MY THOUGHTS ABOUT: Anime Festival Asia 2023
My thoughts on attending the biggest anime convention in Asia
Hey, it’s Noah here.
Wow, I didn’t touch this series in a very VERY long time. The last time I posted MTA was 30 May last year, when I wrote about how disgusted I felt about knowing a horror Pooh movie exists.
This time, I’m gonna talk about something completely different from what I usually write about. No movie trailers, no poster reaction, no comparison between two movies. Not much to do with the movie industry. It’s more on anime today. It’s…
Anime Festival Asia.
For those of you who don’t really know what Anime Festival Asia is, it’s an anime convention held in Southeast Asia countries, with its main and core one held in Singapore. That’s right, that’s where I currently reside in.
AFA (shortened term) started back in 2008, and has been ongoing for fifteen years. FIFTEEN YEARS. THAT’S A DECADE AND A HALF. It’s pretty astonishing and amazing to see how long this event has been going on for.
Anyways, returning to the topic, the purpose of AFA is to untie anime fans together. They can be from Singapore, and even foreigners and permanent residents who reside in Singapore too. Matter of fact, anyone and everyone can come here. Heck, I’ve seen countless people from overseas travel here just to attend this convention. AFA happens once a year, three days in a row, usually Friday to Sunday, and it is held in Suntec Convention Centre most of the years.
You could say this is kinda like the Comiket of Singapore. The difference between the two of them is that AFA is traditionally held over a weekend in late November to early December. Whereas Comiket happens only two times a year; one in August, and one in December. AFA generally consists of anime, while Comiket is specialized in doujinshi.
For AFA, there’s usually a slew of guest performers and celebrities as special guests, on top of having renowned cosplayers. Attendees could come in their normal outfit or their cosplays, or whatever you desire. There’s someone who went in a banana suit. A BANANA SUIT.
Before I get into writing about my experience this year, I just wanna say a few things. Number one, I didn’t put this in THE REVIEWS. Now, the reason is that I don’t consider this a review. I’m telling my personal recount and how I felt about the event as a whole, not reviewing the event. Besides, THE REVIEWS focuses on games and movies, and AFA belong to none of those.
Second point is why I didn’t post this straight after AFA or around that time. I wanted to collect all my thoughts first before writing it down.
With all that said, let’s get to it!
Pre-Event
So, I did the unthinkable. I bought ALL 3 days of AFA, something I never did before. Well, here’s the thought process of my brain.
I had originally planned to only attend on Saturday, 25 November. It was a day I was free, and I had won the Sumire Uesaka & SunSunSun Meet-and-Greet session.
Besides, when I went for AFA last year, it was also only for one day. National service has indeed kept me busy. My temptation for buying Friday came in when I was talking to an online friend about AFA, who was also coincidentally a Singaporean.
He told me he bought Friday tickets because he wanted to buy the merchandise without needing to fear that it would be gone. That’s when it hit me. In last year’s AFA, I didn’t manage to buy my favorite cosplayer’s, Ely, cosplay book because it was sold out. The main reason why it was sold out was because I went on the second day, whereas most people bought it on the first day.
It is like the phrase ‘early bird catches the worm’. If you’re not there on the first day to snatch the items you want, you might be on the losing end as the stock might be finished on the next day itself. All you can do by then is just cry you weren’t able to get the stuff you love.
For me, I am determined to get that cosplay book, and she was selling it in this year’s AFA. Plus, I know BanG Dream acrylic stands can sell pretty fast too, especially Arisa and Kasumi ones since they’re the most loved ones of the bunch.
On a Friday, the crowd would be lesser too. The thing that sealed the deal was that I had a leave on that day itself too, which was totally unplanned. I decided to take a 24 November leave a few months back because I had to book all my leaves beforehand, and I didn’t really have much time to consider.
I wanted the cosplay book and the other merchandise I wanted. The Friday crowd is never as bad as the weekend crowds. I am off-duty on that day too. With all the stars aligned, I bought the Friday ticket.
