Animation Nation 2009

Fans of anime can look forward to Production IG x Mamoru Oshii’s latest animated feature “Musashi: The Dream of the Last Samurai” 「宮本武蔵 ―双剣に馳せる夢―」. Fans of Studio 4 Deg’s Genius Party will be treated to “Genius Party Beyond“. Both parts of the classic anti-war story “Barefoot Gen” 「はだしのゲン」will be screened back to back.  Besides Japanese animation, fans of animation can also delight in the international selection of outstanding works, such as the haunting war dispatch “Waltz with Bashir” from Israel, the magical Celtic feature “The Secret of Kells” from Ireland, the adult-oriented stop-motion animation “Mary & Max” from Australia, and the kids-oriented Chinese animation “Pleasant Goat and Big Bad Wolf: The Super Adventure” 《喜羊羊与灰太狼之牛气冲天》are among those screening at the festival. Animation Nation will be holding workshops & seminars conducted by industry professionals.

Trailers:

Musashi: The Dream of the Last Samurai

Genius Party Beyond

Barefoot Gen

The Secret of Kells

Waltz with Bashir

Max and Mary

Skan Srisuwan, the lead character and mecha designer of “Front Mission Evolved” will share his experience on working on the upcoming game from Square Enix during the festival.

Skan Srisuwan @ Tokyo Game Show 2009

The Wanzer Zenith action-figure from Square Enix, based on design by Skan Srisuwan

Check out the latest trailer of Square Enix’s FRONT MISSION EVOLVED:

FRONT MISSION EVOLVED – Tokyo Game Show 2009 teaser

It Takes A Wizard – by Thomas R. Hart and Sean Lam

“It Takes A Wizard” unfolds in a post-apocalyptic New York City. Manhattan had become a rogue state, at war with the rest of USA. Everett Winterthorn, the sorcerer Midnight King, had made his base in NYC. He plans to conquer the world with his army of trolls, goblins, imps, ghoul and harpies.  Isaac Silverberg, Winterthorn’s former apprentice, could be the only hope.

This single-volume manga is 480-pages long, and is a hot-seller since it rolled off the press in July this year. The title flew off the shelves at the local Borders (sold out!), and Kinokuniya is still waiting for their stock. This is Sean’s maiden work and it certainly took more than magic for the Singaporean comics artist to complete this project.

Sean’s artwork is remarkable for a rookie.

“It Takes A Wizard” interior lineart by Sean Lam

It’s not far-fetched to compare Sean’s art to those done by Japanese manga artists – both past and present. I can imagine Sean’s artwork being serialised in Kodansha’s “Afternoon” or any of the established manga magazines – especially those that appeal to the seinen (青年) group.

Kuro Yanagi – Sean Lam’s character design

Sean’s style is inspired by the manga artists of the late 80s and 90s – and there’s a strong old-school vibe coming from the “organic” strokes of ink.

Sean got into comics during primary school, starting with superhero titles from Marvel and DC . By the time he got to secondary school, he discovered manga and Hong Kong comics. The seminal titles “Dragonball”, “Dr Slump”,”City Hunter” and “Saint Seiya” were part of his formative years. He  fell in love with manga’s dramatic storyboarding and intricate lineart. Presently, Sean does not limit his taste to any genre, but reads widely and draw inspiration from many sources.

Sean Lam, 31, is a full-time independent comic artist. Inspired by comics, Sean began practicing art at a young age. He continued his education at Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA) to hone his talent in visual arts. But back in the 90s, the comics industry here was non-existent so he found job as an illustrator in the advertising industry. Yet, he didn’t give up on his dream and continued making comics on his own time.

Sean’s winning  entry for AXN Anime Character Design circa 2002

On his own, Sean submitted artwork for competitions and had also met potential businesses that might publish his work. Yet, opportunities in the local scene was not forthcoming. Three years ago, driven by his passion and with encouragement from his wife, Sean moved on from his career from being an art director to a full-time comics artist.

