆 (Mini 4WD) cars on display, dioramas of famous scenes, and photo spots, plus goods drawn from the 30th anniversary key visual.

Advance tickets are 1,000 yen on Lawson Ticket, 1,200 yen at the door, and the goods corner needs a ticket, so do not send one person in to shop for the group. It is a five-minute walk from Shibuya Station. 東京アニメセンター アットプレス

アニメ東京ステーションの夏まつり2026 (Anime Tokyo Station Summer Festival)

The summer festival at アニメ東京ステーション (Anime Tokyo Station) in Minami-Ikebukuro was in the August roundup, with free screenings, kids workshops, and original-character うちわ (flat fans) through August 30. One new pick from the schedule: the August 16 screening of the 1963 classic エイトマン (Eightman), episode 1, at 13:00 and 15:00, with a talk and a quiz with prizes after the show. All free, no reservation. Note the facility is open 11:00 to 19:00 but closed on Mondays, so August 17, the day after Comiket, is not an option. アニメ東京ステーション 日本動画協会プレスリリース

The shape of the week

August 14 is the two-film Friday: Patlabor File 2 and the Rebellion revival. Comiket takes 15 and 16, and the Let’s & Go exhibition closes on 16, so that Sunday is the natural day to clear both halls of Shibuya MODI on the way back. Then the calendar rests until August 28, when Madoka finally lands, IMAX included. That gives me a full second half of August with no empty weekends.

Vocab: ミニ四駆 (Mini 4WD), 舞台挨拶 (stage greetings), うちわ (traditional flat fan), 全国ロードショー (nationwide release).