My very first anime convention, and it was the incredibly awesome Anime Festival Asia in Singapore. While many people chose to focus on the merchandise, I decided to focus on the participants of the con – the cosplayers. SIXTY crazy photos ahead! With Singapore being the next most proliferate anime hub, the cosplayers have quite the reputation to hold up, and it doesn’t disappoint.

I would have posted earlier, but being sick kinda delayed it a little. Oh, the above photo wasn’t taken by me, as I didn’t bring my DSLR with me on my trip, that and I also couldn’t get that close to the lovely Gwendolyn.

So I arrived on late Friday, and basically my first breakfast before going to AFA was my absolute favorite breakfast delicacy in Singapore – Roti Prata. Delicious start to my visit!

On the way to Suntec. Decided not to go through the City Hall to Suntec underpass because my friend wanted to have a smoke. It was a nice day for a walk anyway. The weather is nice this time of year – much cooler than summer. It’s like Vancouver’s summer weather!

Inside Suntec. The convention hub is also a mall!  Not too much has changed in here since my last visit, compared to the rest of Singapore. (more photos in the near future).

My AFA ticket. It’s rather unfortunate that my Sunday ticket is still firmly attached to the stub. I got pretty sick near the end of Day 1, and basically was wrestling with the idea of whether to attend Day 2. I regret not going, but at the same time, it probably would have destroyed the rest of my vacation here.

My lunch. Swenson’s baked chicken on rice. I haven’t had Swenson’s in over 4 years! Singapore’s chicken has a very different texture to it, one that I can’t say I really like. The meat is stringy and dry – even with all this sauce.

Into the fray I go. Fortunately, thanks to Zh3us’ organizing, I was able to obtain tickets without needing to line up for hours. I arrived late, and the line-up was still insane! When you walk in the door, you’re greeted by this large (or should I say small) Gundam.

No idea who they are, but frankly, I don’t care. THIS is how cosplay works. Not like most of that North American crap.

A Beyond-Perfect-Grade Gundam. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen something as cool as this at that kind of scale.

I’m speechless at how cool this looks. BADASS!

After finally seeing a Cintiq for the first time in person, I’ve decided to buy less anime figures, sell more anime figures, and save up for a Cintiq.

Absolutely amazing work. I enjoy these kinds of paintings more than the typical anime fan art nowadays. I especially love it when they introduce a more asian/anime influenced edge into this kind of work. It’s what I hope to accomplish in the future.

Suigintou cosplayer. She’s absolutely adorable! And I’m not just talking about the outfit! A very friendly, and timid demeanor from the brief 15 seconds of interaction I had with her.

This is what the convention is all about – jacked up prices for large volumes of anime merchandise, and a lot of rare ones too!

Not a cosplayer, but her job is obvious. Decided to cover her face out of respect.

K-On! Not much else I can say about this photo other than “NICE GUITAR!”

I kinda know who the girl on the left is (Bleach?) But the rest escape me. I’m guessing they’re just loligoth.

Same deal. Who are they cosplaying as? Doesn’t matter. I’m sure any girl would love to wear a flowing princessy dress for a day while people snap pictures of her like a celebrity/model.

Can’t say for sure, but I think this guy is a very famous artist. (The Girl Who Leapt Through Time?). Autograph signing had just closed when I got there.

I absolutely cannot wait to see this movie! Production I.G. FTW!

Stickers to prove your worth.

Absolutely awesome Black Rock Shooter cosplayer. The eye thing is a very nice touch. What I find interesting is that you can have ANYONE simply carry a samurai sword, and it will look like cosplay. Wear loligoth, carry a katana = cosplay. Wear a school uniform, carry a katana = cosplay. Wear street clothes, carry a katana = cosplay.

kero kero kero kero. Super adorable.

More Gundam goodness. Now this is a Gundam worth getting!