Sean’s break came when he submitted his pitch to Seven Seas Entertainment, which was then looking for manga artists to work on their original properties.”It Takes A Wizard” was meant to be only 180-pages long  but it came to 480-pages when it was published, almost thrice the original length!! The book took Sean two-and-a-half years to complete.

192pp Bakuman tankoubon vs 480pp “It Takes A Wizard” tradepaper back

“It Takes A Wizard” is Sean’s crucible – this was his first piece of work. Fortunately, this manga wasn’t serialised as a periodical i.e. published in weekly/monthly chapters - so he wasn’t under the crushing pressure of tight deadlines. But the downside was – he couldn’t see the fruit of his labours until two years later; along the way, he wasn’t able to receive critique from readers. His only feedback came from the editor and writer.

Sean worked alone, and had no assistants or any ‘professional’ tools to help him.

Sean’s work station

Sean works ‘unplugged’ – he pencils directly onto A4-sized inkjet paper and inks his lineart with humble ball-point pens (G-pens are expensive and messy). He uses an improvised self-made lightbox to trace over his draft. He would then digitise his finished art with a scanner before sending it to the editor for review. If there’s any corrections are needed, it would not be simple case of clicking the ‘un-do’ button.

Pilot Super Gel ballpoint pen and manga white paint

Sean believes that its not the tools, but the length of hours in practice and keen observation of the everyday life that makes the difference. One can still make wonderful art with the most simple tools. You can start doing comics on a modest budget.

Improvised Light Box

Blue ink – draft; Black ink – final

When Sean began, he could only put out about 20 pages of finished artwork per week. By the second year, he could go up to 30 pages per week.

There were times when Sean felt like giving up – but his passion get him going. He shared that the most important thing for an artist, is that the effort must come from the heart. Sean’s story on how he became a comics artist, and his struggle to complete his first work – would make good materials for a shonen manga. Yet, this story is still being written. Where will this manga take him? Will he submit his personal works and win recognition at Kondasha’s 4th Morning International Comic Competition?

Meanwhile, Sean is working on another project from Seven Seas Entertainment. At the same time, he is also developing his own original story. Sean needs assistants on this adventure. For those interested to walk this journey with him, you may email  your biography together with your portfolio to [seanlamcomic (at) yahoo.com.sg]

“It Takes A Wizard” may be a digest-sized book but it’s more than a  pocketful of goodness. It’s a promising gem from a Singaporean artist. The book will be available at Kinokuniya, priced at S$22.48.  and it’s the right kind of reading material for year-end holiday season

Shield of the Earth Federation – signed by Amuro Ray (Tohru Furuya/古谷 徹)

Gundam made its first ‘official’ presence on local TV during the mid-90s, when ODEX brought in “Mobile Suit Gundam Wing”. That was probably the first time Gundam began winning over new fans (including girls) with the non-U.C. series. Since then, “Gundam Seed”, “Gundam Seed Destiny” and also “Gundam OO”  were shown on local TV (though usually a year after it was distributed freely as fansubs over the Internet). The Internet and the processes of globalisation fed the Gundam boom in Singapore. The pent-up demand for Gundam goods had stimulated brisk sales for small time retailers from the former Clark Quay toy-mart. Enterprising fans brought in tons of merchandise via parallel imports – expanding the variety of Gundam merchandise available here, over and above what the local official Bandai distributor could carry. This year, Bandai Asia finally put together a stand-alone Gundam festival – “Gundam Fiesta Singapore 2009“.

This is a recognition of the Gundam’s popularity and the fan community here. I suppose the overwhelming response that Bandai received at STCC and AFA last year gave them confidence to do put together such an event.

Gundam Fiesta 2009 @ Sengkang’s Compass Point

The Gundam Fiesta is comparable to Hong Kong’s annual Gundam Expo (高達世紀展覧) in terms of scale, albeit a little smaller. The exhibition location was kinda out of the way – at a neighbourhood mall located in the far reaches of Singapore. Yet it made sense because Sengkang is the neighbourhood with the youngest population – an estate for newly weds and young families. That’s one of the best place to capture the hears and minds of the little ones, who’ll then infect their school mates with Bandai’s playthings.

