The AFA09 organizing committee held their press conference yesterday at Suntec City, highlighting the main draws for this year event and giving us all a peek into what will happen this year. Very very surprising news and I was delighted with the potential of the entire event.
AFA (Anime Fest Asia) started off last year as a showcase of Japanese animation and pop-culture in this region. Held around November, it was a success in the sense that it was one of the biggest events which brought this subculture to the masses and to the forefront on the public’s imagination. Located at the Suntec City Convention Hall as well, the highlight was May’n (Sheryl Nome of Macross F’s fame) and Ichirou Mizuki (Japan’s “King of Anime Songs / Aniki) performances as well as the assorted merchandise booths.
AFA09 will span over 5,000 sqm of space where highlights confirmed so far include the Akiba Town Marketplace, Anime Blockbusters, Kids Land, Regional Cosplay Championships, Moe Moe Kyun Maid Café, an AFA Exclusive Specialty Shop, and live acts straight from Japan.
For this year event, the highlights are undoubtedly the Anisong (Anime Music) events.
“AFA09 Music Concerts will be collectively themed as ‘I Love Anisong’ and will feature a power-packed list of Japan’s top music performers. We wanted to take our music component this year to the next level and this year’s line-up of guests at “I Love Anisong” will thrill both anime fans and music lovers. They have performed at sell-out concerts and have a huge fan base not just in Japan but internationally,” – Shawn Chin, Executive Director, SOZO and Festival Director of AFA09.
May’n will be back!! I will probably get the diamond pass as her performance last year was awesome despite the atrocious acoustics at the convention hall. The place was not built for music performances and will never be a good place for such no matter how much you try to modify the speakers. Its built like a tin can and you can just imagine how the echoes and reverberations sound when they bounces off the metal walls. None the less, its Sheryl Nome the Galactic Fairy!
To add on to this Macross Love, Yoshiki Fukuyama will have his first overseas unplugged concert! Currently a member of JAM Project, he is more well known for his role as Basara in Macross 7. BASARA! Coming to AFA09 in Singapore! Yeah, you heard that right! I can just imagine the potential of him performing on stage with May’n like a Basara x Sheryl Nome performance. I managed to see it on Youtube and it was awesome! Rumors are already starting that both of them are scheduled to perform on the same stage so you might actually get to see them together!
Aniki will also be back for this year event. Ichirou Mizuki has performed over 1200 songs including songs for “Mazinger Z”, “Captain Harlock” and Tokusatsu (Sci-fi or fantasy) shows such as “Masked Rider”. He has gained international recognition as Japan’s most prominent Anime performer in his 40 year career as a singer for Anime songs. I’m not too sure with his repertoire or his performances but from what I can gathered from those who are acquainted with his songs, he’s a legend in the Anisong circle.
Last but not least, and certainly the most surprising one for the event, Shoko-tan is coming!!!! She’s quite a cult-figure in Japan for her quirky blog and her occasional excellent cosplay. She’s also an actress, seiyu and quite a talented artist! She’s rather amusing and very very bubbly. Best of all, she sang the first OP (Sorairo Days) and 2nd ED (Happily Ever After) for gar-anime Tengan Toppa Gurren Lagann!
Danny Choo will also be coming to Singapore for the event. He will be speaking at the Animation Conference as a key speaker. I will be trying to get my hands on a ticket for this ^^ Besides, he well-known for being extremely generous with presents during his events. ^_^ At the actual event itself, he would also be hosting several events and showcasing his Mirai merchandise! Let’s see if the Mirai Figma is for sale =D
Other event highlights include a cosplay competition judged by Kaname, a very popular cosplayer in Japan and a World Gundam gunpla competition termed Bandai x AFA’09 x Dannychoo as he will be hosting it. The cosplay competition is slated to draw many of the best cosplayers from around the world. Very heady times for Singapore cosplayers indeed. Bandai, as the main sponsor for AFA’09, is planning a very large exhibition for their products as this year coincides with the 30th anniversary of the Gundam franchise.
Another draw for AFA’09 is a pretty well-done (from what I can see so far) Moe Moe Kyun Meido Cafe. This maid cafe is currently staffed by 7 moe girls and will no doubt be a crowd-puller for both maid cafe enthusiasts and photographers on the event days. Avoid the area if you want to skip the congestion at that particular corner but can you resist it? ^__^
The Akiba Town Marketplace and the AFA speciality shop look interesting and I wonder what kind of merchandise I can lay my hands on. Besides, the local anime merchandise shops will most likely also turn out in full force and its always interesting when you go to events like these, never knowing what stuff you might come home with.
Ticket sales and pre-registration are not open yet as there are probably many logistical details to pore over beforehand. I will post here once I get my tickets! ^^
Lastly, AFA09 website is now up after the press conference so please be sure to take a look. I can’t help but look forward to the event itself and meeting more people on the run up to the start!! See you there!
Pictures via afa09.com and dannychoo.com
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Is there a way to block the facebook games? I have so many friends on my list that use the Facebook games such as Mafia Wars, Fish tank and Farmville. The post are endless. How to do you block these posts? I would like to just view status updates not “I need a cow for my farm and Johnny just got done cleaning his fish bowl”.
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