I missed the EOY (End Of Year) cosplay event last year as I was in Japan for a month. Little did I know that it was to be the last EOY ever, as the organizers had run out of people to keep the thing running.

Fortunately, the event name was acquired by a new group of people and given new life. Under the new administration, a lot has changed from the familiar practices of past EOY events, some for the better.

The most prominent change is of course the venue this year: the Drama Centre on the 3rd floor of the National Library. While I can see the advantage of moving the event from the Singapore EXPO, located at the eastern tip of the island, to a more central location in the city area, the National Library just seems to be an odd place to have such an event. For one thing, cosplay events are always very noisy and flashy.

The Drama Centre consists of a decent-sized theatre, where the on-stage programmes were held, and a rather spacious lobby area, where the cosplayers and doujin booths were located. Of course, while the lobby was more than roomy enough to serve its primary function, it was wholly inadequate as a cosplay area. Walking space was extremely limited and there was very little room for any photo-taking. In the end, most of it spilled outside to the first floor, which I think the librarians were not too happy about.

The event area does have pretty good natural lighting, but unfortunately it turned cloudy and started to rain immediately after I arrived. And as I had predicted in my AFA09 post, I once again did not have in my possession an external flash for my camera. Maybe next time.

Due to the unholy trinity of the stage programmes in the fully-packed theatre, the overcast sky and lunchtime, there was pretty much nothing for me to take pictures of when I got there. Fortunately, the sky cleared later in the afternoon and all the cosplayers came out of hiding.

For some inexplicable reason, the organizers invited Yui Makino to perform and sign autographs at the event. It just seems so out-of-place and bizarre for a cosplay event. Perhaps the new committee has greater things in mind for EOY…

The Gundam was too huge to fit into the event area and had to stay around the open area on the first floor.

Interestingly, I applied for a media pass for this event which was supposedly approved. When I asked for it at the entrance, the guy gave me the pass without verifying anything. This seems very easily abusable, and considering the fact that the normal entry ticket costs S$15…

I want to say that EOY this year felt more professional than the previous ones, but I think professional isn’t the right word. It feels more commercialized, despite the organizer’s assurance that EOY continues to be a fan-organized event for fans.

With the new SOY (start of year) cosplay event being organized by Ngee Ann Polytechnic’s Japanese Cultural Club next year, there are now four annual cosplay events in Singapore: Cosfest, Anime Festival Asia, EOY and SOY, all of them taking place within a short span of half a year. Does anyone else think that this is getting a bit out of hand?

The three-day long holy celebration of otakuism that is the Winter Comic Market came to a close yesterday. This is my second Comiket, and probably the last one in a long time. I am still in Japan right now, so I may not have time to blog about the last three days in greater details until I get back, but here are the cosplay photos for now.

I did not take any pictures of the event other than the cosplay this time. However, since Comiket mostly consists of the same old huge crowds and long queues, you can take a look at last year’s pictures for that purpose.

I have to say that with the freshness gone, Comiket is basically one huge shopping experience — extremely chaotic and yet simultaneously subtle compared to a real anime convention loaded with constant entertainment and shiny objects. That said, the cosplay never gets old.

The good thing about Winter Comiket is that the stench of bodily fluids is minimal and queuing for two to three hours to get your hands on a few pages of hardcore pornography is probably a whole lot more bearable than in summer (or so I imagine). The bad thing is that cosplay pictures look like crap because the sun is always at an inconvenient angle.

Of course I could easily solve this problem by investing in a proper external flash for my DSLR, but I prefer to blame the climate and planetary alignments when things go wrong. (Also, solar flares wiped my hard disk.)

Since whining doesn’t solve my problem, mostly due to the unsympathetic laws of physics, you guys will just have to deal with the unfortunate fact that a great number of cosplayers appearing in this post have empty voids of pitch darkness in place of their eyes.

Like

This

And as a bonus, sometimes the entire face is black (not being racist)

I’m sure you are terribly annoyed by my constant monologue interrupting the flow of pictures, so I shall stop. Enjoy.

Actually it’s quite amazing how Japanese girls seem to be immune to the winter chill. Oh right, sorry. I’ll shut up now.