Otaku and Casual Crowd

The fiesta had a healthy crowd – made up of both Gundam fans who wore Gundam T-shirts (like me) and also casual visitors, most armed with digital imaging devices and snapping away at the exhibits.

Master Grade Gundam Astray Blue Frame 2nd Revise prototype

High Grade Mirage Frame 1 prototype from VS Astray

HG Gundam Unicorn prototype

There were quite a number of subjects of interest – such as the prototype models of upcoming Gunpla kits. These are fan favourites.

The Bandai Hobby Centre section was another fan delight. It educated curious fans and the public on the production process of Gunpla:

Schematics for 1st Gen Gunpla

Wooden Molds

Plastic buckshot pellets

Stereolithography apparatus

Bandai Hobby Centre livery

Many of the event exclusive merchandises were already sold out by the first weekend of the Fiesta, although the event runs till 14 Sep.

Gunpla maestro, Katsumi Kawaguchi (川口克己) sensei will be gracing the event on 12 and 13 Sep to conduct Gunpla workshops. You may receive some tips on how to ace this year’s BAKUC competition.

For those who’re interested in eye candies, the Gunpla Girls will be around between 1700hrs to 1800hrs on both days too.

One of the fun facts that I learned at the Gundam Fiesta:

Singapore, an important military base in the After Colony universe

Singapore’s strategic location did not go unheeded in the Gundam universe (in fact, I’m inclined to believe that ORB in Gundam Seed is modelled after Singapore)

I’m really glad that Gundam Fiesta Singapore happened. Singapore’s fan community is maturing and had finally gotten the attention of the content-owners. I hope that this mini-festival is only a taste of things to come, and Singapore will eventually become an important place for content-owners/creators to showcase, test and launch their products.

]]> http://textfiend.net/zerohero/?feed=rss2&p=1123 0 http://textfiend.net/zerohero/?p=1116 http://textfiend.net/zerohero/?p=1116#comments Wed, 02 Sep 2009 16:26:49 +0000 0ne http://textfiend.net/zerohero/?p=1116 Any of you guys going down to the Gundam Fiesta Singapore 2009 at Compass Point this weekend to check out the models?

Gundam Image Girls: Miyake and Sharon

I wonder what’s Sharon doing with that HEAT HAWK. I’m sure that’s not the proper way to use it.

The Gundam Image Girls will be at the Gundam Fiesta during the weekends on 5,6,12 and 13 Sep.

Gundam Hot Pants

The models will be attired in Gundam hot pants like the Bandai Race Queens they are. Also do check out the rest of the exhibition at the Fiesta

Miyake is so ronery

Miyake, wishes to see you there. [p.s. she's also one of the meidos serving her goshujinsamas at AFA09's MOE MOE KYUN cafe. Check out her blog - she's got the potential to be the local Shoko Nakagawa]

MIYAKE ♥ GUNDAM

oh…and by the way – the Gundam simulation game – Gundam “Senjyou no Kizuna” (Bonds of Battle) 「機動戦士ガンダム戦場の絆」 is in Singapore and operational.

Gundam Simulator Pods

There’s 8 pods available at Bugis Virtualand, and cost 5 credits per play. This is a team game, so it would be good to start forming your clan. You can download the English game manual here.

English Demo Video

If you haven’t heard/read about it – Anime Festival Asia is back again this year – with a much stronger line-up of acts and content. It’s happening from 21 to 22 Nov at Suntec International Convention and Exhibition Centre (Halls 403 and 404). The business-oriented Animation Asia Conference will be held on 20 Nov at the same venue.

For starters, there’s gonna be a meido cosplay cafe “Moe Moe Kyun~” for all of you (male) otakus (& DOMs)  out there:

萌萌きゅーん

And then the celebrity line-up…

This year, the concert segment for AFA09 is bigger and better.

