Anime Festival Asia '08, held in Singapore 22 - 23 November.

[C.A.]

AFA' 09 will be on 21st and 22nd November: http://www.afa09.com/

Spoiler for old post on AFA 08:

Event site: http://www.afa08.com/index.htm

Mainly a heads up for Singaporeans here and maybe people who actually wants to come to Singapore for this event. Especially fans of Sheryl, because May'n is coming!! She's going to sing and have autography sessions.

I'm gathering my friends for this event and probably more people so we can extend our search for rare items in the 'Akiba Town' portion of the event. Learning from Konata here lol

[wao]

Wonder if anyone else on this forum's going... There is a possibility of me going since well, why the hell not? Koji Morimoto, Genius Party Beyond screening, and Singapore actually gets to boast having May'n come here for her first overseas live so why not gloat with everyone else.

This would also be my first time going for an anime event...

[uis]

I want to go but I need 100 dollar to make passport... lol...

[C.A.]

The event will be starting this Saturday till Sunday.

Anyone who's visiting may want to let us know and maybe we can meet or something.

Currently I'm meeting SaintessHeart and forgottendiary and have gotten each other contacts.

[TinyRedLeaf]

Well, I'll be there. Not so much to see May'n and Kunio Okawara, because let's face it, I'm not really part of that demographic of fans , but perhaps to catch previews of Sky Crawler. It'd be interesting to see the guys from Studio 4˚ C too.

[C.A.]

Well, I'll be leaving my house soon to catch the Industrial Seminar.

I'll be wearing a SOS Danchou armband, unless there are a whole bunch of lanky guys in black specs wearing armbands, it is most likely me. Just call me C.A. when you see me lol

[Peanutbutter]

I'll skip and wait for pictures.

Not that hardcore of an anime fan to begin with.

[Ja-Y-Ce]

Ermm, was there in the morning - mad queue out there... but, i was just queuing for May'N concert tickets for tomorrow...

Can't really say much about the event since I didn't get to go in... was rushing for other stuff after the ticket purchase.

Guess that we got to wait for the rest to update us...

[C.A.]

Hmmm I just reached home for the first day, was pretty fun, this years cosplay quality for Singapore has increased a little bit lol

I'll be uploading pics maybe after the entire event. But my photo skills are weak lol

The best cosplay today was an amazingly well scaled and created Exia cosplay:

Don't mind the head lol, this is the only full height front pic of him, he was surrounded by crowds everywhere he went.

I have a really tight schedule this weekend lol, so I'll only be showing this single pic. I'll be eating the 2nd meal of the day and I'll be out again for something else.

All this cosplay I'v eseen made me feel like doing a last minute mash up cosplay of my own lol

[Ottocycle]

Just came back from Mizuki Ichirou mini-concert. He was phenomenal. It didn't matter to me whether I knew his songs or not after a while as his stage presence was just overpowering.

It was rather a pity as the crowd was nothing in comparison to his home performances though. Thanks to that I was able to get a place close enough to the stage to see him clearly. Though not close enough when he came down for handshakes.

CHANGEEE GETTAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!

Truly a veteran. He has earned my full respect for this.

[arkxkra]

I from Malaysia, just know this event on this morning today, so cannot come , wasted. Next time I should stay to the news more.

[TinyRedLeaf]

I got to Suntec Convention Centre at 10am (22 Nov), and as expected, there was already a huge crowd of at least 500 people at the entrance.



I waited in the queue for an hour to buy my ticket (S$5 for one day, S$8 for two days), and wandered straight away to the seminar booth to join my colleague who was covering the festival (lucky her, she gets a media pass; well, maybe not so lucky, because she has to work while I get to wander around).

Speaking at the seminar were:

• Gregory Ho, Vice-President & General Manager, Animax Asia
• Susumu Tsubaki, Representative Partner, PanAsia Partners
• Anna Teo, Contents Development Director, Dentsu Singapore

Each one of them covered a different topic. For synpopsis and backgrounds of the three speakers, go to this link.

To be sure, the three speakers didn't reveal much earth-shattering information. Some of the industry details, many of us already know, and some of us here in AnimeSuki can probably give even better details.

But some snippets struck me as interesting. I'll share some of my raw notes:

Spoiler for TL;DR:

(1)
Interestingly, Mr Tsubaki feels that Asia (US$43.1m) will outstrip the United States (US$23.4m) to be the world's biggest market for anime by 2030. According to him, the anime industry views Asia — from China, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, South-east Asia, India to the Middle East — as a huge goldmine.

