Gosh to think I nearly missed the one anime event that I wouldn't pass for the world - until this morning I actually thought it was next week x.X So, it's finally Singapore's turn for Anime Festival Asia, and this year it's happening at the happening mall of Suntec City Convention Centre (just where I like it, since it's more convenient for me xD). So armed with $35 and my iPhone, I rode down town to join in the fun (N if things went out of hand I still have my VISA ;] ).
Mami unwrapping her towel like, "Welcome home, Mistress."
...And here's she dressed up for the festival! (Trying to gnore the price tag*)
Love Live gals in their training attire. Honestly I can't believe they actually started this line, because I don't find the outfit any special... Well, Love Live fans R just so lucky to enjoy such variations!
My favourite Miku so far, the mebae version! I have always assumed "mebae" is a form of tribal dance (based on the figure's pose), until a quick Google to reveal it's the name of the illustrator! Mike here's actually a ballerina... Goodness I can't tell!
The legendary Saber, wedding version, at a whooping price of $218. I watched Fate:Zero and although I enjoyed the show, I could not figure out the hype behind Saber. How come nobody is fantasising over Lancer and his love story? I once asked my close friend Hao and he told me it's because he died too early, but seriously? I still cannot accept that flimsy explanation! Oh Lancer...
A Pokemon Booth! The booth tender was very kind and allowed me to take some photos.
The Charizard is spot-on!
Enter: Danny Choo's Dollife section~
Boi ver. oO
Standard Mirai school attire~
Old school hype, what with the anniversary of Sailor Moon, revival of Digimon, and the never ending Dragon Ball mech
I only took this for one reason, can U guess it?
This is a really cool variation of the DB line - featuring the artist's rendering and supposedly a limited edition flown in from Japan for us!
Love such dynamism - makes for awesome figure photography!
Who says centre-parting is old fashion?
Not trying to ruin this masterpiece but from this position it looks like he's trying to scratch his butt
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After circling a while I realised I forgot to take an ambience shot. The place was packed, but not as crowded as I expected, so all as good!
Everyone's able to put their hearts at ease with the vigilant patrol unit summoned for this event
We even have Umi and Kotori giving live report, and here I am trying to distract them with my sneaky shots けけけ
When I saw this booth I immediately thought of the fireworks festival in Japan with those overpriced plastic masks, and had to snap it
Yui poster! Ah she's the cutest!
Another never ending anime - Detective Conan
Finally something acceptable and pleasing to the eye (managed to snap this giant Naruto poster before the walkway was promptly flooded with passers-by)
...Good things just keep flashing by before my eyes. LOOK WHO'S BESIDE ME! And I didn't even have to look too hard! I made it a mission to hunt down all Naruto cosplayers just to snag a photo with them, because there just isn't enough love for them in Singapore!
And I totally ignored the other casts and just asked for a photo with him xD Sakura looked pretty pissed off (or was it just me) but I have no shame, it is do or die. Omg this is definitely the climax of my day at the festival... Then I had to go ahead and ruin the photo with my halfway smile. I NEVER smile that like. I was legit nervous and panicking internally.
Bonus: He is male, not some girls cross-dressing and ruining my fantasy
Itachi <333
Look who I found as I was exiting the hall! I would be stroked to find a figure of my cosplay
...And another treasure found in this sea of swarming humans! This Sarada is so spot-on and cute I couldn't resist cuddling her close to me! She even noticed and commented about her parents on my phone case xD
Image source: http://naruto.wikia.com/wiki/Sarada_Uchiha
See the resemblance? 幸せ~!
The cosplay palette wouldn't be complete without some Lelouch goodness
And C.C.! I totally recognised her from past conventions (as marked by her characteristic eye bags) and remembered her name on SGclub forum is Rinya. Not wanting to sound like a stalker, but when I first saw her in Cosfest, she was doing Sheryl Nome with a Ranka Lee, and I was awe-strucked. Looks like there's no rush to sell off your costume just after 1 cosplay!
Hooray, Maki spotted!