The next post will be out some time next year. In the mean time, you can check out my C73 coverage from last year. It’s about the same.

On another note, during the time it took for me to queue for various reasons during three days of Comiket, I collected all eleven Crystals in Dissidia. Japan is the undisputed global leader when it comes to forming and managing long queues.

Over. Singapore’s first anime convention is. It’s been an eventful two days and I’m quite happy with the way it ended. Now we can start looking forward to next year. Also, I just woke up and my head hurts.

Pre-Event

The convention area is divided into a few zones. The white rectangle at the bottom right is where the staff and invited guests rest. You can read up on more background information about the event from my past entries.

Again, the invited guests were May’n, Yasufumi Soejima, Koji Morimoto, Kunio Okawara, Ichiro Mizuki. I uploaded a YouTube video of the Q&A session on Saturday.

Crowd

The queue got better later in the day

Graphite drawing competition organized by NUS Anime Club

The stage area was always crowded whenever there was any performance. My 17-50mm lens couldn’t get any picture of what went on. There was a cosplay competition on the second day.

It’s a sign

Ultraman vs. a furry teddy bear

Also, since I was using a DSLR with no live preview, I had to shoot blind while holding it above the crowd.

Displays

Genius Party concept art

Koji Morimoto

There’s a display for Studio 4°C’s Genius Party. Koji Morimoto was there on Saturday for an hour to sign GP merchandises.

Animax Asia showcasing LaMB, their first in-house production

Yasufumi Soejima

LaMB is Animax Asia’s first in-house production and it is being produced right here in Singapore. It’s a one-hour sci-fi anime movie with storyboard by Yasufumi Soejima, a former GONZO animator.

I want this… D:

The figurine displays drew a constant crowd. Although the whole thing was handled by a local distributor, there were Japanese representatives from Good Smile Company and others around, and apparently they were quite impressed by the turnout. Bodes well for the future. ;)

Event limited 1/60 Exia Trans-Am mode

Airbrushing demonstration

Those of you waiting for episode 8 review can make do with this

Bandai and Gundam have quite a presence at the event because Bandai recently set up an Asian branch in Singapore. No questions were asked about why there were so many Gundam 00 fans in Singapore when the show is not available here. *cough*

Imaginary Friends Studios’ display at NUS Graphite

Pepper

Pepper too

There were many pieces from Imaginary Friends Studios on display both at their own both and at the NUS Graphite booth. IFS is a Singaporean art studio with an impressive repertoire and has many major foreign clients such as Electronic Arts (e.g. Mirror’s Edge), Intel, Nokia, DC Comics and Penny Arcade.

I bought a copy of their latest release, The Pepper Project, which is a compilation of artworks featuring Pepper, the mascot character created by Artgerm aka Stanley Lau, the head of IFS. I got him to sign my copy.

Some works from Collateral Damage Studios

Yes May’n signed it

Anime showcases from everyone’s favourite company

Hehe

Seriously though, Odex did a decent job

Local distributor Chuangyi Comics

Some manga-related displays

Cosplay

I apologize for my poor photography as usual… I should really get around to getting a Speedlite. If only some kind soul would donate a 580 EX to me. My birthday is in January by the way. :D

Awesome

It’s running away

This can only mean one thing: giant cockroaches

Miku got a haircut

Concert

Ichiro Mizuki performed on Saturday night and May’n performed on Sunday night.

I didn’t attend Mizuki’s concert but I heard it was pretty awesome. I did watch him perform during rehearsal on Friday and during the cosplay competition on Sunday. (He was one of the judges.)

Waiting for May’n

I did attend May’n’s concert. It was one of the most awesome moments of the past year and a perfect end to the event. Her stage presence is truly captivating and her vocals are the real deal. I was standing right at the front and the atmosphere was just perfect. Sheryl Nome was on stage.

Unfortunately, photography was banned during her concert so I don’t have anything for you to see, especially since I was at the front where all the staff members were…

Okay just kidding. I have obtained some top secret photographs taken by other people. Many Bothan spies died to bring us these pictures. Not that you can see much in them.