At the Danny Ch- er I mean Good Smile booth, with the ultra cute Xenoglossia Nendoroid Petits! I don’t recall seeing anyone post photos of these cuties.

WIN. There’s no other words required.

Obligatory photo. ^_^ I chose not to post my shots of Black Rock Shooter and World is Mine. Everyone’s posted it already.

This looks so cool.

These were all available for sale! I bought the smallest one.

This guy was awesome. He had a voodoo doll Miku with him too. He was nice enough to pose with me of him decapitating my head. Too gruesome to show that!

After reading Rule 2, I lost interest. This is what Singapore is like, my friends! (please laugh. I’m just teasing.)

I do find the rules humorous though, especially rule 4.

awesome awesome Eneloop dog. This made my day. Seeing a Miku taking a photo with it also made my day (and yes, I did take a photo with her, and the dog, seperately).

No idea who she’s cosplaying as, but whatever. Cute smile.

Awesome KH cosplayer. Those weapons are hand-made! I asked what it was made out of and what was involved. It was very technical. I was lost at “composite”.

Terrible fanart is terrible. I like how well it’s rendered, but the entire thing looks… dead. There’s just something incredibly lacking about it – the facial expressions, the poses, the composition, how stiff everyone looks, the complete lack of dynamic movement, it’s just all wrong. Being a huge fan of Valkyria Chronicles, I found this image insulting.

Hardcore card players playing anime card games. It’s like an anime version of Magic the Gathering!

Miku buying Miku merchandise. This is where you’d find artists like puppychun.

Actually very good cosplay. I’m not a Bleach or Naruto fan, but again, THIS is how cosplay is done right.

Yes, this is how good fanart looks. Stylized in your own way, but in ways that add to the original concept, not take away. While the general style is “generic”, it’s done well, and works well with the character.

ka-wa-ii.

<3

Again, two more cosplayers with absolutely amazing handiwork. It’s like these two are the opposite of the first two princess and prince duo.

More epic cosplayers.

So many people! But this isn’t even a lot!

Yaoi FTW! I do not support that message.

Yuri FTW. This I do support.

Breaktime – a “local” drink – Bandung. It’s a rose syrup milk drink. It tastes deliciously sweet with a fragrant rose scent. This definitely tops my previous favorite – Orange Qoo.

I believe she’s one of the AFA Cosplay Contest finalists. Quite amazing work.

This Naruto cosplayer is not a Narutard.

Double Post for deserved kawaii-ness.

There’s something about a group of cosplaying girls sitting around chatting. Bonus points for them being frilly loligoth cosplayers. You’ll notice they’r still segregated between the “anime hair color” group and the “natural hair color group”.

There were better poses from her, but oh well.

This guy was a great cosplayer. Very friendly, totally open, and very patient. He held that pose for a good 30 seconds while someone with a DSLR snapped away silently.

Then he took a picture with me like we’ve always been good friends. XD

Ulala variant color. VERY HOT. I love retrocool style clothes.

MOAR PEOPLE!!!

YES. It really should have been a girl character! HAWT.

Who is the girl on the right cosplaying as? She’s very pretty.

MOAR PEOPLE!!! Check out the giant sword on the left.

Ran into her back in the con. She’s very cute.

Quite sad that this was the only pic I got of Danny Choo as he was mobbed and rushing away. I shouted “DANNY!” he looked over, and said “Hey!” That blurry thing in front of him is his hand as he waved. If I’m not mistaken, that’s Alodia. It’s blurry, but you can see her Witchblade makeup still on.

Gwendolyn from Odin Sphere. When I first saw her wandering, I was floored. I wasn’t camera ready as she went through a door and vanished. I wasn’t satisfied leaving without a shot of her. I ran into her again (friend pointed her out). Unfortunately, this photo doesn’t do her justice anyway. I also saw ONE girl dressed as Konata (height was accurate too) but wasn’t camera ready at the time she went passed and disappeared around a corner.