You’d be asking me then, “Noah, if you bought the Friday and Saturday ticket, where did the Sunday come from?” If everything last year was the same as this year, that would’ve been the case. Unfortunately, Bushiroad Asia came to Singapore, and my wallet loves to have holes.
On Sunday, there is a BanG Dream talk by four of the voice actresses, which I was interested to see. Additionally, buying thirty dollars each worth of merchandise grants you a number ticket, which in turn lets you have a chance to get an autograph from the four voice actresses, with 60 people getting chosen for each VA. The more money you spend, the more tickets you get, and thus there is a higher chance to strike lottery.
Two of them, namely Aina Aiba and Amane Shindo, are the ones I want. So, there you go. I bought a Sunday ticket too. I’ll elaborate on this later, and let you, the readers, know the outcome later. Bait and hook, ain’t it?
Let’s get to the wristband, my entry to the convention. You can collect the wristbands either before AFA, or on any of the three days itself. For me, I asked help from my friend to help me collect, so I got that part settled. Here’s a pic to make it clearer.
Ticket prices. I’m sure those who attended a lot of AFAs surely know how the prices of the tickets have increased, and it’s not really in a small sum. I’m going to go on a little long rant here, don’t mind me.
In 2008, AFA’s first year, a ticket costs $5 SGD while buying for both days costs $8 SGD. Seems pretty cheap, doesn’t it?
This is 5 years later, in 2013.
An exhibition ticket is 10 bucks, twice of what it was in 2008. Notice how they separated the tiers now? There’s exhibition, and exhibition + stage. The Stage consists of more stuff, of course, and it costs 20 bucks.
Take this time to digest the prices. 2008 is 5 dollars for everything (exhibition + stage), 2013 is 10 dollars for exhibition, and 20 bucks for everything. I’ll remind you at every step of this, because I want you to see the difference in prices.
Remember all of that in your mind already? Great. Now, here’s 2018 prices.
THEY MADE IT MORE EXPENSIVE AGAIN! This time, the exhibition ticket and the exhibition + stage ticket costs 5 dollars more each! They think because so many people attend this convention, they can up the prices however much they want and people will still buy it! Well, I mean that’s true, I can’t lie, but still, it’s pretty outrageous to charge more and more for one ticket.
If I could think of a reason for its rising costs, it’s probably because they invited more popular singers over the years. Not just that, but the organizers invited more celebrities for day stage too. I guess it is a bit reasonable, but man this isn’t that good either. Charging such a high price for a ticket with a simple function ain’t something to be proud of. And it’s not like they even paid my meals in there or give me discounts on merchandise. None of that, so I don’t see why they should charge it that high.
Let’s go through the ticket prices again.
2008: $5 per ticket
2013: $10 (exhibition), $20 (exhibition+stage)
2018: $15 (exhibition), $25 (exhibition+stage)
Now, I’ll move to 2022 first. After all, last year was the first year I’ve ever attended the AFA convention, so I definitely remember the price I bought the ticket for. For those of you who didn’t go AFA last year, I want you to take a guess on the price of the ticket. How much do you think it increased by? I’mma tell you, right here and now.
Bottom two rows. 21 bucks for exhibition, and 32 bucks for exhibition + stage. Damn, a 6 and 7 dollar increase respectively. It’s actually insane. At this point, the organizers might as well just take all my money. If I’m doing the same thing every goddamn year, but I have to pay more each time I come back, I would be pretty tilted.
But you want to know what’s more insane than price increases? MORE PRICE INCREASES.
Need I speak more? Exhibition is close to 30 bucks, and exhibition + stage is almost 40. That is EXCLUDING BOOKING FEES. We go from $5 per ticket, to 30 and 40 dollars for 2 SEPARATE TICKETS! My god, this is daylight robbery.
Okay, enough about me ranting about the prices. Let’s actually get to my 3-day experience.
Day 1
I woke up at 6 in the morning, eat my breakfast, and then shower and get ready to go to Suntec Convention Centre. This is my early morning routine for all three days of AFA. No different on any of the dats.
