Anime Festival Asia ’11 Coverage – Part III
Last post, covering the AFA 2011 Convention at Suntec.
In this final post, I’ll be highlighting the final Day 2 events. It consists of the highly anticipated performance of Kalafina and May’n. Also interesting was the AnoHana showcase and Cosplay Competition, and this time I’ll be posting more images from the cosplay alley.
First up is the AnoHana interview and Q&A session with the key personnel behind the series. When asked about the possibility of a sequel, the director (Tatsuyuki Nagai) stated that there will be no sequel to the series but they are interested in a manga or a game from the series. Scriptwriter (Mari Okada) was asked about why did she have Yukiatsu took up cross-dressing to which she answered that it was not to humiliate the character but to show his earnestness in remembering Menma. Also, 5 postcards signed by the personnel present were given to 5 lucky winners of a janken game.
I got too excited for my own good ;D
Artist appearance was up next; all except Milky Holmes appeared on stage and talked about their experience in Singapore. Apparently every artist shares an obsession towards Chicken Rice and Durian. After which there was the Regional Cosplay Competitions, with the region finalist from Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand and Philippines. The winner will proceed to Japan for the main finals. Highlights of the event are:
And the grand prize goes to…
Team Thailand did Final Fantasy XIII-2, it was brilliant, people were pretty much convinced they’re the winners
Team Philippines blew the crowd away with their Dissidia performance. It was Warrior of Light vs Gabranth, ending with Warrior of Light’s death, nobody saw that coming xD
Intermission – Cosplay Alley
Time to stalk….I mean photoshoot time!
Starting things off with One Piece
Mami Tomoe
Kagamine Rin
Guess Who?
Lightening and Snow
Kyoko Sakura
Aya Brea
Run, Kids, RUUUUN!!!
Leon S. Kennedy
After that huge cosplay pic-spam, without any further ado, it’s time for the concert! The line already started forming when the Cosplay Competition was still showing.
Kanako Ito + Chiyomaru Shikura: Kicking off the final concert of the year with Steins;Gate’s “Another Heaven” hyped everyone up for good. A particular group was seen dancing to “Sky Clad Observer” and “Hacking to the Gate” without showing any signs of fatigue. Everyone was pumped full of adrenaline after a solid performance by Kanako Ito.
Milky Holmes: I’m not well versed in the Milky Holmes series so I don’t have much input here, but that group of dancers went strong. I somehow found them more entertaining and interesting than the actual artist. XD
angela: The dynamic duo from AFAX is back again and this time they completely stole the show; teaching us Nico Nico Douga lingo, doing Gundam parodies and just being random. They surprised everyone with “Cruel Angel’s Thesis” coming out of nowhere! They ended their performance with “Shangri-la”, there was an encore and they did some more songs but I’ve forgotten or wasn’t familiar with them a so forgive me.
Kalafina: Not tired from angela’s high tension performance, the crowd went wild again when “Magia” resounded throughout the hall. Followed by “Kagayaku Sora no Shijima Wa” and “Lacrimosa”. After that, the 3 ladies introduced themselves and talked about Singapore. My body was filled with goose-bumps when they sung “Oblivious”, “Ongaku” and “Sprinter” next. Then after saying their goodbyes with “Hikari no Senritsu”, they promised to return again. Oh, I hope they do!
May’n: The Galactic Songstress herself shot off with “Scarlet Ballet” and several of her new songs but it wouldn’t be May’n without songs from Sheryl Nome. This was followed through with “Iteza Gogo Kyuuji ~Don’t Be Late~” and more songs from the new Macross Frontier movie. Mayn’s performance ended on a high note with “Brain Driver” from Phi Brain. The crowd didn’t tire even after continuous jumping and shouting. Calls for an encore were heard the moment she disappeared. After 2 or so minutes of chanting, she finally came out again but sadly just to talk about her experience with the MC.