At the end of it all, after looking through all my photos, I feel it’s time I bought a new point and shoot camera. Most of the photos I got were blurry under this low light condition. There are cameras nowadays with face tracking, smile tracking, and anti-motion blur processing. I want to get a point and shoot that I can take out for quick shots and not have to worry about missing a moment.

AFA 09 was a lot of fun, and I really wish I was able to attend Day 2. I’ll definitely try to attend again. I’ll at least be attending my local anime con – Anime Evolution, though my friend tells me that I’ll be disappointed after having been exposed to AFA.

I’ve still got more to experience here, and I’ve already taken quite a number of photos of Singapore – the next most proliferating anime hub on the internetz. So stay tuned to check out what Singapore is like!

Thanks for checking out the photos!

O crap. Its a Af-af thought.

Ok here are the official photos from AFA committee and Danny Choo.

All credits goes to the AFA committee and Danny Choo. I m only showing the photos for my blog private useage.

1st up some god-like shots the AFA photographers has taken

Ok so the rest of it goes here onwards .

Ojoplatico me he quedao cuando he visto en varios sitios hoy este pedazo de montaje que se ha cascao en el acuario de Georgia un tipo llamado Harrison Krix. Os dejo aqui el link de como ha hecho el Big Daddy y yo me lo apunto como disfraz para carnaval…… Lo pongo a la cola.. entre el disfraz de Guionista de Lost y el de Mafioso Nigeriano con mercedes blanco de los 80, ak, puro y txapela roja…. Ya veremos.. :p

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]]> http://ahpoke.wordpress.com/2009/11/25/eoy-advert-by-request-of-daiyaku/ Wed, 25 Nov 2009 13:09:16 +0000 ahpoke http://ahpoke.wordpress.com/2009/11/25/eoy-advert-by-request-of-daiyaku/

EOY 09; An Extraordinary Journey

[ Date & Time ]
Saturday, 26 December 2009
10 am – 6 pm [Day Event]
7 pm – 9 pm [Yui Makino Musical Concert & Autograph Session]

[ Location ]
Drama Centre, National Library Lv 3
100 Victoria Street
Singapore 188064
5 min walk from Bugis MRT

[ Admission / Concert Ticketing ]
$12 (Pre-sale), $15 (Door)
Children below the height of 0.9m may enter for free, if accompanied by a paying adult.

Yui Makino Musical Concert
$49, $59, $79, $99
Tickets to Yui Makino’s concert are given FREE day entry to EOY.
There will also be autograph sessions and artiste merchandise for sale.

Now – 26 Dec 2009 : Start of Pre-sale ($12) and Yui Makino’s Musical Concert Tickets @

* Gate Crash
* Singapore Post Offices
* SAM Machines
* Participating Outlets (Black Alice @ The Cathay, #04-09)

For more details, do log on to the website @ http://theeoy.com

See you all there! =)

P.S: Do help to spread the word! Thanks! >w<~!

on a side note i cannot go EOY TAT so sad TAT

Já falei que curto cosplay, como já caprichei em posts de cosplay fail, agora coloco alguns acertos, confiram as cosplay girls:

Via Acid Cow, para ver os outros posts, procure a tag cosplay na coluna à direita.

Before I begin, I like to add that I posted already my comments on the topic in the Fantasydays forum.

Pos:

• announcements via speakers
• repeating workshops
• great shows/performances: I only saw Xena, Sailor Moon musical, Japanese drums (Wadokyo) and the 2 female singers in the weekend
• people who recognized my cosplay!
• large offer of food/drinks and okay prices
• the building was really good, it has potential! But due to the fact that there were not many dealers/sellers/… I believe some visitors did not reach the GO games or other things.
• huge offer of CLEAN toilets which were good spread. (in general the location was very clean)
• parking places near the con, although if they believed to have +10 00 people, it would not be enough
• good professional website (1 of the better I have seen but do disable the forms on the contests section)
• fan groups got attention
• the map + agenda which we found almost everywhere
• large choice of workshops, musicals/shows/acts
• friendly, polite and easy-to-recognize helpers
• the Studio Blacklight photo stand (REALLY awesome, thanks again!)
• the recommended hotel ACCOR
• awesome performance stage!