The MCs

Camera LCDs

Pictures taken by LianYL of RIUVA. Please arrest him instead

May’n’s dancers, Junko and Mizuki

Picture taken by Double. Please arrest him instead

Picture taken by Windbell. Please arrest him instead

By the way, the Sheryl cosplayer (first picture in this post) was actually a Diamond VIP ticket holder who went on stage to shake hands with May’n and receive a signed board.

And yeah, I had a Diamond VIP ticket too. Also, vicious rumours of my snubbing of May’n are competely untrue. The reality is that I did shake her hands, but at that very moment Jim (extreme right), the design director for AFA08, introduced me to May’n’s manager (centre right) all of a sudden as “the guy who translated all the interview questions” and I ended up in a deer-in-the-headlight situation with me fumbling for words while attempting to bow and greet simultaneously. As any reasonably sane deer would do, I fled. orz

So yeah. I didn’t snub her. I merely ran away. >_<

People love to spell my handle as two words :(

I was asked to join Dentsu, the event organizers, for supper after the whole thing ended because I had been translating all media interview questions for the various invited guests, and the people at Dentsu wanted to thank me. May’n was there too! She signed Crazy Crazy Crazy (her debut single) for me. :D

It was worth all the time I spent on doing translations during my final year A’ Level exam period. orz

Next

What’s next? I’m sure many of us will be looking forward to the next Anime Festival Asia if it happens. Personally, I think the chances of that are quite good. From what I heard, representatives from various Japanese studios were quite impressed by AFA08, so no doubt Singapore will be receiving plenty of good publicity when they report back home.

Looking forward to next year.

P.S. Gundam 00 episode 8 post will be delayed this week due to Post Event Syndrome.

Cosfest VII was held over the weekends at Downtown East. It is an annual cosplaying convention, home to the Singapore qualifying round for the World Cosplay Summit in Nagoya, Aichi, along with other animé-related events and competitions. Also, the cutest Haruhi cosplayer ever. :O

Cosfest VII was held over two days. I was busy on Saturday so I had to miss the anime song karaoke competition. Apparently the winner Rika (a 2006 performance by her) sang Nico Nico Douga Gasshou Kumikyoku in its entirety. You can watch a low-quality recording on YouTube.

As usual, there were too many Bleach and D.Gray-man cosplayers for my taste. I guess it’s up to people do decide what they wish to cosplay as, but it’s becoming a textbook example of conforming to be different. I think good cosplays are a form of self expression, and cookie-cutter costumes somewhat defeat the point of the entire ritual.

I have nothing else to say, so here are the pictures.

Awesome

It’s a girl

We are all special!

涼宮ハルヒの週末

Annhilating targets

I wish I had a proper external flash

意義あり！ Objection!

I’ve taken this exact composition at least five times before

The only good game on NDS until the next Gyakuten

Exia deploys some kind of energy wave weapon

This is not LotR

Sometimes I can’t decide if Pita-Ten was over or under-rated

There was no Miku :(

wtf

This is no cosplay. This is the real Ayu

Uguu~

Usagi-su

Tony Stark makes a surprise visit

I can never tell these people apart

Zero idea what this is

The hair colour is really authentic

That’s not the paper aeroplane Alto folds

FFVIII is guilty pleasure

アニヲタが溢れた世の中に絶望した

マクロス７に絶望した

å†çœŸã‚’きれいに撮れない僕に絶望した

C-C-Combo breaker

最近のくそアニメに絶望した

As usual, the rest of the photos are in my gallery. Cosplayers depicted, feel free to contact me if you want the original 10-megapixel JPEG. But that won’t happen because my photos suck. :(

I dropped by the inaugural Singapore Toy and Comic Convention today to see the CosCon cosplay competition. As expected, the number of cosplayers who turned up was significantly smaller than those of dedicated cosplay events in Singapore, such as Cosfest and EOY.

I was planning to give this event a pass because I could tell that cosplay was going to be a really tiny afterthought, and the event itself was targeted more at general nerds and toy collectors, as opposed to hardcore otaku who have crossed the line of no return, devoid of souls and cash, loyal minions of the queen of the underworld.

You could tell that this was not my comfort zone by the high Star Wars presence in the hall, so strong it was that those attuned to the way of the Force could walk to Suntec City from City Hall station blindfolded, guided only by the scent of fellow Lucas worshippers.