My take:
Of course, China alone explains the size and growth potential of the Asian market. But still, this is the first time I've heard about Japan's explicit interest in the region, given the extremely scarce distribution of original content here. More on this point later.

=========

(2)
Looking ahead, Japan hopes to create a "Japan-Asia Contents Corridor", to share expertise and business networks in the region, particularly to spur original content creation outside of Japan. Mr Tsubaki cited China's Blue Cat and Dubai's Freej as examples of such original-content projects.

My take:
Interesting. It appears that Japanese studios, well, PanAsia at least, is beginning to realise that their future lies beyond Japan's shores. It seems we're beginning to see a gradual shift in industry mindsets within Japan, to the grudging acceptance that, in order to grow, Japan's anime industry will have to venture overseas. In a way, the Japan-Asia Contents Corridor is somewhat like a Greater Anime Co-Prosperity Sphere.

=========

(3)
Most surprisingly, Mr Tsubaki declared that by 2030, Asia will be a pro-intellectual property rights market. Expanding on his point, Anna Teo talked about how Dentsu has set up an office in Singapore to manage original content across its entire value chain, ie, from creators to publishers to broadcasters to distributors, merchandisers and retailers.

My take:
The above point is mostly PR bullshit. Throughout the seminar and the question-and-answer session that followed, the three speakers barely discussed the obvious elephant in the room: Rampant IP theft throughout Asia.

To be sure, one guy did ask whether studios are considering making greater use of the Internet as a distribution channel. Mr Tsubaki replied that, yes, they are, but that the fear of illegal downloads is holding them back.

Which prompted another guy to ask about the extent of the damage. To which, understandably, neither Mr Tsubaki nor Anna could give much details. Anna did point out, however, that IP theft is not only hurting DVD-driven anime, but also merchandising-driven anime as well. Plenty of cheap imitations out there to contend with.

As for suggestions of having more merchandising-driven anime instead of relying on DVD sales, Greg joked that none of us wants to see a day when only merchandising-driven anime is produced. "They'd all end up cute and fluffy," he said, hardly the reason why anime has so many mature fans.

Greg rightly pointed out that anime's key competitive advantage over Western animation lies in its stories — they are not just pitched to kids, but to adults as well.

But, the key problem remains:
The studios are reluctant to distribute original content in Asia because of the dire lack of IP security. Deprived of their shows, fans continue to download illegally, or purchase pirated DVDs and merchandise, thus perpetuating the vicious cycle.

=========

(4)
So, finally, one plucky girl asked if the speculation of a dying anime industry is true. Anna promptly replied that this isn't so, or Dentsu wouldn't be expanding into the region.

My take:
I managed to speak briefly with Greg after the seminar. Privately, he agrees with the girl — Japan's anime industry is hurting a lot worse than it would care to admit.

Greg feels that the means of distribution — be it DVD, pay-per-view or the Internet — doesn't matter. He feels that most fans are willing to pay, so long as they get to watch their shows as soon as they are released in Japan.

Implicitly, that means greater reliance on the Internet in the future. No other distribution channel can match the Internet in terms of speed of access, as most of us here in AnimeSuki already know.

However, just as Greg feels that fans would accept any means of distribution of original content, it also means that any of these distribution channels are equally vulnerable to IP theft.

The industry knows it's happening. Case in point, at start of the Q&A, probably 33% of the floor admitted to having watched anime online, but only one person admitted paying for it (me: I've paid for my copies of Time of Eve from Crunchyroll).

What can the industry do? They can't condone piracy, for that'll be as good as breaking their own rice bowl. Hence, I guess, the need for enforcement. Hence, the lawsuits in Singapore.

=========

(5)
So, really, the take home message, which of course most kids — by far the biggest consumers of pirated content — wouldn't like to hear, is this:

If you care about anime, stop stealing IP.

It costs US$120,000 to make a single episode of an anime series, and around US$20m to US$30m to make an anime movie. All that money has to be recovered somehow, and at a reasonable profit, or else why should producers bother?

If you love anime, make sure some money, however little, goes back to the creators. If you got to pay, please don't pay the pirate. Pay the producers instead.

Pictures are presumably of greater interest to other readers. Here are some of mine:

Hoooboy! Yes, Sky Crawlers is coming to cinemas (in S'pore presumably) on 27 Nov!




