Heterochromia

What self respecting animeblog doesn’t have an anime convention coverage these days? That said, Sasa flew me all the way to Singapore’s first large scale anime convention, Animation Festival Asia 2008. (Oh wait, it’s only a 30min train ride from my place)

Time: 1100hrs

Place: Suntec Convention Center Lvl 4

First Impression: Long Line is long

Even though I was pre-registered, I waited in line for 15 mins, which wasn’t that long in fact. (Turns out that that they didn’t even check my pre-registration code) The first thing that greeted me at the entrance was the huge-ass Gundam Exia model. A slight tilt the right, a long line of gundam otaku were lining up to pay for their purchases.

The Overwatch

The goods

The aftermath

I walked around to get a feel for the layout. Suffice to say, it was well planned, although some booths were either woefully underutilised or overutilised. It must have been heaven for gundam and figurine collectors since, that’s where the action and exclusives were. The former for corporate and the latter for commercial.

Here be KKNM…

…We got the goods…

…So get in line, chump

Dollfies weren’t excluded either and I spotted some attendees with dollfies in tow. There was something for the kids too with merchandise from Tamagotchi, Power Rangers, Ben 10 and assorted Bandai toys.

Scary Dollfie is expensive

Which version of Power Ranger is this again?

On the anime front, Odex showcased its recent acquisitions, Skip Beat, Toradora, D-Grayman, Code Geass and the like. And hey, even Domo-kun made an appearance.

Oh Geass No!

We love shounen!

Assume Eagle Talon stance

Domo overload

Studio 4C was evidently present since it had sent speakers for the event.

So where do I sign up?

In AFA, Koji Morimoto signs you up!

Artwork wise, there were local boys Collateral Damage Studios and Imaginary Friends Studio along with several others. Those two however produced some stunning works and gets my vote (but not my money).

Mmm, Strike Pantsu

Pepper says “Hi”

Local manga distributor Chuang Yi were on hand to provide heavily discounted bundles of up to 90% off. And if you weren’t in the mood to buy, Manga Kissa was there for you to rest your legs and browse through some manga or magazines.

Me thinks they added the “Free” bit recently

I opted to rest my feet at the Industry Seminar section, where a discussion was taking place between Stanley Lau (IFS), Ken Lee (Egg Studio(?))and Yasufumi Soejima (ex-Gonzo) The gist of the talk was about what elements were essential to animation and words of advice regarding upcoming artists/animators who want to venture into the industry. (Pretty much what the other seminars covered too) There was also a sneak peek at the latest Gundam game intro and a commissioned music video by some western rock band done by the company.

I parked myself in here to stretch my legs

I dropped by the Gundam panel for a bit and watched The Sky Crawlers preview afterward. The premise and visual style left me wanting more.

The Man, The Myth, The Legend

I guess he’s popular then?

WW2 dogfighting vs existentialism

A quick lunch/early dinner later, it was back to spot the cosplayer and/or blogger. The ticket queue was still snaking along at 1700hrs and thus the usual cosplay shoot locations were either cramped or taken up by another exhibition.

Long line is long

I wandered around for a bit more and then planted myself near the official video-cameraman for the upcoming gig by The King of Anime songs, affectionately known to fans as Aniki. But before that, Quis Band, a cover band took on stage for the opening act. I recall them playing GTO OP, Death Note OP, Bleach OP(?), FMA OP(?) amongst others. They were quite good in fact, unless you listen to them closely.

Here’s a Quis for you

Alas, it was no match for Aniki who appeared looking as youthful as ever. (Gotta hand it to the Japanese for their youth “serum”) 40 years in the business and still going strong. Amazing. Aniki belted out tunes from Giant Robot, Super Sentai and misc shows, most notable being Mazinger Z, Masked Rider and Lupin III. The fans lapped it all up and sang merrily along. In fact, a costumed Masked Rider fan got exited and proceeded to climb onto the stage during the Masked Rider theme song. Security acted promptly and escorted him off.

V, because that’s how us Japanese roll

Throw your hands in the air, and wave it like you just don’t care

Aniki kept on going song after song under his leather/PVC(?) jacket, sweating profusely, but his voice never wavered and his interaction with his fans was exemplary. He even wandered down the stage and mingled with the front row audience for a bit, much to their delight.

An impromptu “Meet The Fans” session

The official “Moeru” face towel

Aniki went through his last song and retired backstage, but not before the roar of “Encore!” brought him back out for two more songs. Aniki was certainly impressed with the fans and wondered aloud if he should bring his band, JAM Project the next time around. Cue rambunctious roar of approval.

Rocket Punch!

See you later Space Cowboy

In summary, Day 1 was a great intro for me of an actual anime convention. Looking forward to Day 2.

Equipment List: Pentax K10D + Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4.5 Macro + Pentax SMC M 50mm f/1.7 + Tamron 70-300mm f/4-5.6 Macro.