I ♥ ANISONGS

“I ♥ ANISONG” is the theme for this year’s concert. Not only will AFA09 see the return of Mizuki “Aniki” Ichirou (水木一郎) and May’n, two big stars will also be performing live this year:

Shoko Nakagawa aka Shoko-tan

The multi-talented artiste (actress/singer/seiyuu/illustrator/blogger/gravure idol) Shoko Nakagawa (中川翔子) aka Shoko-tan (翔子たん) will be raising temperatures on stage. Here’s her rendition of NEON GENESIS EVANGELION’s OP “A Cruel Angel’s Thesis” at the Animation-Comics-Games Hong Kong (ACGHK) Festival 2009:

中川翔子 残酷な天使のテーゼ 香港09動漫展

JAM Project’s Yoshiki Fukuyama (福山芳樹) will be sharing the stage, performing with his acoustic guitar

JAM Project’s Yoshiki Fukuyama

Fukuyama performed the voice and guitar for Basara Nekki, the lead character of “Macross 7″. Together with May’n, it’s going to be an awesome Macross line-up this year.

CREATIVE CIRCLES

Fans need not simply be passive consumers of content – but also be part of the show too. There are many opportunities for user-generated content to be showcased and recognised at AFA09.

Cosplay contests are dime-a-dozen at otaku/geek-driven events. So, if you are a cosplayer and has only one costume for the rest of the year, which contest should you take part? And who do you think is good enough to judge if your costume and characterisation makes the cut?

AFA09 has upgraded its cosplay event into a regional championship – no longer are you playing by kampong standards – but are going up against the best from Southeast Asia. Sitting on the panel of judges are KANAME and Shoko Nakagawa. I doubt there’s any other cosplay events out there with qualified critics on the judging panel.

KANAME☆ (かなめ)

Kaname is a popular cosplayer over in Japan, and frequently graces the cover of COSMODE and other cosplay magazines. He’s also a model for cosplay fashion. Kaname was best known for his rendition of Cloud Strife from “FF VII: Advent Children”. Kaname will be conducting a closed-session cosplay workshop.

GUNPLA DOUBLE-O

Gundam fans will know that 2009 marks Gundam’s 30th anniversary, and Bandai is making sure that fans from all quarters of the world are included in the celebrations. At AFA09, there’s not one, but TWO Gunpla competitions where Gun-otas can show off their skillz. Besides BAKUC, Bandai is teaming up with celebrated otaku blogger Danny Choo to run the online “Bandai World Gunpla Competition”

Bandai World Gunpla Competition

Unlike BAKUC, this competition test not only your Gunpla modelling skills, but digital imaging skills too.

Danny Choo will also be speaking at the Animation Asia Conference’s “IP 360° Content: Create, Manage and Engage” seminars. And, will you be part of DC’s “Singapore Dance Trooper” video?

EXTRAVAGANZA

Those who prefer the digital stylus to the analog airbrush, the art competition EXTRAVAGANZA is the canvas for you to showcase your original concepts.

EXTRAVAGANZA: AN ILLUSTRATION SHOWCASE

Extravaganza is an expansion from previous year’s Graphitti Graphite.

もう一回！

These sneak peeks are but the tip of the iceberg. There’s alot more that has been revealed. Watch this space for more updates coming your way over the next 3 months, as momentum builds up towards this highly anticipated event!

Can you say “もう一回！” ?

A.C.M.E.

STGCC is the second iteration of STCC, which had expanded in both space and content. Commercial exhibitors appeared to have taken a greater interest in this event, evident by the effort they took to do up their pavillions and the presence of more brands. While STGCC is modelled upon the San Diego Comics Convention, A.C.M.E is a macro-event inspired by Comiket. A.C.M.E is an expansion of KKnM’s Chara Fest. Besides retailing exclusive anime merchandise, A.C.M.E saw the return of doujinshi event watzART. A.C.M.E also brought together Gunpla retailer Hobby Art Gallery as well as Japanese trading card game retailer The Card Geeks.  What left the deepest impressions from both events, was the participation of local and regional creators – both the pros and the budding talents.