Long, long ago, George Lucas was in love

Awesome cosplay by a really thin smurf

The Guest of Honour, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew

I loved Star Wars as much as the next geek, but it’s just not my cup of tea when it comes to life-destroying addictions. Considering the fact that anime and cosplay were probably not going to be a prominent part of the programme, it was my original intention to stay at home today.

Luckily, my common sense was temporarily overpowered by a series of coincidences that can only be described as Haruhi’s divine will, and, against my better judgement, I decided to show up at the convention hall with my Canon 400D, the premier lowest-tier DSLR for cheapskates who want to appear professional in the eyes of the ignorant regular folks with their child-size compacts.

This photo was taken from a restricted area

I say luckily because despite being a general waste of my precious afternoon which I could have otherwise spent watching the original Macross (Lin Mingmei ^^), there was one cosplay which made it worth my effort. (I’ll leave you guessing which one…)

Alright, enough nonsense. On to the photos.

It offends my sensibility that FFVII characters can fly with one wing

The vibrating cat of doom!

Okay fine it was the Hatsune Miku cosplayer. Surprisingly, she came in first place in the competition. I say surprisingly not because her cosplay wasn’t the best, but because the contest was determined by voting and I didn’t think Miku’s character would be popular enough (compared to Naruto and Crisis Core).

It’s quite cool cause the lights on her arm bands actually light up. Also, the Miku cosplayer told me that she reads my blog and actually discovered the wonders of Vocaloids on this very site. It brought a tear to my eye knowing that I helped to change the world for the better. Heh. (Wonder what she’ll be cosplaying as for Cosfest next week.)

Sadly, the organizers placed the cosplayers in the most poorly-lit corner of the entire hall, which, along with the fact that I had to depend on 400D’s internal flash, meant that I managed to produce some of the crappiest cosplay photos I’ve ever taken since my pre-DSLR days. I really ought to cough up 500 bucks for a Speedlite some day.

And on a closing note…

Everyone’s favourite anime company

If you were keeping up with my C73 coverage, you would know that I had the pleasure of meeting Arisa Mizuhara live on day three.

For those of you who are oblivious to who she is, Arisa Mizuhara (水原ありさ) is one of the greatest cosplayers ever. (Even Danny agrees with me.) I’ve been a fan of hers for some time and it was quite a fanboy moment to meet her in the flesh at Comiket.

Anyway, I recently contacted her and requested for an online interview. She gracefully agreed and answered twenty questions provided by me. The interview was actually conducted over a week ago, but it took me some time to get around to translating the responses. Read them after the break!

日本からのかたへ：この記事は水原ありささんとのネットインタビューでãã€‚

1.

簡単な自己紹介をお願いしまãã€‚
Please introduce yourself briefly.

コスプレネーム水原ありさでãã€‚本格的にコスプレをはじめて８年になりまãã€‚HPは「娘々亭」でãã€‚
My cosplay name is Arisa Mizuhara. I started to cosplay earnestly 8 years ago. My homepage is called Nyannyantei.

Some additional information from her profile page:

Height: 164cm
Birthday: 22nd November (Scorpio)
Bloodtype: AB
Favourite food: Chocolate, cookies, cheese
Favourite drinks: Coffee, orange juice
Favourite manga: Gintama, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Initial D
Favourite games: Biohazard (Resident Evil), Final Fantasy series, Kamaitachi no Yoru, and other mystery novel games
Cosplay history: I started in December 1999’s Winter Comiket. My first cosplay was Dejiko.

2.

どうしてコスプレに興味を持つようになりましたか？
How did you come to be interested in cosplay?

元々同人誌を作っていて即売会に参加していたのでããŒã€éš£ã®ã‚¹ãƒšãƒ¼ã‚¹ã§ãƒ‡ã‚¸ã‚­ãƒ£ãƒ©ãƒƒãƒˆã®ã‚³ã‚¹ãƒ—レをしているかたを見かけとっても可愛いと思って自分でデジコの衣装を作ってみたいなぁと思ったのがきっかけでした＾＾
I was making doujinshi and selling them at events. I once saw someone doing a Di Gi Charat cosplay in the booth next to mine and I thought it was cute. I wanted to try making a Dejiko costume myself too and that was how it started. ^^

3.