Thus, AFA ‘11 ends. It was definitely much better and interesting than last year in terms of content. Although there were several organization screw-ups over these 2 days, the sheer epicness of the concert eclipsed them in ways I can’t describe. Priceless memories were made in these two days, and I’m happy to be able to give you guys, the readers, coverage of this event. I definitely had fun and am planning to come back again in 2012. So, see you then!
Kyo’s insert: A summary of AFA (Credits: lemon)
About the Guest Writer: TKTakeru |
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I’m a Type-Moon and KEY works fan, known as an avid procrastinator and a self-proclaimed audiophile. Currently learning Japanese and has a love for horror mystery anime. | Link |
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POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Damn there are some amazing cosplayers! And that Final Fantasy team whoaaaa great! xDD I loved your cosplay to hahaha nicely done ;D
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 151 comments
There are many more incredible ones that I didn’t manage to take. The cosplayers of AFA has been one of the most eye-opening gatherings I’ve seen.
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 243 comments
Live Steins;Gate music? I just became incredibly jelly.
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 151 comments
It was exciting, but I think I ended up watching a guy doing otaku dances half the time than cheering for the stage. XD
POWUH: 400-499 and Manly Russians lover with 401 comments
That Aya Brea looks great.
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 151 comments
There’s one Ezio Auditore that I didn’t include in the pict spam due to quality issues. His hidden blade was impressive.
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 207 comments
SOOO MANY BEAUTIFUL COSPLAYERS!!!!!MUST NOW HAVE FINAL FANTASY 13-2!!!!Anyway, oh Kalafina!!! I wish I could have seen them AGHHH!!! DX. Looks like AFA was a great time! Good job on the post TK 🙂
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 151 comments
Thanks! It was another great experience, really happy I was there. ;D
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
ALL HAIL THE COSPLAYERS AND THE ANIME CONVENTIONS WE LOVE SO MUCH!!!! Congratulations to the Final Fantasy team. I especially liked the cosplaying girl playing Lightning from Final Fantasy XIII wearing her new Final Fantasy XIII-2 armor.
These AFA posts keep getting better. Good job guest writer TK.
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 151 comments
That Lightning cosplayer has her own DeviantArt page, check it out here. http://rainertachibana.deviantart.com/
POWUH: 800-899 and Flying Sage with 856 comments
I really respect the effort that goes into good cosplay. Some of those outfits are so detailed, they must have been difficult to make. It takes a true fan to obsess over the “realism” of a fake uniform.
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 151 comments
It was very impressive, and this year had a lot more variety in the cosplays due to a lack of Vocaloids and Black Rock Shooters. ^^;
POWUH: Metanorn Regular with 88 comments
These cosplayers are so amazing!! And holy burgers, an Ano Hana game? I can’t imagine what the would be like if it does happen XD
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 151 comments
I’m guessing it would feel a lot like Little Busters.
POWUH: 400-499 with 428 comments
OMG PEDOBEAR! RUN HIDE YOUR CHILDREN-SPLAT!
*Cough, I think personally pedobear should have got the award for best cosplay because…he’s pedobear XD
Glad to see there won’t be a sequel to AnoHana because I think it finished off as best as it could have been done, though the temptation for a sequel would have fans divided I suppose 🙂 An AnoHana game? Sounds more interesting than a manga because it sounds as it could become like a visual novel…well, as long as it’s not School Days, I’m sure everyone will enjoy their own little piece of the story
Cosplay was awesome to see (pedobear still wins though, by default) but the thing I’m most jelly about is the music…so many great artists there, from Kanako Itou (when I discovered Sky Clad no Kansokusha…exams were my last priority) to Kalafina (dazzling the stage! :P) Definitely putting this on my bucket list (not that I have to worry about that for a long time)
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 151 comments
I’m personally happy there’s no sequel planned. When that question was asked someone actually shouted “NO!” out to the stage. XD
That pedobear was hysterical, I was practically on the floor when that loli saw him. She later held the bear’s hand, I didn’t manage to take a picture since I busted a gut seconds after. XDD
POWUH: 1100-1199 and Meta's Evil rice-flour Product with 1137 comments
i lold so hard at the pedobear