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?