コスプレの魅力はいったい何だと思いまãã‹ï¼Ÿ
What do you think is the attraction of cosplay?

好きなキャラクターの服を作ったり着てみたり同じようなポーズでå†çœŸã‚’撮ったりしてキャラクターへの思いをコスプレで表現ãã‚‹ã®ãŒæ¥½ã—いのだと思いまãã€‚
I think it is fun to make and wear the cosplays of my favourite characters and take pictures while making the same poses as them. It’s an expression of my feelings for the characters.

4.

どうやってコスプレのキャラを決めるんでãã‹ï¼Ÿè‡ªåˆ†ãŒå¥½ããªã‚­ãƒ£ãƒ©ã«éå®šï¼Ÿ
How do you decide on what characters to cosplay as? Is it limited to only characters you like?

【好きな作品のキャラクター】のコスプレをしていまãã€‚キャラクターによってはどんなに好きでも自分のルックスや顔立ちでは着こなせない場合もあるのでその場合は友達やほかのレイヤーさんがかっこよく着こなしているå†çœŸã‚’見て萌えていまãï¼Šï¼¾ï¼¾ï¼Šï¼ˆéŠæˆ¯çŽ‹ã®æµ·é¦¬ç€¬äººã‚„銀魂の土方十四郎とかがそうでãï¼¾ï¼¾::）
I cosplay characters from works I like. But occasionally my appearance or features don’t match certain characters, no matter how much I like them. In those cases, I get my friends or other cosplayers to cosplay and then take pictures so that I can moé over them later. *^^* (Examples include Seto Kaiba from Yu-Gi-Oh! and Toshirou Hijikata from Gintama ^^::)

5.

自分が一番よかったと思うコスプレは？
Which is your own favourite cosplay?

遊戯王のブラックマジシャンガールとデジキャラットのデジコを作ったæ‚が一番印象に残っていまãã€‚どちらもかなり昔に作った衣装でããŒä»Šã§ã‚‚よく着ていまãï¼¾ï¼¾
Black Magician Girl from Yu-Gi-Oh and Dejiko from Di Gi Charat left the biggest impression when I made them. I made both costumes quite some time ago but I still often wear them.

6.

ãã‚‹å´ã¨è¦‹ã‚‹å´ã¨ã—て、どんなコスプレが好きでãã‹ï¼Ÿ
As a cosplayer and as a person watching others cosplay, what kind of cosplays do you like?

おのおのの作品に合ったポーズや着こなしで表現ãã‚‹ã“とがやはりãã‚‹å´ã¨ã—ても見ている側としても気持ちが良いかなと私は思いまãã€‚
I think no matter which side one is on, cosplay feels best when it brings out the essence of the character and the poses match the original source.

7.

今度やってみたいキャラは？
What characters to you want to try cosplaying as?

【うみねこのなく頃に】という作品のç»å ´ã‚­ãƒ£ãƒ©ã‚¯ã‚¿ãƒ¼ã®è¡£è£…を色々と製作したいでãã€‚（紗音・戦人・真里亞etc）同人ゲームの【東方】シリーズのキャラの衣装も製作中でãã€‚
I’m currently making a few costumes from Umineko no Naku Koro ni. (Shannon, Battler, Maria, etc.) I’m also making costumes from the Touhou doujin game series.

8.

尊敬ãã‚‹ãƒ¬ã‚¤ãƒ¤ãƒ¼ã¯ã‚りまãã‹ï¼Ÿ
Are there any cosplayers whom you admire?

数名いまããŒå†…緒でãï¼ˆç¬‘）この方たちの完成度が高く楽しそうにコスプレをしている姿を目の当たりにして私も楽しくコスプレを続けていきたいという思いが高まりました＾＾
There are a few, but it’s a secret. (lol) Watching them cosplay so perfectly and have fun inspired me to want to continue to enjoy cosplaying too. ^^

9.

コスプレは芸術だと思いまãã‹ï¼Ÿ
Do you think cosplay is an art?

衣装や小道具の再現度、全体的な雰囲気によって芸術性があると感じるæ‚が多々ありまãã€‚
Depending on reproduction level of the costume and the details, and the overall feeling it gives, cosplay does often contain artistic elements.

