Story Categories: Animation, Film, Japan, market, People, Taiwan, Tokyo, TV,

TOKYO -- The Tokyo International Anime Fair (TAF), the world biggest trade fair for toons, has presented "Evangelion 1.0: You Are (Not) Alone" with its Animation of the Year award, organizers announced on Monday.

The toon, the latest feature installment in the Hideaki Anno TV/pic franchise about teens who pilot giant robots against alien invaders, was a hit last year for distrib Klockworx, finishing with a series high of $19 million.

TAF announced a slew of other prizes in its two main sections: Nominated Works, for toons broadcast, screened, or sold during the previous 12 months, and Submitted Works, for toons submitted by the general public from around the world.

Receiving the Grand Prize in the Nominated Works section was "Adventures in the NPM," a Taiwanese short by Helen Huang that is an animated guide through the National Palace Museum in Taipei. Grzegorz Jonkajtys' "Ark" and Moin Samadi's "The Lost Puppet" were selected as Notable Entries in the General Category, the section's second prize. Young-kwang Jo's "Christmas in Taxi" scooped the Special Award, while Takashi Kato's "The Clockwork City" and Guillaume Briet's "BistRobot" won Notable Entry prizes in the Student Category.

TAF will be held from March 27 to 30 at the Big Sight event space in Tokyo. Last year TAF featured exhibits from 270 companies, including 55 from abroad, and