Scale models of the Sanka push-prop fighter



=========

Kunio Okawara, mecha designer, most famous for his Gundam designs



By the way, these are some of the more interesting answers Okawara-sensei gave to questions that had been sent in ahead of the event:

Q: Where did he find his inspirations for Gundam?

He doesn't rely so much on inspiration as he does on the concepts specified by the producer or the sponsor. This is why experience matters a lot in this industry — with greater experience, a designer is able to come up with designs fast enough to meet production schedules.

Q: What does he find the most different between his Gundam designs and, say, the designs in Gundam 00?

The level of detail. In the past, Gundam designs had to be kept simple because the animators couldn't cope with the extra work of animating them. But given the advances in technology today, animators relish the challenge of bringing intricate detail to life.

Q: Why does Gundam 00 look different from previous Gundams?

They do look different, don't they? He's pretty sure that the mech designer on Gundam 00 is an avid Gundam fan, but on the other hand, the new designer uses a different drawing technique that involves greater use of rulers(?).

=========

Special-edition toys and figurines on display




Not forgetting the cosplayers



=========

Koji Morimoto of Studio 4˚C sketching on a fan's promotional booklet for Genius Party Beyond

[Peanutbutter]

"Greater Anime Co-Prosperity Sphere?" Oh dear.

Regarding IP theft and all, I do agree, unless they manage to devise a business model that can allow distribution of their animes that can match the current speed, it'll remain hard for Japanese companies to maintain commercial viability producing all these shows.

As said, the recent Crunchyroll experiment sounds interesting. Will be keeping tab on that to see how it turns out.

[SaintessHeart]

I just came back with C.A (turns out we actually lived in the same area, and we communicate like we are from two different sides of the world over the net), got a hell lot of photos to share. Most of them are badly taken due to me using my digital camera for the first time.

I will upload under spoilers in different categories as I go along. Don't mind ^^.

Btw May'n sang these songs (in sequence)......

1. Welcome To My Fanclub's Night!
2. What bout' My Star? (music seems to be the one used @ Formo)
3. Infinity
4. Yousei
5. Northern Cross (OST2 ver, she messed up the lyrics at the end xP)
6. Iteza Gouji Niji, Don't Be Late!

[Ja-Y-Ce]

Finally back from AFA....

Love May'N concert - she is pretty, sweet and nice. Love her singing!! But, I do feel that her mini concert is tooooooooo short...

Anyway, just some nitpicking to the fellow Singaporeans - pretty sad to see that Diamond VIP fans are pretty ungracious (out of the whole list of people who are able to handshake and get the signed autographs with May'N... I only observe 3 that are giving her something as a token of appreciation). Isn't that some form of courtesy and also to let May'N feel "at home" since she is here - in another country - first overseas concert?

Worse part is...even the organiser does not get her a flower bouquet which is simply "OMG" to me....

I didn't go for the first day - so, I do not know is that the same for Mizuki Ichirou.

But oh manz... I would rate the fair as "ok"...

Hopefully, it will be better next year.

[kureshii]

LOL, too short? That's all the singles she has from Frontier so far, and I'm just bowled over by the fact that I got to hear all her (Macross F) singles live.

She looked and sounded tired though, especially during the last 2 pieces - I hope our horrible weather isn't causing her to fall sick

I wonder if there's any hope of a Macross concert; Megumi and May'n in a Lion duet would be the final, most important thing I need in my list as a Macross fan ^^

[Ja-Y-Ce]

well, the hall is pretty stuffy... so, i am not surprised that she sounded tired...

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by Ja-Y-Ce

Finally back from AFA....

Love May'N concert - she is pretty, sweet and nice. Love her singing!! But, I do feel that her mini concert is tooooooooo short...

Anyway, just some nitpicking to the fellow Singaporeans - pretty sad to see that Diamond VIP fans are pretty ungracious (out of the whole list of people who are able to handshake and get the signed autographs with May'N... I only observe 3 that are giving her something as a token of appreciation). Isn't that some form of courtesy and also to let May'N feel "at home" since she is here - in another country - first overseas concert?

Worse part is...even the organiser does not get her a flower bouquet which is simply "OMG" to me....

I didn't go for the first day - so, I do not know is that the same for Mizuki Ichirou.

But oh manz... I would rate the fair as "ok"...

Hopefully, it will be better next year.

The organiser did quite a few dumb things IMO.

1. The dumbest thing is to have an oversized Odex booth (they should be glad that it wasn't firebombed, quite a number of people I know, met or acquainted with expressed their desire to do so).