10.

初めてコスプレに挑戦したい人へのアドバイスは？
Some advice for people who want to give cosplaying a shot?

好きなキャラクターへの愛があれば誰でもããã«ã‚³ã‚¹ãƒ—レは楽しめるものだと思っていまãï¼¾ï¼¾ä¼¼åˆã†ä¼¼åˆã‚ãªã„とかは２の次な事なのでとにかく好きなキャラクターになりきってå†çœŸã‚’撮ってみてください!きっととても楽しい気持ちになれると思いまãâª
I think anybody can enjoy cosplaying as long as you put in the love for your favourite characters. ^^ Whether it fits or not is not as important as trying your best to become the character you like. I’m sure you’ll find that it’s a really enjoyable experience âª

11.

Ｃ７３のご感想を。
Your thoughts on C73.

実は当日風邪をひいていて体調がものãã”く悪かったのでぐだぐだでした＞＿＜色々な方とお会いできて楽しい一日でした＾＾
Actually, I caught a cold that day and I felt really sick. >_< But I met a lot of people and it turned out to be a fun day. ^^

Ops. Sorry for making you pose for a picture. -DM

12.

好きな音楽をæ•ãˆã¦ãã ã•ã„。
Please tell us the type of music you like.

頭文字Dで流れているような感じの疾走感のあるユーロビート系音楽が好きでãã€‚
I like fast eurobeat songs like the ones in Initial D.

13.

最後にやったゲームと観たアニメは？
What were the last games you played and the last anime you watched?

ゲームは１２／３１にçºå£²ã—た「うみねこのなく頃に第２話（原作：竜騎士０７）」をプレイしました。「ひぐらしのなく頃に」の原作者の最新作でããŒä»Šå›žã®ãŠè©±ã‚‚ものãã”く良いでã!アニメは色々見ていまããŒå…¨è©±é€šã—で「ガンスリンガーガール（１期）」と「さよなら絶望先生」をお正月中にまとめて観ましたâª
I played Umineko no Naku Koro ni Chapter 2 (Original work: Ryuukishi 07) that came out on 31st Dec. It’s a new work from the original creator of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni and the story this time is really good! I’ve been watching quite a few anime series recently. I finished the whole series of Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei and Gunslinger Girl (first season) on New Year’s Day âª

14.

「萌え」とは貴方にとってどういう意味を持つんでしょうか？
What does “moé” mean to you?

気になっているキャラや作品の話をしていたり考えたりしてドキドキやワクワクしてきたらその感情は「萌え」なのかなと思っていまãï¼ˆç¬‘）
If talking or thinking about a particular character and series makes me feel excited and my heart beat faster, then I think that is “moé”. (lol)

15.

最近、はまっているものはありまãã‹ï¼Ÿ
Are you really into anything recently?

お風呂の半身浴にはまっていまãã€‚漫画やアニメでは【銀魂（空知英秋）】・【ZONE00（九条キヨ）】などにはまっていまãã€‚
I’m currently addicted to half-body bathing. In terms of anime and manga, I’ve been enjoying Gintama (Hideaki Sorachi) and ZONE 00 (Kiyo Kujou), among others.

16.

理想の恋愛相手はどんな人でãã‹ï¼Ÿ
What’s your ideal relationship partner?

優しくて価値観の合う人がいいでãï¼¾ï¼¾
A kind person with compatible values. ^^

17.

家族や友達はコスプレについてどう思いまãã‹ï¼Ÿ
What do your family and friends think about cosplaying?

家族も友達もコスプレには理解がありまãï¼¾ï¼¾ç‰¹ã«ç§ã®çˆ¶ãŒã‚¢ãƒ‹ãƒ¡ã‚„可愛い感じのキャラクターグッズが好きなので理解がありまãï¼ˆç¬‘）
My family and friends are very understanding about cosplaying. ^^ Especially my father, because he likes anime and cute-looking character goods. (lol)

18.

外国のファンからメールをよくもらいまãã‹ï¼Ÿ
Do you often receive fan letters from overseas?

