Comic Fiesta Exclusive Coverage
Completing 10 years, Comic Fiesta sets a new record in being the biggest Anime Convention of Malaysia.
Hello. I’m back again to provide you more coverage of Malaysia’s Anime Convention scene. This post was delayed due to holidays and what not but better late than never. In this post I will once again cover Comic Fiesta but this time I’m joined by TKTakeru for additional coverage. Kyokai got both of us media passes so we have some good scoop for you readers, two of which are already out: Resident Evil: Damnation and Redjuice Panel.
My first time getting a media pass~
This year’s Comic Fiesta was huge in comparison to previous years. So, there were lots of programmes and booths so a full coverage is almost impossible but I’ve tried my best in covering the highlights for both Stage and Festival events. You can check at Lorraine Music about this kind of huge comic events.
Stage Coverage Highlights
Danny Choo Stage Appearance: This year, Danny finally attended Comic Fiesta and introduced himself and Culture Japan to all the CF’ers. He talked about his latest television broadcast, Japan Mode, which aired on Star World channel all across Asia. Main theme of the show is Japanese women lifestyle (check this post for more details). Further on, he presented Yume Nanami, a mascot for the collaboration of Danny and construction companies. He also talked about his collaboration with Kinokuniya and introduced his Singapore branch of the company. He further explained the aims of Culture Japan (Mirai Inc.), and even announced the requirements for job application at Mirai Inc. He showcased his merchandise (Moekana T-shirts, MiraiClock3, Nendoroid Mirai Suenaga, Moekanji and Mirai Suenaga Touch n Go), available at Culture Japan Booth.
Bushiroad Stage Appearance: CEO of Bushiroad, Takaaki Kidani, introduced the company and type of TCG they sell. Then SEA branch was introduced by Masayuki Goto along with upcoming product reveals slated for 2013.
Redjuice Stage Appearance: Honestly, I was shocked by the news of Redjuice coming to Comic Fiesta. His appearance was one of the biggest highlights of this year. On stage, this 36-year-old Illustrator extraordinaire, talked about his rhythm and motivation to draw by listening to music, mainly of Hatsune Miku. He gleaned on how he became Supercell’s illustrator. Before he joined them, one of their illustrators was a person he highly respected. One day, he was suddenly invited by that very person to work for Supercell. He advised the upcoming artists and illustrators to “Always keep drawing”. Side-tracked, he talked about Malaysian food being nice but spicy.
Bless4 Meet & Greet: This year Bless4 was invited as the Guest Artist. Go read up on them if you’re unaware. In short, they are a group of brothers and sisters and the youngest sister, Akino, is the singer of ‘Sousei no Aquarion’. Together, they wish to bring blessings to others through their music, therefore they named themselves Bless4. Above is a video I recorded of them singing the English version of ‘Sousei no Aquarion’, a short interview, them carolling and their autograph session.
Performances: There were a few performers that I really want to highlight. One of them is a group called ‘Harmonia’, a group of 3 girls and guess what, they really sing like Kalafina. I went totally crazy when they sang ‘Magia’. Another performer was Nisa Addina (Her FB and Twitter). She’s a local violin pro she performed three songs: Crossing Field, Just Be Friends and ½. I was like “OMG that eargasm!!!” Below is a video of her performance, which was recorded by my friend and edited by me.
Festival Coverage Highlights
Culture Japan Booth: A wide array of Culture Japan merchandise was sold at the booth, including the Mirai Suenaga Touch n Go. Most of them were sold previously in AFA Singapore but slightly cheaper since Malaysians can’t afford to buy in Singaporean dollars. I bought 2 posters and a Tora T-shirt. I even negotiated with Danny’s wife who happened to be there for another free glossy bag. Unexpectedly, she actually did give me one. As expected, the booth was constantly filled with fans, lining up to purchase different merchandise.
Good Smile Company Booth: GSC’s booth sold loads of cheap figures. For example, a Nendoroid Hakurei Reimu is supposedly RM200+ in Malaysia but they sold at RM110 in CF. The booth keeper explained that GSC were selling this cheap because they set the price according to exchange rate between Malaysian Ringgit and Japanese Yen without charging any tax or shipment fee. Although the price was really tempting but I didn’t buy any figures because there wasn’t any BRS for sale. Though, I bought one of the BRS with a Moekana booster pack still. Note that all the figures were old releases.
Bushiroad Booth: Bushiroad’s booth had their TCG decks and booster packs on sale as well as card sleeves. They had put out tables ready for free-play and mini-tournament. In the photo, we also see Mr. Masayuki preparing his speech.