STGCC 09

The Singapore Toys Games and Comics Convention is bigger and better compared to the inaugural event. I didn’t have the chance to visit STGCC 09 on all three days, and managed to visit the convention two hours prior to closing on the last day. Although the event had an increase in floor space, it didn’t look any less crowded. The place was packed till the final hours.

The participation was impressive. The commercial pavillions look better decorated than the previous years. It’s a testimony of the exhibitors’ confidence in this event. There appeared to be more participants at the cosplay event. But what made my day were the booths from Gempak Starz and the Artist Alley.

Gempak Starz

Gempak Starz is a publisher from Malaysia, and the company had been publishing monthly comics magazine in both Malay and Chinese. Some of these stories are collected into graphic novels format, and some are made available in English. All the stories serialised in the magazines are homegrown (Malaysian) content – and the quality is amazing. These works are on par with the comics/manga coming out of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Korea, and considerably has a greater variety of style as some of the stories are influenced by American/British comics. Malaysia had produced many talents, with some becoming full time professionals working in the North American comics industry and some in Hong Kong’s comics industry.

Gempak’s crew sharing a moment with the president of Association of Comics Artist (Singapore), Jerry Hinds

Malaysia’s homegrown comics industry is definitely ahead of Singapore. Gempak’s monthly publication has created the conditions for Malaysia’s talents to showcase their capabilities, and fans’ support had contributed to the thriving scene and sustainability of the commercial interests. And Gempak had certainly invested in promoting and marketing Malaysia’s talented artists, proving them a platform to grow and shine. And indeed, one of Gempak’s former artist – Ben, was one of the winners in Japan’s inaugural International Manga Award with his story “Le.Gardenie“.

JACK DOE: Anonymous – my favourite story from MUGEN

This is a stark contrast to Singapore’s only comics publisher – Chuang Yi. It’s core business still remains in re-publishing Japanese manga into simplified Chinese and English. Although it collaborated with MDA to produce a monthly original anthology MUGEN, the effort taken to develop and promote the content was lackadaisic. If Singapore wants its own comics industry (or original content industry), it just has to look north to look at what the Malaysians are doing.

What impressed me the most at STGCC 09  was the artist alley. It’s bigger than last year, with more creators than before. Many of them hail from around the region – especially Malaysia and Thailand. It’s the coolest street within the exhibition hall – more indy and hip than the established urban vinyl artists.

Artists’ Alley

There’s more good stuff than what I had in my wallet. Walking down this section of STGCC 09 is like walking through the independent fashion boutiques and finding many gems among the collection. I spent more than $150 between Gempak Starz and this section of the convention.

Troy Chin

Troy Chin is one of the artists to watch. Ever since his books went from screen to print, his fan base grew. He had fans coming up to him, with some bringing him tributes. One fan offered to buy one of his posters – very limited edition (one copy only). And of course, many asked about Mint. Like many of the other fans, I’m eagerly looking forward to The Resident Tourist Vol.4. According to Troy, TRT4 will first be published and sold in hardcopy, before re-released for free viewing on the Net.

Here’s the bundle of joy that I took with me when I left Suntec Convention Centre:

Loot from STGCC09

Other than comics, I bought some t-shirts from GILAMON as well as Gempak. And the doujin anthologies from Thailand’s Inkblot is really fantastic.

A.C.M.E.

I got the same kind of buzz when I dropped by A.C.M.E. Though it was already mid-afternoon, the event was still packed with fans.

Replicating the Comiket Experience

Many otakus were queuing outside NAFA hours before the doors opened so that they would be able to get their hands on very limited exclusive items from the recently concluded summer Comiket. Also the To-Love-Ru kuji (lucky draw) was the other attraction.

Otaku Nation

The Japanese trading card game was the other big draw at the event.