色々な国からメッセージやメールを頂いていまãã€‚とても嬉しく思っていまãï¼¾ï¼¾ã€‚私は日本でしかコスプレはしていませんがインターネットを通して色々な国でコスプレを見ていただけているのだなぁといつも感動していまãã€‚私は日本語しか出来ないのでお返事が返せずに申し訳ないのでããŒã€ãŠæ°—軽にメールなどをいただけるととても嬉しく思いまãï¼¾ï¼¾
I do receive e-mails from various countries. ^^ Although I have only been cosplaying in Japan, I always feel wonderful that people from so many different countries can view my cosplays on the internet. I can only speak Japanese, so I apologize for not being able to reply your e-mails, but I am really happy to receive them. ^^

19.

海外でコスプレしたことはありまãã‹ï¼Ÿãªã‹ã£ãŸã‚‰ã€ã—たいでãã‹ï¼Ÿ
Have you ever cosplayed overseas? If not, do you want to?

日本国内でしかコスプレをしたことがありません＞＿＜機会があったら他の国のコスプレイãƒãƒ³ãƒˆã«å‚加してみたいでãï¼¾ï¼¾
I have only cosplayed in Japan before. >_< If the opportunity arises, I will love to participate in cosplay events in other countries. ^^

Cosfest organizing committee: *hint hint* -DM

20.

最後に海外のファンたちへ一言をお願いしまãã€‚
Please leave a message for your overseas fans.

日本のアニメーションやコスプレをがこれだけ多くの海外のかたに興味を持って見ていただけていることをとても嬉しく思っていまãï¼¾ï¼¾ç§ã¯ã‚¢ãƒ‹ãƒ¡ã‚„コスプレが好きな素人でããŒã“れからも楽しく大好きなコスプレをしていきまãã®ã§ãŠæ°—軽にHPなどに遊びにきてください＾＾
I’m very happy to know that there are so many overseas fans who are interested in Japanese animation and cosplay. ^^ I’m still a novice at anime and cosplay, but I will continue to have fun cosplaying, so please feel free to drop by homepage anytime. ^^

Arisa-san, you’re being too humble… -DM

And that concludes one of the few rare posts that I actually went through the trouble of producing actual content for. I hope you enjoyed it, and do drop by Arisa’s booth if you happen to be at Comiket in the near future. :)

All pictures in this post are reproduced from Nyanyantei with permission.

I will be posting a more detailed report only after I return from Japan, mainly because I don’t have a lot of photos yet and I will only be able to take more tomorrow. (Photography is technically prohibited in all areas except the designated cosplay zone.)

Toyosu (豊洲) Station on the Yurikamome Line.

Comiket is held at the Tokyo International Exhibition Center, more commonly known as the Big Sight, or “that pyramid thing”. The nearest train station is Kokusai-tenjij-seimon (国際展示場正門) on the Yurikamome monorail that goes around Odaiba.

On the night before Comiket Day 1, we took the last train to Ariake to camp overnight. According to various online sources, overnight queuing for Comiket is prohibited by the organizers. From Wikipedia:

Lining up for hours before the convention is forbidden, as pre-convention “parties” have drawn complaints from local residents in previous years.

We found out that this is all a huge lie perpetuated to fool the naive. By the time we arrived at Ariake, the queue had already reached there, stretching about 500m from the steps leading up to the Big Sight.

It was frigging cold. The temperature was close to zero, it was windy and on top of that it started to rain too. Many people took shelter in the nearby Family Mart and those guys probably make a ton of money selling gloves and hot food stuff.

People arriving by cars and taxis (after the last train)

Tents set up by the police for logistics

There were already hundreds, if not thousands, of people queuing up at 1am in the morning. The event officially starts at 10am.

After a long wait, the organizers slowly directed the queue onto the clear elevated area in front of the trademark inverted pyramid. This formed the front of the main line for the regular participants.

20-minute queues to buy things from Family Mart or visit the washroom

The people at the start of the queue came well-prepared

This is madness

That’s LianYL standing there in white

It rained through the night

I managed to get some sleep (about 2-3 hours) in a sheltered area under the inverted pyramid. We were not prepared for this at all and didn’t bring any foldable stools or picnic sheets, so I made do with a 500-yen poncho from 7-Eleven. Did I mention that it was fricking cold and the ground was all wet?