I woke up early because I was scared of the long ass queue. Why? Because the queue lines at AFA last year weren’t what I call acceptable at all. I came in at around 10am, when AFA opens its doors for the day, and the queue was all the way from outside the Level 4 halls to Level 3’s hallway. Oh boy, you thought that’s the end of it. There was a good 4 U-turns on the lines in the hallway, and I’m at the very end, about to create a 5th one. I haven’t even counted those at the 4th level waiting outside the halls.
The hallway, if you wanna know how long it is, is about 100–125 people PER LINE. So, there were approximately FIVE HUNDRED PEOPLE IN FRONT OF ME, NOT EVEN TAKING INTO ACCOUNT THOSE THAT ARE ON THE FOURTH FLOOR. That was not a good feeling. If my friend wasn’t at the fourth floor, I would’ve taken maybe a good two hours to enter, and probably came home with lesser merchandise.
That’s why this year, I decided to come way earlier than the opening time of the convention. I wanted to beat the queue, and get what i want without fearing it would run out of stock. Reaching Suntec Convention Centre early means I’ll be at the front of the queue line, which would make me one of the first few to enter the halls. And so I was, the first few in the queue lines. It felt satisfying, to say the least.
That was also when I realized there was the VIP queue. My hopes of being the first few to get into the halls were dashed faster than the speed of lightning. However, I thought it wouldn’t be that bad. There were only a few of them. I don’t think the merchandise could sell out that fast because of them too, right? What could go wrong?
Here’s an extra reason why I bought all three days of AFA too. Ely was coming on all three days, and she will sign the things I buy. There’s even an opportunity to take chekis and selfies with her. I definitely wanted that too. Simp, fanboy, call me whatever you want. I like her cosplays a ton.
There was good news and bad news. Good news, the merchandise didn’t sell out that fast. Mainly because I was pretty early (as early as 10.25am) when I got in, and there’s no way something would have been sold out in an hour, knowing AFA and the stock vendors would bring for this big event.
Bad news though. The security bag check on the 3rd floor on Friday is fucking trash. It was ass, for my line at least. I don’t know if my security personnel was not doing her job well or the people in front of me couldn’t even listen to instructions, but it delayed me a bit. Even people who came later than me in the other lines OVERTOOK ME AND GOT INTO THE HALLS FIRST. That made me really pissed. To top it off, I was holding my pee. It was a horrible bag check experience. Even last year’s bag check isn’t that bad, although it’s right outside the halls for some reason.
When I got into the halls, I straight up ran to the cosplayer’s booth, only to find THERE WAS ALREADY A QUEUE. HOW THE FUCK ON EARTH DID THAT EVEN HAPPEN EVEN WHEN I’M ONE OF THE FIRST FEW?!
This is where the VIP people and the security bag check come into play. The VIP people can queue outside the halls earlier than us, and they are truly the first few people to get into the halls. Remember when I said my bag check line personnel was ass even people that came later than me got in first? Turns out, they’re also here for the cosplayer. Cool shit.
I had to queue AGAIN for a good ninety minutes before I was able to buy Ely’s merch and take pictures with her. She also talked to me a little, which was pretty nice.
Afterwards, I went to buy my lunch. I had braised pork rice. It costed 6 bucks, but surprisingly, it tasted delicious. Food can be a bit overpriced, but as long as it’s fantastic, I can just wave it off.
(I know you can’t see the food from here, just pretend it’s braised pork rice)
After that, I got myself an Arisa acrylic stand, and then I went to discover what was in this convention centre. The stalls were pretty okay, in my opinion. Nothing that stands out too much. It’s the same few things they sold last year too, like figurines, Ichiban Kujis, and anime-related stuff like files and keychains.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to explore much because my cousin, who tagged along with me, was pretty tired of walking. Oh well.
Day 2
The day I was pretty excited for. My favorite voice actress, Sumire Uesaka (a.k.a. Sumipe), is taking the day stage today alongside author SunSunSun to talk about Roshidere, a light novel that’s turning into an anime and will air next April. I will also be attending their meet-and-greet session, get a signature from both of them, and then get a group photo. Pretty exciting day.
