Anime Festival Asia 2011

Posted on December 10th, 2011 by Momo Orihara

Hey there. Momo here again to bring you a special report for this year’s Anime Festival Asia 2011, held at the Suntec Convention Centre in Singapore last November 11-13, 2011!

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Friday (11/11/11):

Hatsune Miku concert!

I’m a closet Vocaloid fan, and when I heard that they will have Miku’s Live Party in 3D, I knew I had to watch it.

A friend of mine, who was a total Hatsune Miku fan, accompanied me for this occasion.

Tickets were rather expensive, so we just got the general admission tickets, and…

Holy Vocaloid, hell on Earth (kinda).

We were queuing to get our redemption stuff, but around 5:30, the lines merged, and I had no effing idea nao what the hell was happening around me. The gates were supposed to open at 6PM, but they opened at 6:15. Everyone made a mad scramble for the entrance, and I nearly got swept away, if it wasn’t for my friend, who effectively blocked out the evil crowd who was out to crush me.

At first, we crowded with other people, then decided to just stay at the back for more viewing pleasure.

… And then, Hatsune Miku appeared.

Bricks were shat all over the place.

A certain someone I know cried manly tears.

I simply stared at Miku in awe.

Technology, SO AWESOME.

I won’t go into the boring details, but that night was simply amazing!!!

For the list of songs that were played, here’s the complete list.

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Saturday: 11/12/11

Because of circumstances beyond our control, my friend and I left our place around 3, but by the time we got to Suntec, we both were wearing our wigs, had our make up on and totally ready to cosplay! XD

We got to Suntec around 4PM (very late, if we base it on Manila con standards, as we usually go to the venue by 10AM [the time the mall opens] or at the latest, 12NN), and we went up first to the fourth floor to check out the place, our luggage bags in tow.

We went to the Fiesta Hall to check out the merchandise first, then Judith met up with some of her friends and went off to hang out with them for the meantime, which was fine with me, since I kinda took away the time she was supposed to spend at the con. OTL||||

My costume for that wasn’t my usual (not crossplay and not fully covering my body), so I was on high alert for any pervs or what-not. Thankfully, not one dared to approach me. I probably look too anti-social/angry that they did not dare. XD

Most of the time, I just stayed in one place and chatted with my friends. Contrary to popular believe, AFA 2011 isn’t really that exciting unless you went to the main stage events, but even then, main stage events were done around 4PM because they needed to prepare for the concert that night.

We changed around 7PM and left the venue early, as we had nothing more to do there (nii-sama had left already) and we weren’t interested in watching the concert.

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Sunday: 11/13/11

I got to the venue around 2:30PM in my costume, but headed to the main stage first to watch. Just as soon as I got in, it was Malaysia’s turn to perform. (I missed Indonesia’s fff)

They did a very retro manga series called Ouke no Monshou (The Crest of the Royal Family), which has been running for some 30++ years and still counting. The cosplayers were dressed as Isis and Carol (yes, I’ll discuss that foreign name in a while) and… well… let’s just say after the performance, everyone got YOU WA SHOCK! when KANAME, a Japanese cosplayer and a judge for the contest, commented that Carol was… male.

… You have no idea how much my face went from to when KANAME revealed it to everyone.

OH MY GOD A GUY LOOKS MORE FEMININE THAN ME NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

So, about Ouke no Monshou, it’s a series about an American girl named Carol Lido (or was it Rid?) who got cursed and got sent into Ancient Egypt where pharaohs still ruled the land. Because of her vast knowledge in Egyptian history (she studies in Cairo and majors in archeology), she manages to help out Egypt and is viewed as a goddess, the Daughter of the Nile.

Just like in a shoujo manga, her love interest happens to be the seventeen-year-old Pharaoh Memphis and after so much trials and dramu, they do end up getting married. Problem is, Carol gains the attention of many of the other handsome rules in the ancient world, and they either want her or they want to kill her. reverse harem FTW

As for Isis, she’s Memphis’ elder sister and is totally in love with her brother. But of course, there was no such thing as incest, so it doesn’t bother her at all.

I recommend this series, though I have to warn you, beware of them guyliners. XD Memphis is so damn pretty.

Back to Team Malaysia’s skit, they actually dealt with the jealous Isis vs Carol fight scene. Guess who wins.

Here is Team Malaysia’s skit:

After Malaysia was Singapore’s turn, and they did Star Driver: Kagayaki no Takuto.

I thought the skit was great, but it really is difficult to do a Star Driver skit with only two people on stage. Props to them for pulling it off though!

Also, make-up abs. I wish someone would do that for a Luke cosplay!!!

Team Singapore’s skit (sorry, I couldn’t get a better one.)

After Singapore, it was Thailand’s turn. They did a skit for FFXIII-2, and despite the awesome costumes, I think they made a wrong choice for the series. FFXIII-2 hasn’t been released in Japan, hence the difficulty (probably) on making a skit work for them. Also, there was some difficultly on the Lightning cosplayer’s part on the movement, so I think she should’ve been mobile enough to run around and stuff.

Here is Thailand’s.

Lastly, Team Philippines…

Well, no comment. The video will just summarize everything. XD

Team Philippines’s skit is this:

Yep, I did like their performance. I really did. ^^

I didn’t stay long to hear the announcement of winners because my cosplay groupmates were calling me by then, and I went down to meet up with them.

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So, what can I say about cosplaying in another country?

It certainly is different to the Philippines’, but all I can say is that despite the hype when it comes to international conventions, I still think there’s no place like home. Don’t get me wrong; I enjoyed AFA this year because my friends from the Philippines were with me as well, but minus the stage events and the concerts, AFA 2011 is just a simple anime convention. What made me enjoy it more was the fact that I socialized with my Singaporean cosplay friends and had tons of fun because of the fandom we are obsessed with.

Another concern of mine is the lack of space. Despite the venue being Suntec, it was hard to move around, since there were so many people loitering in the third and fourth floors. It was difficult for my friends and I, since one of them was carrying a huge staff around and with so many people crowding the hallways, it was hard for us walk around.

Despite all this, here’s to hoping that Anime Festival Asia 2012 will be bigger, better and much more fun!

Image credits: AFA 2011 Facebook Page