Anime Festival Asia - Day 1 (only)

As I mentioned in my previous post, it was last minute plan. But thanks to Kiru for helping me buy the tickets and booking the hotel. And I took the train all the way to Singapore, alone. Coincidentally I was in the same coach as a bunch of cosplayers but I didn’t actually talk to them.// You know, they have their own circle.

6 am: Kiru woke me up lol but I was already awake. But it’s hard to hop of the bunk bed since I had to sleep on the top.

7 am: Breakfast, before taking the MRT with Kiru and Kazami. When we reach the venue, there were many people already. Wow otakus and their dedication. I bet when it comes to 8 am class, we’d still be sleeping at 7.30

wakuwaku!!

8 am: already lined up in front of the entrance. It was hot. And crowded. Now we don't get to see these early birds coming to class, do we? The ticket booth was outside the hall, unlike in AFAMY and previous AFASG where everything is indoors.

9 am: We can go inside! Otakus were like wild animals released from a cage, but instead we’re going inside a closed area. And by the time me and the two guys were in, so many people were lining up at the SAO booth that Kiru gave up on it. Instead he and Kazami went lining up in front of the booth with Scandal stuff. So I separated myself from them and wander around by myself. There's a Rurouni Kenshin booth, where there's a life sized cardboard of Takeru Satou as Himura Kenshin, plus they bought the costumes used in the movie. I'm also heartbroken that Singapore will have the live action movie in their cinemas.... MALAYSIA Y U NO HAVE DISTRIBUTOR TO BUY THIS AWESOME MOVIE? And I found the K-project booth! It’s the first place I bought stuff (ironic that I once said I don’t plan to buy any merchandise!!) which costed over RM150. Also took a picture of 2D Isana, Neko and Kuroh…


10 am: I think I went to the doujin booth and got some KuroBasu badges. And later that time I went back near the K booth… where I noticed that the butler café was open, and there aren’t many people lining up. At that moment I already felt ronery cos I was bored… it’s not like I want to enter but well I went on ahead. For such a small cake it costs a LOT pfffftttt- but at least I got a nice butler to serve me. And guess what he is a fan of Fairy Tail too! Then we started fangirl/boy-ing about it XD

11 am: I went back to the K-project booth cos I was informed that there will be a cosplay session. So Kaname was there! I think I spent a lot of time there, lining up and waiting for my turn to take a photo of him. Unfortunately if you want to take a photo with him you have to pay like 50 dollars. Well, that’s one way to rake money.

12 pm: later at this hour I went into the stage. Amuse was presenting its segment, introducing their singers and actors. Plus, FLOW and Baby Metal came on stage as a teaser for tonight’s show. Seems there are quite a number of Baby Metal fans. Right, they’re cute and all, their songs sounds nice but the thing is they don’t play the instrument. So… nope! Anyway, most of the seats are empty. Even the ones in front row. i kept moving towards the front, and all the way to the middle. But still it was too far to get a close up snapshot. My camera ran out of battery, and i left the spare battery in the hostel =__=. At the end, there's Rurouni Kenshin stuff and also an extended trailer of the live action movie ksakhdskjhfskjdf aparrently it became a no.1 blockbuster movie in Japan, after the Avengers!!

waiting to be stolen by fangirls

1 pm: The moment I’ve been waiting for… it’s k-project segment! The director of K was there, and he talked about basically what we already know about the anime. But the best part of the event is the K Radio video, which is presented by Tsuda Kenjirou and Komatsu Mikako (seiyuus of the anime). Who talked about the terms found in K, which are “Battou!”, “Zugatakai”, “Seibai” and “Kizuna”. Then there was a K cosplay competition, where I think the ‘performance’ was quite interesting. I wish I had a good video for that. They were surprised that there were quite a number of K cosplayers, and there was only one neko who won the grand prize.

2 pm: I went outside for a bit, then came back in and… I dunno wander around?

3 pm: it was time for K’s T-shirt signing session with Go Nakanishi… unfortunately I don’t have the redeem ticket so I only watch the lucky 100 people line up. I was boiling with envy indeed. Rather than staying there I went walking around again…

4pm and 5pm: I seriously can’t remember what I’ve been doing at this hour. I know there was one time I was sitting on the floor watching people walk about lol. Yes I was alone goddammit. I went inside MUSE’s store, only to find that the Tiger & Bunny towel I’ve been eye-ing is sold out!! SERIOUSLY?? HOW MANY FANGIRLS ARE THERE!? Oh yeah I also met Volvagia356 while lining up to enter the store.

6 pm: Went back inside the stage area, just to watch the solo cosplay competition. I like the way they select the cosplayers, they were selected on the spot by judges. The judges were pro cosplayers from different parts of Asia. But I don’t actually like the way they select the winners. I was hoping for some… you know, solo performance where the cosplayers act in character as often seen in ComicFiesta. But the intermission of the competition was gold. Team Shikon (champion of WCS 2012) and Lunar Asterisk (from Indonesia) had a game of Janken. It was really entertaining watching them fighting to become the most kakkoi man ever lol.

7 pm: I think that was the end of it. I had dinner with some old friends after that.

Overall the event was great. Just that I wish I had my fellow fangirl friends to come along with me. I mean, imagine fangirling about K alone and seeing your fave characters in doujin/fan merchandise or someone cosplaying at them…. And you need to express yourself, but instead the friends pop up in your head whenever you see their fave character :(

 But then my main reason of coming all the way here is to watch T.M. Revolution’s concert. Or else I wouldn’t have come. I don’t think I’ll be coming to next year’s AFA in Singapore. I’m hoping that more great artists would come to next year's AFAMY.

And during the stage event I was disappointed by the lack of screaming… or just during certain stuff, only a group of fangirls or fanboys would get excited. But during K, even with the person next to me who seem to be liking K doesn’t get super excited. Well, there’s CF to look forward to :3

Also, during AFAMY (in the middle of the year) I thought Danny Choo makes a dull host but he seems more entertaining this time. Well, not that I attended AFA many times.

I like the spaciousness of the hall. If I’m not mistaken 1/3 of the hall is totally empty, and attendees can rest on the floor while cosplayers can do some preparations, touch ups and also take photos. One thing that could be improvised is uh… put some carpets or more seats so we can rest comfortably? I guess it’s too much to ask lol. Oh and there’s also food stalls and tables WITHIN the hall, so you don’t have to get out when you’re hungry. Except that you need to queue up. It’s not something easy to get in our homeland.

really large loitering area

There were times where I feel like going back to Malaysia that very moment. But I already bought a train ticket back next morning. No offense but whenever I come to Singapore I feel homesick the moment I set my foot on the soil. But I do like the country; people are so disciplined and the streets are clean and the MRT is super convenient! I guess it’s much easier to run a small country to set things straight…

so that means I don't have any report on the next day. I don't plan to see anything else, but I did wish I could stay for Fairy Tail's movie. But then i was running out of money.

here are the rest of the pictures I took. Nothing much, and don't add my facebook for no reason.