The queue line at the security bag check is surprisingly better. I got in way earlier than the previous day, but the cosplayer’s line just got LONGER. Because it’s the weekend, there were more people in the VIP queue. That one, I understand. But this next point, I think it’s pretty unreasonable.
So, while I was queueing for Ely’s booth, some people just inserted themselves in front of me. You wanna know why they cut the queue? Because one of their friends somehow end up in front of me, and apparently that gave them the right to cut my queue. THAT’S FUCKING BULLSHIT. GOOD JOB BEING A PIECE OF SHIT, YOU ASSHOLES. Because of you idiots, now I have to wait longer. I didn’t even ask for this.
To make matters worse, because they decide to jump queue, they were able to get the things I wanted earlier. For instance, I wanted to get a A5 photo of the cosplayer in Houshou Marine cosplay, but of course because these motherfuckers cut my queue, they got it and I couldn’t. To those people, fuck you.
You think you have the privilege of getting to the front because your friend is there. If others were to do the same thing to you, you would’ve just flipped the whole room upside down and talked shit about those people. Oh, but if you do it to others, it’s fine because it doesn’t affect you, right? You entitled fucks, RESPECT THE GODDAMN QUEUE AND GET TO THE BACK OF THE LINE!
Guess how long I took to get to the front this time? One hour and forty five minutes. Damn. By the time I was done with the cosplayer session, I only had like an hour left to eat lunch and get to the day stage. I took instant noodles since it was very easy to make it, combined with an apple + carrot juice.
Luckily, I was able to make it to the day stage on time. I did enjoy the Roshidere talk, and SunSunSun is pretty comedic, not gonna lie. Seeing Sumipe in person for the first time in my life felt so surreal. You know how people gush and scream when they see their favorite celebrities? I’m like them, except I don’t scream like a crazy person. Instead, I had a big smile on my face like a dumbass.
After that, I had the meet-and-greet session with Sumipe and SunSunSun. I didn’t speak much because I was pretty shy and I didn’t know much Japanese, but she said my Chinese name (which can also be read in Japanese) is cool. WE STAY WINNIN, BOIIS.
This day was pretty good. I enjoyed myself quite a lot.
Day 3
The queue was way shorter than the previous two days, somehow, even though I came a bit later than the first two days. I got in the earliest too, but the queue for the cosplayer…is so long. Longer than the other two days.
That meant that the VIP queue had more people on the last day, and honestly, I think that’s fine. The concert lineup on Sunday is pretty lit. I might’ve considered it if I have more money.
Anyways, guess what? MORE PEOPLE CUT MY QUEUE AGAIN. That’s just great, am I right? Oh, you will never believe how long I waited this time.
TWO WHOLE HOURS. Yeah, you didn’t see that wrong. THAT’S A GOOD HUNDRED AND TWENTY MINUTES. Even Ely found it shocking when I told her about it. Also, because of the long waiting time, I missed the Bandori talk. Pretty sad, but I heard from others it was quite simple and boring, so I guess it wasn’t that bad to miss it.
Other than that, I met some of my online friends in real life. Remember the Singaporean friend I mentioned earlier? Yeah, I met up with him and another person, who was in the Popicord server. We had a good time hanging out with each other.
I finally had the time too to actually walk around the halls and see every single store. I felt AFA last year had more activity going on than this year. Perhaps it was because last year was the first time AFA was held after the coronavirus. Last year, AFA was so packed with people I felt like I was being suffocated alive, especially at the food corner. This year wasn’t too bad. At least I was able to breathe.
The other stalls I visited included those in the Creator’s Hub, the other cosplayers booths, and those selling some art pieces. Crunchyroll, the Akiba Stage, and even…Rurusama’s booth. Don’t even get me started on those people queueing up for Biya’s products. Those who bought the file, god damn, you horny people. Also, the Hoyoverse booth. That shit was so full of people I couldn’t even get in. The one booth I actually wanted to see, I couldn’t, because I needed a piece of paper (obtained from the Hoyoverse people) to get in, and only for a period of time, so screw that stall.