Neg:

• expensive ticket prices and unable to combine the Saturday + Sunday tickets (unless paying TWICE the shipping costs!)
• missing communication conbüro <=> FD <=> Animexx in regards to the costume and UCA contests
• missing general rules when you wanted to participate the contest, no where was mentioned how long an individual could perform
• waited long (3-4 days) before I got a confirmation e-mail of my participation – this AFTER I send them a friendly reminder.
• incomplete/missing correct information when you wanted to confirm yourself for your participation
• not keeping in mind that I participated the COSTUME contest, there was not even a price given for that category.
• did not keep in mind of my fog request which was crucial for my act
• technical issues: during the cosplay contest, the sailor moon musical – this was still during the 3rd day

General suggestions:

• make each section a little clearer by using decoration (simply huge banner, etc)
• put on the website a plan of the floors so the visitors can print it out
• inform the visitors by putting up a writing board/information board near the entrance
• put the conbüro near the entrance, it would seem more logical
• fully use Internet to make promotion: facebook, netlog, animexx, other con website (even Europe), …
• find (more) sponsors: less risk, cheaper? entrance + standing fees, …
• make a good business plan and a backup plan. take the most general worse case scenarios.
• test the technical devices before opening time!
• add something extra to those people who are willing to buy “limited” 3day tickets. (even if it is little, people like it because it is “special”)
• make an agreement with the on-line ticketing agency so tickets can be combined and shipping must be payed ONCE!
• price tickets: compare anime/manga <=> LARP <=> Sci-fi events and find something in between

General suggestions for the cosplay contest – UCA and Costume:

• make better and clear participation rules and stick to them
• put a jury who have experience with making costumes and let them ask some questions
• make sure that a better, smoother communication is made between Animexx and FD
• provide a changing room, it was quite difficult to change your clothes in the toilets (wet spots, dirty floor)
• ask image + MP3 files in advance (during subscription)
• make a difference between experienced cosplayers and new ones. So the new ones have a fair start. (give best new cosplay award or something)
• change the confirmation time for UCA if you want to attract participants from outside Germany.
• smooth presentation
• maybe allow the participants to enter sooner so they can confirm themselves on time.

My mom paid everything (Thalys 15€/ticket – national train – hotel + entrance for both of us) for my upcoming b-day.
It was one of the most expensive events we did and it turned out to be one of the less good cons.

Arriving there on Saturday, we immediately saw that is was somehow abnormal quiet.
For once, after having been visiting busy (sometimes) overcrowded cons, our first impression was “wow this is quite peaceful (not hectic) for once”.
But the things was that the publicity agency went broke => less visitors and dealers/ fan groups / exhibitors than expected.
Only 10% of the foreseen visitors came.

Indeed there were unhappy dealers (which I can understand!) but they tried to make the best out of it.  Same can be said of the visitors.
Was it thanks to the promising website and trailers?
(I did to some research on the net to know the previous editions but not much came up)
Was it because the concept was good (FACTS in Belgium is already mixing Sci-Fi with LOTR and Anime/Manga) but the promotional site was less or the date/location was bad chosen? Who will know?
It has potential, that is certain but it has some flaws that need to be worked on.

Therefore it is nice to hear that the organization wants to work on it and demand the people’s feedback.

Harrison Krix y su prometida presentan este excelentemente logrado cosplay de un Big Daddy y su Little Sister de Bioshock hecho integramente por ellos y disponible ya a la venta mediante una subasta para cualquiera que quiera un disfraz espectacular para convenciones xD…

Por cierto, pueden ver imagenes de la creación del disfraz del big daddy en esta entrada de su sitio, ademas de checar otros de sus muy buenos diseños …

Vía @LoliN3k0 , DarkDiamond.