A for effort for the skateboard, Killua
Just when I was wondering where aren't there any Sebastians... Sebby <3
This year there's a lot of Kotoris, and everyone that I have seen are really pretty and on point, like this lovely Kotori here. She was really polite and her pose a satisfying one *thumbs up*
BlackWarGreymon here proved a great sport and gave the crowd a good laugh with his humorous monologue and "Terra force" (RE: garbage bag by his feet)
Heck, he even told off Angewomon when he noticed she was blocking the Female washroom and ordered her to "move away la!"
This is so pleasing to my eye, especially considering I've just ordered her figure~
And yep, she totally couldn't see through the face armour
I made it a point to only take photographs of characters I recognise and like, but her costume was simply too exquisite to miss!
Miku #333 Natsu Tsubaki ver. She was really gave me face and posed specially for me! This is probably my best shot today with that sick background and 1-1 eye (lens) contact
...And this was what happened 9/10 times I tried to beg for a photograph. After they had walked off twice on me and refusal to pose for me (too busy for my measly iPhone, I guess), I had to launch a sneak attack and ended with this half-hearted shot.
It was mostly for memory's sake.
Another amazing cosplay with amazing figures (re: flat tummy), couldn't miss this either.
Awakward Miku, not that it was her fault since this was capture during her mid-bow (re: see those lights on her costume!)
Something you don't always see, young Sasuke in Spiderman and Badman's company
My my, what do we have here? "The Last" squad woohoo
I didn't realise there's a Sky Garden next door and found this Love Live group getting ordered around by a male photographer. Love their costumes <3
Then there was this dude with his eye-catchy flag, also getting ordered around by his photographer.
Here's the full picture. It was quite hilarious but then he started to complain about being tired and my heart immediately reached out to him.
...Back indoors, guess who I bumped into. My goodness, it's the whole squad from Diabolik Lovers! After my initial repulsion towards this anime, I saw it was available for viewing on my MioTV and decided to give it another chance... Let's just say I'm going to watch Season 2 after I'm done with Hakuoki.
Elsewhere, an epic showdown between apprentice Ichigo and Darth Varder was unfolding under the air-con
Looks like this battle has a winner - little Captain America once again saved the day!
Lucky me! Though this is making me think twice about pre-ordering Lucky Chloe from Kotobukiya, hmmm...
Yui! She's so cute~
Erza Scarlet, looking fierce in her armour
Wow, just...Wow! Miku in Harvest Moon version just blew my mind away. Besides the high I got from knowing it's inspired from the Nendoroid. this beautiful lady with her gorgeous fan and dress just, I had to stop her and captured this moment forever.
Personally, I'm not really a fan of Fate Stay Night but figured I should give this Archer a chance. Damn that intrusive arm!
Another kawaii Kotori. Love how their wigs are so true to the character
What's Ichigo doing getting into fights everywhere he goes? He's even raising his zanpakutou against his good pal Rukia?
In another dimension, all is well and the Captains and Ichigo are taking group pic
Notice Byakuya is dozing off from posing too long lol
This duo is sick! And that Spiderman has got a smokin' figure, just sayin'
This is too impressive to miss. Love Spider Gwen!
Had to shoot this for his reminiscence to Kotobukiya's recently released Kaneki. Can't stop thinking about figurines even among cosplayers TT
Found something interesting as I was trying some tops in the Adidas flagship store. I thought something was wrong with me when I saw the word "naruto." Like did I love Naruto so much that I was hallucinating it in Adida's changing room?
Turns out, this dude's for real. I guess everyone needs to get a Konoha headband at some point, even athletes xD
Overall, I'm really pleased with this year's anime convention. There were tons of characters among the cosplayers that I recognised and love, and there were some decent Naruto merchandise this year (like the 3D Itachi keychain that I bought). However, it has been some time since I went about taking photographs of cosplayers this eagerly, and I have to say this - I've come to appreciate cosplayers who display a sense of courtesy and humility, who performs their best regardless of the lens in front. Just because I'm not carrying any fancy gear or DSLR does not make me less important than the other おじさんs, though some do gave me that vibe.
Through this experience, I've also come to love figure photography more, because unlike a live character, I can fiddle, adjust, and take as many close-up shots to my heart's content. In another words, I can "order" my figure to do whatever I want, without having to worry about it getting tired or walking off before I even hit the "shoot" button. Better to have people staring at you than ten cameras flashing off around you and hands cutting into my frame!
xoxo