2. There is no proper cosplay corner, so cosplayers just have to make do standing around, resulting in many blockades in the narrow alleyways.

3. No surround sound for May'N performance. She is a female and has a higher pitch. Putting 2 subwoofers aimed DIRECTLY at the audience means those at the front are going to hear squeals and sound projected at a much higher pitch, which could be dangerous to the ears. She doesn't have the experience of voice projection like Mizuki, so get her a proper sound system.

4. Assigning small spaces to booths and stores selling figurines. Figurines come in BOXES idiots, and boxes take up space (shape of the box doesn't make much difference, see Kepler's Conjecture). And they have to put the stores selling figurines together in the SAME AREA of the exhibition hall, resulting in a congestion in that area.

5. Lack of variety. The only stores I bought something from is KKnM and doujin from CDS. And I would like to nitpick about the severe lack of God's products.

Things they did right,

1. Putting the Odex booth near the cosplay rest area. Prevents the store from being trashed and burned to the ground (anime and manga fans are smart enough to avoid collateral damage to their own group of people).

2. Held in Suntec rather than Expo, though I would prefer Expo due to its larger space. Suntec, which is near City Hall, is in the middle of train line in Singapore, allowing people from around the country to reach that place more easily.

3. Inviting the Galactic Nymph and the King of Anime Songs. I enjoyed hearing him say "Mazinger, ZEEEEEE" in real life.

4. Free flow of moe. Little restrictions of phototaking, so C.A burned out his batteries in less than a few hours.

I am uploading the pictures now. Close to 200.

[Ja-Y-Ce]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

The organiser did quite a few dumb things IMO.

1. The dumbest thing is to have an oversized Odex booth (they should be glad that it wasn't firebombed, quite a number of people I know, met or acquainted with expressed their desire to do so).

>>> truly agreed - but I only thought of doing "unspeakable" stuff to it.

2. There is no proper cosplay corner, so cosplayers just have to make do standing around, resulting in many blockades in the narrow alleyways.

>>> yes, unsightly..

3. No surround sound for May'N performance. She is a female and has a higher pitch. Putting 2 subwoofers aimed DIRECTLY at the audience means those at the front are going to hear squeals and sound projected at a much higher pitch, which could be dangerous to the ears. She doesn't have the experience of voice projection like Mizuki, so get her a proper sound system.

>>> yup, but well, I wasn't too front.

4. Assigning small spaces to booths and stores selling figurines. Figurines come in BOXES idiots, and boxes take up space (shape of the box doesn't make much difference, see Kepler's Conjecture). And they have to put the stores selling figurines together in the SAME AREA of the exhibition hall, resulting in a congestion in that area.

>>> Haha, everywhere is a congestion..

5. Lack of variety. The only stores I bought something from is KKnM and doujin from CDS. And I would like to nitpick about the severe lack of God's products.

>>> Yes... I rather go back to my Japan now...

Things they did right,

1. Putting the Odex booth near the cosplay rest area. Prevents the store from being trashed and burned to the ground (anime and manga fans are smart enough to avoid collateral damage to their own group of people).

>>> Not only that, as a non-cosplayer... this booth is "out of my sight"

2. Held in Suntec rather than Expo, though I would prefer Expo due to its larger space. Suntec, which is near City Hall, is in the middle of train line in Singapore, allowing people from around the country to reach that place more easily.

>>> Yup, better feel too...

3. Inviting the Galactic Nymph and the King of Anime Songs. I enjoyed hearing him say "Mazinger, ZEEEEEE" in real life.

>>> They should invite more!

4. Free flow of moe. Little restrictions of phototaking, so C.A burned out his batteries in less than a few hours.

>>> Hate the restriction... but well...sigh

[kureshii]

Probably the thing that irked me most is that they could have at least dimmed more lights around the concert area - it spoils the concert atmosphere when the lights are so bright No need for a total blackout, but dimming more lights shouldn't be that difficult right?

(It does make it somewhat easier to take photos though )

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

Btw May'n sang these songs (in sequence)......

1. Welcome To My Fanclub's Night!
2. What bout' My Star? (music seems to be the one used @ Formo)
3. Infinity
4. Yousei
5. Northern Cross (OST2 ver, she messed up the lyrics at the end xP)
6. Iteza Gouji Niji, Don't Be Late!

Forgot Diamond Crevasse after Yousei

I have some recordings, but it is marred by close-range shouting/screaming and chattering (mostly mine)