I like to see good in everything and every now and again I am blown away by someone’s skill or expertise. Gaming fan and master of prop making Harrison Krix made an astounding Big Daddy and Little Sister cosplay get up. He and his fiance dressed as Big Daddy and Little Sister then went to the Georgia Aquarium and took some images of them in “Rapture”. Astounding stuff.. if you’re a fan of Bioshock or just like seeing other people’s skill at cosplay, head over to Volpin Props to see a load of amazing images of the shoot.

Recently, the local cosplay community has been in an uproar due to two locally (and now slowly being internationally recognized) renowned cosplayers who entered a regional cosplay competition in a prestige anime convention.

According to many, these two cosplayers were bold enough to claim credits of excellent craftsmanship when in fact, the craft they are sporting is not even crafted by them to begin with (whew, so many crafts there XD); they announced during the competition that it was them who made their props and costumes along with “friends and families” when in fact they made so little contributions other than rehearsing their skit and donning their commissioned outfits. Many of the local cosplayers even mentioned that these cosplayers in issue should have been disqualified since even though the rules did not blatantly specify that the costumes must be made by the performers, it was kind of indicated since it is culture to make your own costumes plus the fact that 60% of the scoring goes to costume; an indication that the winning team MUST be the ones to have made them or else they’ll be receiving credits that they do not deserve… a value that is certainly not being promoted by any competition.

That being said, I frankly do not care if they made the costume or not. Cosplaying means, being in a costume and internalizing the character that one is portraying. HOWEVER, it is also the cosplayer’s responsibility to give the costume maker proper credits that is duly deserved. Honestly, the one of the props makers of these issued cosplayers is an old acquaintance of mine (who has also made a respectable name in the local cosplay community due to his remarkable mecha costume projects) and the one who made their costume is a famous actress / fashion designer in the country; and I must say, with their excellent performances in their own areas of expertise, they truly deserve that recognition that was stripped off of them.

****************************************************

On a totally different note, here’s the line up for the winter anime:

What?! No canon firing, missile blowing mecha action?!! Oh well, Durarara looks interesting, having lots of expectations from it since Baccano made such an awesome impression on me.

Prometo que este é o último!!( de hoje)

Mais um que é pra relembrar os tempos de Super Nintendo hein!!

Só mais um hein!!

Este é para relembrar a infância!!

PS: alguém lembra de qual power ranger é este Megazord??

Aqui vai mais um para vocês!!

Este é o predador, o qual tem vários filmes e etc… A realidade deste é a “feiura” e realismo no aparência da criatura!

Bem, nem preciso explicar né…

Conforme for achando cosplay’s legais posto aqui…

Para os desinformados este é um cosplay de Winrar, aquele arquivo zipado em que agrupamos vários…

Another one~! <3

I FOUND THE VIDEO~! <3

Usually I’m not into cosplay ’cause I find a lot of it borderline pedophilic and sexually creepy, but this is pretty damn awesome. The photos were taken at the Georgia Aquarium and that amazing Big Daddy suit is actually for sale on Ebay. An interesting note from the ebay listing: “Its difficult, though not impossible, to fit into a hotel elevator.” I would have enjoyed watching that.

Well seriously, i didnt take much photos this year at AFA… Either i met with forum friends, or was traveling around like from home to Suntec and bak home and bak to suntec. But most of it was spend of watching the panels which i think is a pretty good exp for me . Knowing how ppl do presentation and like K-on gals, WS seiyuu, Kaname cosplay panel, Xing box etc etc.

Without jus concentrate on taking photos, u get to enjoy more .

Same rules apply, if u wan HD photos or u wan ur photos removed, plz do not hesitate to email me at holydragon0411@hotmail.com

Here we go fags!

Yay! My very own photo with Danny Choo! Also the only human photo of me u fags get to see once in a blue moon.