Ah yes, to end off the third and last day, I’m about to tell you about the Bandori seiyuus’ autograph ballot. I bought sixty bucks worth of merchandise, thus I got two tickets. Nonetheless, I won nothing. Kinda expected, considering I used up my luck to win the Sumipe M&G…TWICE.
Yeah, I didn’t tell you that at the beginning, did I? I got that email twice, meaning I was able to buy the M&G tickets twice. You see, I entered the ballot with three emails. Somehow, my luck was off the charts I won not one, but TWO chances to buy the tickets. This kind of luck has literally never happened to me before. Despite that, I just bought one in the end, and the other one went into general sales.
Back to Day 3, the Bushiroad store actually surprised me. I thought Arisa acrylic stands are well-sought after, thus I bought it on the first day. Guess what? They were still available on the last day, along with the Kasumi, Tae, and Rimi ones. The sold out ones were…Saaya’s. Damn, I never expected that, because Saaya isn’t usually the first character from PoPiPa that people would buy merchandise of. Surprising, but I guess there’s a first time for everything.
MyGO!!!!! merchandise is completely sold out. Unbelievable, but well-deserved. MyGO is such a good band with the five members all good in their own ways. Who wouldn’t like them? Fun fact, I asked the Singaporean friend to help me get the last Anon acrylic stand. I never expected it to sell out that fast, though. Fortunately, he was there to help me buy the last copy, and I was so thankful. Anon best MyGO girl.
That concludes the three consecutive days of AFA. Also, here’s a picture of a March 7th car I found on my way to the train station.
Highlights
Definitely, there are some things from this year’s AFA that I wholeheartedly liked.
Bushiroad Expo
I was quite impressed when Bushiroad Expo announced they’re coming over to Singapore. From what I had seen in other people’s posts, Bushiroad Expo in other countries looked really cool. Not only did they have nice-looking signed Weiss Schwarz cards, they had a boxing ring for the wrestlers, the live costumes for Roselia and MyGO, and screened the first three episodes of the goated Bandori anime It’s MyGO. They even have a playing area for the Weiss Schwarz competition. You can’t tell me that doesn’t sound grand and awesome.
The costumes looked really detailed and delicate, by the way. Anon and Rinko, best girls.
Bushiroad Expo certainly made AFA more interesting because of its various activities happening in it. From the wrestling matches, to the card games competitions, to the POPY and ROSE tryouts. Kidani Takaaki even attended AFA, but it’s a shame I didn’t see him.
Cosplayer Meet-up
For all three days, I was able to meet Ely and take pictures with her, as well as get her merch signed by her. It was a great opportunity to converse with her too. Compared to asking her to sign just one polaroid last year because most of her stuff were sold out (I still feel embarrassed asking her to sign one small thing ‘til this day), I had a lot more for her to sign this year to make it up for last year. A cosplay photobook (finally), some polaroids, chekis, and A5 photos.
Sumipe Meet and Greet
This is definitely the BIGGEST highlight of AFA this year. The fact my favorite voice actress said my Chinese name is cool got me over cloud nine, feeling like a really happy man. I will never ever forget that EVER, in my life. E V E R. Winning this ballot twice too made it more memorable to me too, as I never won a single ballot before this. Lady Luck finally smiled upon me during this period. Thank you, fate, for bringing me this opportunity to see Sumipe and receive compliments from her.
Final Thoughts
If there’s one thing I’ve learnt about myself though, it’s that waking up at 6AM every morning on a rest day is just not my life. Thank goodness it was only for these three days.
Maybe if the concert had singers I listened more to, I would’ve considered buying the ticket for it. Apparently, buying the concert ticket is considered a VIP ticket, so that’s something to take note if I were to do this three-day AFA thing again.
This year’s AFA may be a bit boring in terms of the stalls in the main hall, but I wouldn’t say I didn’t have fun during these three days. From meeting my favorite cosplayer and voice actress, to meeting up with friends, and getting the merchandise I like, it felt really eventful.
I kinda enjoyed attending this convention.
To end off this episode of MY THOUGHTS ABOUT, here’s a picture of Pom-Pom.