The Card Geeks

Again, the main attraction for me were the doujinshi circles.

Doujinshi Circles

And there’s my friends from Collateral Damage Studios (CDS):

Collateral Damage Studios

CDS is one of the leaders of the local doujin scene, having gathered a great number of talented creators within their circle, as well as putting forth their own publications and organising doujin events.

Extravaganza 09

This year, they’re organising the art competition EXTRAVAGANZA together with NUS Anime Club and NTU’s Visual Art Society. It’s GRAPHITE++ and is part of the Anime Festival Asia’s programme.

As much as I enjoy their moelicious illustrations, what caught my eye this time was their (first?) manga production:

東方天子交友祭 by message2god

It’s a doujin based on the doujin pc soft Touhou Project’s character Hinanai Tenshi (比那名居天子). This manga doujin was done by one of CDS’ artist, Goh Chun Siang. This is the second locally produced doujin, that I believe, is as good as the doujins I saw in Japan.

Doujin Soft Game: Touhou Hisouten Soku 「東方非想天則」

Besides the retail store, there was a gaming corner. Earlier in the day, there was a Princess Vanguard competition. Later, it became a Touhou Hisouten Soku 「東方非想天則」session.

Touhou Hisoten Soku demo

Other than the budding talents, professional artists were also present at A.C.M.E doing their own side projects.

Okita and Chris Ng

Gift: Prelude

Chris Ng from IFS, together with Okita, had a table at A.C.M.E. promoting their self-published artbook and posters.

Just like STGCC, my money went direct to the artists.

Loot from A.C.M.E

The Anime Festival Asia 2009 will be happening soon in another three months. That will be the other event that I’m eagerly looking forward to.

Though Singapore is nowhere near Hong Kong and Taiwan yet, we’re inching closer as the otaku capital in Southeast Asia.

身騎白馬 by 徐佳瑩 (Lala Shu)

I heard the song again on TV yesterday. What caught my ears was the melody and lyrics of the chorus. It was in Hokkien (or 台语 – as the Taiwanese call it) and had that poignant/romantic poetry of going the distance to reunite with a lost love:

‘我身骑白马  走三关

我改换素衣  回中原

放下西凉  没人管

我一心只想  王宝钏’

What got me interested was the character “Ong Poh Chuan” (王宝钏) – the person that the singer was longing for. Who’s he? Why would Lala go the distance on horseback across the desert to look for him? The only other song that had such poignance was Bobby Chen’s (陈升) “One Night In Beijing” 《北京一夜》, which blended Beijing opera into the composition.

I first heard this song when Lala performed it on the Taiwanese talent show. And it was the few time that I stopped and tuned my attention to the TV.

超級星光大道 第三季 03/07/08 徐佳瑩 身騎白馬抒情版 自創曲

Lala impressed the judges so much with her original composition and scored full marks for her performance.

The lyrics of the chorus was adapted from the ‘contemporised’ Electro-Hokkien opera (歌仔戏) “White Horse”  《我身骑白马》, composed by Taiwanese musician Su Tong-Da (苏通达 also known by his online nickname GTS).

电子歌仔戏《我身騎白馬》

The composer Su Tong-da shares how he re-made the opera into contemporary music:

台灣音樂怪才- 蘇通達

Other than the composition, what made the song interesting was the story that inspired the lyrics. “White Horse” was adapted from the Hokkien opera 《薛平贵与王宝钏》(Xue Pinggui and Wang Baochuan or Seet Peng Gwee and Ong Poh Chuan). In Beijing Opera, the story is performed as Wu Jia Po 《武家坡》.

There are many variations to the story, but the main narrative extols the hardship endured by Ong Poh Chuan (王宝钏) who waited 18 years to be reunited with her husband Seet Peng Gwee (薛平贵).

Once upon a time….

