Yap it is the end of AFA 11. did not do any coverage today but well i have some cosplay shots to process now. Should be doing a post of AFA soon i guess. Will be popping by for Culture Japan Night by Danny Choo later at AKB48 cafe Singapore. If you are going say hi.
It was crowded, it was crazy,it was an otaku heaven, it was a cosplayer nightmare and it was AWESOME.
With a food and electronics fair at 401, a health forum on the 3rd floor and the church on the 6th floor, there is really no space for cosplayers and photographer to shoot or roam. so everyone end up squeezing on the 4th floor and in the halls, dun need to mention the queues for the shops which appeared like seconds after the door was open. This year with more booths at the AKIBA TOWN side, you really are kinda spoilt for choices with the usual shops like Bandai, KKnM, ODEX, and new shops like Kotobukiya, MUSE and many other small local shops. but I have to say still the choices is every limited for some anime fans. You either have goods for the hardcore fans.(touhou, nitro+, miku and etc) or for the every day folks( one piece, bleach, reborn and etc.) the more niche stuff are still quite rare and only some smaller shops carry it. Even Good smile company did not carry any of the Panty and Stocking nendoroid, i only managed to find them at Rapid Culture!. as for a cosplayer nightmare, there is no holding space like last year and with no space at all at the convention centre. Many ended up in the event hall itself (good for AFA) but it was horrible to go around the event with a slow moving back to back crowd that can rival the IT SHOWS. and even in the hall there is no place to camp. the nightmare kinda lifted for awhile as the event on the 3rd floor ended and the space was openned up BUT, after the "I ♥ Anisong" concert , there was some booths and stage being set up for another event, so expect it to be tight once again. Talking about the "I ♥ Anisong" concert, it was awesome, taking the stage first was our homegrown Anisong idols : Sea☆A, then nearly everyone's favorite aniki: Ichiro Mizuki. followed by new comer :LiSA and FLOW ! I can't really comment on Sea☆A and Aniki as i was not there yet but for LiSA, she really have the talent and voice and the power to bring the crowd alive!. Her part started at nearly 9pm and judging from the crowd and her reaction, she was really happy till cried on stage for awhile. FLOW took over the stage at 10.20 plus and all the way rocking us till nearly midnight.! u should seen the crowd when takeshi was doing his crazy introduction instead of the usual guitar solos. oh wells if you are not coming later or unable to make it, you can watch the stage events from NicoNico douga . and random cosplayers and interviews they have from their booth. okay I need to sleep and get ready for tmr. as the Regional cosplay competition will be happening later at 2.15pm. See you all tmr at #afa11 day 2!
mcvalue lunch is awesome. and damn kodak is discontinuing elite chrome 100 ( not the extra colour one). loved the normal one from long ago. i brought tonnes in tokyo and use it, but now they are discountinuing it... DAMN....
end of AFA day 0. and dan-board managed to go in and see all the setting up.
more AFA day 0 coverage coming up, for now. you all should be sleeping coz the doors openning at 9am.
okay i am still waiting for my pass but here is some update. I think today should be called AFA day 0 as the only event that is really for the crowds will be the miku concert tonight, other than that, they are still setting up. festival tickets can be brought from the 1st floor counters, while the I love anisong tickets are outside 402. and ya the crowd for the food/electronics fair next door is bigger than today's AFA crowd.