Comic Fiesta Booth: Coffytiam had varieties of merchandise. There were badges, official T-shirt, T-shirts by Blizzard, CHAM C (a book with of lots of cosplay shots compiled), and Redjuice’s artbooks (Neutral & Squad). Three-fourth of my budget (about RM250) was spent here buying most of what they had to offer. I would like to thank Kyokai because Redjuice’s artbooks were limited in stocks and with a media pass, I entered early and bought the artbooks before the crowd could gobble them up.
Saito College Booth: A college providing design courses in Malaysia. Their booth provided free photo taking with their very own backdrop.
Redjuice Autograph Session: Those who bought Redjuice’s artbooks were given an opportunity to have one item signed by him to speed up the line.
Booth owned by TKTakeru and his friends
Creative Market (Doujin Market): Creative Market is the most famous section of Comic Fiesta containing booths selling doujin goods like artworks, posters, key-chains and badges. Sadly, I couldn’t find any BRS goods although I constantly see people with ‘em. Saito College students also had individual booths all over the Creative Market, selling their artwork.
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Cosplays: What is an anime convention without cosplay? To be honest, I already expected myself to spend most of my time getting coverage photos and not having time to take cosplay photos. Because of that I’m featuring one of my college senior, Ruwendra, batch of cosplay photos of Day 1 and Day 2. Thank you very much senpai *bows*, also check out TKtakeru’s batch of CF photos.
It has become sort of a tradition that there will be a dance off party to end Comic Fiesta. This year’s DJ wasn’t as good as last year’s but we still went crazy. I also got in the mood and danced Gangnam Style with the crowd. Finally, I’ll end this post with an awesome tribute video by one of the CF committee member:
End Note
CF 2012 was really fun but tiring because the venue was much bigger than last year. I (finally) met TKTakeru, spent RM500 in two days and embarrassed myself for dancing Gangnam Style. There were so many things to see and share but it’s really difficult to be everywhere at one time especially when I actually missed the cosplay competition because of Redjuice panel. I would like to thank Kyokai once again for getting me the media pass which allowed me to get in and out of the hall easily and for free! I would also like to thank my friends for providing me equipment for CF (Kraizer for lending me his DSLR and recorder for Day 1 and Ruwendra for lending me his tripod stand). Here is my complete set of photos if you want more.
It’s over! This year’s CF definitely felt completely different for me as I had plenty of first experiences. I missed most of the stage events due to the panels and interviews but I had a lot of fun. I learned a lot, especially from Redjuice-sensei (that man is a beast). A big thank you to the CF committee, the VIPs for making time from their busy schedules to visit us, my good pal Antarnis for the pictures and videos and lastly Big Boss Kyokai for getting me the media pass. Enjoy the cosplay pictures and I hope you guys will too with an exclusive interview coming soon.
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POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
As usual, nice convention coverage. Looks like Iron Man had a huge influence on Japan with the Comic Fiesta Opening paying tribute. But I can understand why because that suit of armor is amazing.
Redjuice is currently the rockstar of illustration which is well deserved for his hard work creating lush animation. Since he’s currently using Guilty Crown characters as his trademark, I’m curious to see what his next big project will be. You can already bet the animation will be good.
Once again, I’m green with envy of all the Japanese merchandise. Sometimes I really wish I was born in Japan or started learning the language while growing up. You guys getting to see all that great stuff. That’s a crime!!! “sobs”.
By the way, nice new sliding feature concerning the cosplayers. It’s the first time seeing that on Metanorn.
POWUH: 400-499 with 410 comments
Ahaha it’s true that finding Japanese merchandise wouldn’t be too hard in Malaysia but they tend to be very expensive. If you think it’s a crime, then you should look at Singapore (AFA reference) *points at Miyu*
If I remember correctly, there were a few posts that used this slideshow feature.
POWUH: iLurker with 1 comments
YAY!!!
POWUH: Meta Team and Ringleader Extraordinaire~ with 6433 comments
I want that Shiki figure.
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 151 comments
Sigh, me too. I was *this* close to pre-ordering her but my graphic card had to die prematurely. Good bye Shiki….
POWUH: Meta Team and Ringleader Extraordinaire~ with 6433 comments
I’m just waiting for the day I will get my hands on this! ><
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 192 comments
Awesome coverage, especially with the shots of the stage activities. How was it taking pics so up close? The music was already deafening near the doujin booths, so I wondered how the photographers felt standing there.
And honestly, I’m a bit jealous that you could take all those sweet pictures without hordes of people jostling around and glaring at you. XD Keep up the good work!
Btw, by “dancing Gangnam style”, did you mean for the Sidequests? I did it with a group of fellow sidequesters and I’m wondering if you were in it. As for the dance itself, it felt surprisingly liberating, so much so that the embarrassment was totally muted. XD