One Poh Chuan was the youngest of the three daughters of the Premier of the Tang court. Her father wanted her to arrange for her to be married as she had come of age. She was noted for both her looks and her intellect, and refused the prospective husbands from the noble class – as most of them were good-for-nothing princelings. Instead her eyes fell upon a poor scholar, who came to her rescue when she was accosted by an amourous young lord from the nobility. She didn’t think that young scholar would last a bout against the princeling but he managed to defeat him with his kungfu. Surprised by the scholar’s intellect, humility and martial prowess, she fell in love with him. The poor scholar was Seet Peng Gwee.

Against her family’s protest, she married the poor scholar who was not of the same social standing as the bride. Both left the capital and lived at an earth hut in Wu Jia Po. One day, there was an uprising in the border of the Tang empire at Guizhou (桂州). The Tang court marched one of the armies reinforced by the Turkic Shato (沙陀) tribe to quell the rebellion. Thinking that this moment is an opportunity for him to prove his ability, Seet joined the Shato army on the military campaign. Seet’s intellect and martial prowess proved its worth during the campaign, and he was highly valued by the Shato chief and rose to high position. During his stint with the Shato army, he was bethrothed to the tribe’s princess. During his years in the far flung reaches of the Tang empire (at Xi Liang/西凉 – in the contemporary Xinjiang region), he maintained correspondence with Ong.

The Turkic tribe scored another success when the Tang court summoned it to quell the Huang Chao uprising in Shandong. The Tang court bestowed rewards to the tribe, and with that, the Han-Chinese Seet was appointed as an official to the Tang court. Only then, did he return to Wu Jia Po to receive his first love after 18 years or separation.

Ong Poh Chuan passed away, 18 days after reunion.

The opera, Wu Jia Po, immortalises Ong’s love unyielding for her husband – that she stayed true and faithful during the years of separation.

If we view this story again with contemporary lenses, it’d come across as ridiculous. Ong shouldn’t have waited for that jerk who forsaked her for fame and fortune. And only remembered her when he had to move back to the capital.

RIUVA Presents: TOKYO日常21

Brought to you by RIUVA. Not to be missed.

The story so far:

Day 1 in Japan: Not According to Plan

Day 2 in Japan: Frolicking in Shinjuku with Abilities Gained from Anime

Day 3: Asakusa (Boring Shit) and How Singaporeans Love to Embarrass Themselves

Day 4 in Japan: American Power

Day 5 in Japan: Shibuya is Awesome Heaven on Earth.

Day 6 in Japan: Kabukichou is Overrated

A.C.M.E = A Certain Magical Event

A.C.M.E. is Chara Fest+expansion packs. Other than official anime chara-goods from KKnM (fresh from Summer Comiket aka Natsu-Comi) and COSPA products from Genesis Frontier,  watzART is doujin-fair featuring both Singaporean and Malaysian doujin circles. This also marks the come back of Singapore’s pioneer doujin event. The Card Geeks, a Japanese moe-art collectible card game retail shop will also be present together with Gunpla specialty hobby store – Hobby Art Gallery.

What’s more, there’s going to be a video game challenge – featuring doujin soft (fan-made game): VANGUARD PRINCESS!!!

VANGUARD PRINCESS 「ヴァンガードプリンセス」

Even without the usual typical cosplay segment at the past fan events held in Singapore, this event is sure to be a magnet for the otaku community in Singapore.

Snaking queue towards KKnM’s booth at DAICON (image taken from NKDS)

One of the reason’s for the long queue – get to play Moé Moé Jankenpon with cosplayers and win COSPA prizes:

Moé Moé Jankenpon @ DAICON

Looking  back at KKnM’s Chara Fest, and how it drew long snaking queues at the Singapore Toy and Comic Con, Anime Festival Asia and DAICON – you’d better be there early in case all the exclusive items sell out.

It’s heartening to see the geek scene in Singapore becoming more vibrant – as more retailers are now taking the lead to organise mini-events like A.C.M.E and Toy Carnival @ SAM (by The Falcon’s Hangar). These events certainly complements the major conventions such as the Singapore Toys Games & Comics Convention and also Anime Festival Asia.