Heh...that is one anime series I am a little more familiar with, if only with a few of the names...lol!
Yup, those are the cosplayers dressing up as characters from One Piece during the just-concluded Anime Festival Asia Singapore 2012 (AFA) which was held this year at the Singapore Expo.
Technically, this post is not about my fandom as I am not a fan of manga nor anime but my youngest son is and as I think he probably got his fandomania genes from me, it was only natural that I would be interested in the many aspects of a fan culture which, although it originated from Japan, is quite quite alive in Singapore.
F (my dear hubby), Jer (my son) and I had initially and dutifully waited further behind where there was supposed to be a queue.
But as time went on, it became increasingly obvious that the anxious fans were not going to adhere to any sort of queue and frankly, as there were no specific barriers or markers, it pretty much became a free-for-all-no-holds-barred attempt to get to the front so that one could rush in once the doors opened so as to make a beeline for the booths selling merchandise.
I'm somewhat sheepish about the fact that we were amongst the kiasu (read scared of losing out) people in the front and even then, many other even more kiasu individuals had no qualms about elbowing their way even further front than us!
Anyway, once the doors opened, there was a roar, almost a war-cry from the predominantly young male crowd as all and sundry stampeded into the exhibition hall. It was, frankly, a rather scary experience as the crush was quite incredible and I'm just thankful that no one fell or got stepped on.
This is a lesson (amongst many others!) which the organisers will have to take home when planning next year's festival.
F and I had been pressed into service as line-up-pers for Jer at two booths whilst he went for a movie screening. F managed to get to his Cospar booth and became the tenth person in line and got hold of the bag which Jer wanted.
I was headed for the Sword Art Online (SAO) booth but Jer beat me to it and got into the queue which was already snaking around to the back. The SAO staff appeared unprepared for the overwhelming demand and the queue was shuffled here and there as they attempted some form of crowd control. I took over Jer's place but it still took nearly an hour before I reached the cashier. We learnt later that all the merchandise was sold out by afternoon, disappointing many who had queued later or were planning to come on Sunday. (See pic below which shows the interior of the SAO booth)
F and I went around after that, soaking in the atmosphere of profound manga/anime geekdom and I can safely say we were the oldest folks there. Not that we cared. ;)
Here are some cosplayers which we took pics of:
And these dolls were really cute!
F and I left after going through the booths and returned later in the afternoon for the Anisong concert, which was scheduled for 7pm at the Max Pavilion.
This would feature five acts which were the performers for the music of the various animes, all featuring interesting names typical of J-pop bands and singers.
However, due to some technical difficulties, the organisers could not make good on the promise to open the doors at 6.30pm and consequently, the start time of 7pm was also impossible.
Yes, they let us in at 6.50pm but after that, we were made to stand outside the auditorium (whilst some rehearsals were still on-going, probably to adjust the sound system or something) for thirty minutes before we could enter to get to our seats. This was quite unexpected and for me, a first amongst all the pop concerts I have ever attended. Another lesson for the organisers to take home.
I'm very familiar with waving glowsticks, jumping and singing during such concerts so it was no surprise to me that the fans were on their feet the entire time the artistes were performing. There was no let-up in their energy and enthusiasm and most interesting to me was that Jer was doing the same. He truly is a fanboy. :)
The artistes last night were: BABYMETAL, m.o.v.e, fripSide, LiSA and FLOW.
Unfortunately, we missed FLOW as it was getting really late and although we did not have to catch the last train, we were feeling very tired and as Jer was not keen on FLOW, we left after LiSA's performance.
NB: Another reason the concert dragged on somewhat was the long intermissions between acts which lasted fifteen to twenty minutes. Yet another lesson for the organisers.
Of all the acts, I enjoyed m.o.v.e.and LiSA the most, as their songs were a little more up my alley.
m.o.v.e. got me interested when they mentioned Initial D, which I was familiar with thanks to Jay Chou's 2005 movie which was an adaptation of the anime series. :)
Here's a link about them:
http://strawberryscentedburnout.wordpress.com/2012/06/30/m-o-v-e-my-favorite-j-poprockwhatever-music-group/
LiSA's songs were good too and reminded me of Paramore, an American band which I like. :)
Here's the wikipedia link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LiSA
All in, it was an experience of anime fandom which I had a taste of and it was quite mindboggling, especially the cosplayers' efforts and the level of fanaticism displayed by the fanboys at the concert.
Would I go again next year?
Keep watching this blog. ;)
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