The initial rush is crazy, especially for the commercial booths. How crazy? Let’s just say that if you happen to drop your camera, you’ll never see it again.

The main queue is divided into two separate queues, one for the doujinshi halls and one for the cosplay area and the commercial hall. The doujinshi queue is then split into three queues, one for West Halls, one for East Halls 1-3 and one for East Halls 4-6.

Comiket can be basically summed up as one huge queuing event. Popular commercial booths, such as Key and Type-Moon, can stretch to over 3-hours long.

The Japanese have basically perfected the art of queue management. Instead of forming long and chaotic queues inside the convention area, blocking everyone’s paths and encouraging queue-cutting, the queues are divided into more manageable segments. Only the front-most segment queues in front of the booth itself. The rest queue outside, where there are additional signboards to indicate where the end of the queue is and what the queue is for. One (or more) staff member will regularly come to bring the first ten or so people in the queue outside to join the small queue inside the convention hall. Popular booths have external queues that are so long that they have to be subdivided into even smaller mini queues.

This is why you’ll often see signs that tell you that it’s not the end of the line, even though it looks like one. Kyo-ani’s line actually stretched one entire round around the commercial booth. Type-Moon and a few other popular studios have special queuing zones in a parking lot nearby.

Popular doujinshi groups can be almost just as bad. I queued two hours for Hiro Suzuhira’s latest releases (pictures when I get home and finish unpacking). I also queued one hour for ５年目の放課後, the artist who drew the blushing Haruhi on my old banner, only to have stocks run out with just seven people left in the queue in front of me. :(

I took a few cosplay shots today, but it started to rain (again) and the cosplayers all left. It’s crazy what these girls wear in near-zero temperature…

Comiket has over half a million participants in three days. I estimate that about 5% of them (including circle participants and event organizers) cosplay while they are there. That’s a lot of cosplayers to take pictures of, and not much time to do so due to all the queuing that needs to be done.

Anyway, I should have some better pictures to show for my next Comiket post. I’m getting a press pass tomorrow that allows me to take pictures anywhere (and enter the venue early via a special express queue to boot). I don’t have to try to hide my DSLR anymore! Yay!

Pictured above is the best cosplay of the whole event, according to me. Rei does exist in real-life.

I arrived at the Expo quite late and didn’t stay for very long, but I still had to pay the $12 entrance fee. I really should have applied for the media pass, but I wasn’t sure if I was going and also I’m lazy.

I did get even by paying them with a $5 Brunei note which is actually legal tender in Singapore due to the fixed one-one exchange rate, but the plan backfired on me because I had to wait while they confirm the validity of the note.

Costumes I liked

First picture of the day

How long did it take?

Nice ass. o_o

Gives off the right vibes

Best costume if not for Rei

It’s really Rei

Random stuff

Who’s that lurking at the back?

It’s Bj0rn the worm!

Backlash is a bitch

“In the name of the Moon, I shall punish you!”

I want one :(

Dangerous bunch

The real GN-004

“I thought you were supposed to be Mikuru?” “No, you!”

Too many

Maybe next year some kind-hearted person will give me a media pass. *hint hint*

You can see the rest of my pictures in my gallery as usual. I didn’t take a lot of pictures because I was there for less than two hours.

I’m using Canon EOS 400D with a Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 lens. As you can see from some of the Dynames cosplay pictures (taken with the internal flash), I really need a Speedlite.

You can contact me if you want the original 10-megapixel JPGs. I distribute them under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0 License.

BEST COSPLAY THIS YEAR

Okay, with that out of the way, continue reading for the rest of the cosplay pictures.

And yes I was wearing my ROD T-shirt on Sunday.

Congrats to those who spotted me. You won! There’s no prize, though.

Anyway, there are still a lot more pictures that are not included above. You can see them all in the gallery:
Day 1 Gallery
Day 2 Gallery

Now I shall go take a rest… Feel free to contact me to request for the original pictures (10 megapixel JPEG).

Head to the gallery for more cosplay pictures from the event (including the SOS-dan group). Also, a whole bunch of Danny Choos and a red balloon! Weee.