Furu Anime Panikku

Since Day 2 wasn’t much different from Day 1 except for the concert and some other stage events, there wasn’t much of a reason to arrive early today. In fact, there wasn’t much of a reason to come, besides May’n’s Live.

Before I begin on the nitty-gritty details of today’s highlights, here’s my favourite cosplayer of the day. If only I had requested for her to pose with the revolver.

She has the Kino feel

I was actually planning to arrive in time for the onstage cosplay competition, but I soon gave up on trying to take any photos, what more watch it. The crowd at the stage area was rather insane, so I only lingered around for the first 3 performances before moving on. The Ultraman vs Monster performance was really cool though. It was just like one of those professional performances for kid events.

Some time during the cosplay competition, Satsugai began playing. The first thing that came to mind was a Krauser II cosplayer. Many DMC fans, including me, rushed to the stage area in hope of getting a surprise. However, it turned out to be a sore disappointment, with only a Sephiroth on stage. I was really hoping for a Krauser-sama, especially since I met a really awesome one in Japan last month.

Just when I thought that the only highlight of the day would be the concert, I was wrong. There was a screening of Genius Party Beyond’s Dimension Bomb, directed by Morimoto Kouji, and I absolutely enjoyed every single moment of the video. The animation and music was awesome, although I didn’t get the meaning behind Dimension Bomb.

Following the video was a short Q&A session with Morimoto. 0ne was on stage too, and he started off with some the questions, followed by some questions from the audience. It was only after the answers to the various questions when I was finally enlightened about what the whole abstract storytelling of the animation was all about. Come to think of it, the stuff behind it is profound. Thumbs up to such a work of brilliance.

The short event was concluded with 0ne presenting a copy of the Pepper Project as a token of appreciation to Morimoto-san. While Morimoto was making his way down the stage and into the guest holding area, he gladly and willingly signed his autograph for some fans’, and even when he had to head off for a while, he told the remaining few to wait for his return. I’m sure that’s the kind of response all fans would like to receive. Just for that alone, he has my utmost respect.

The rest of the time in between the animation screening and the concert was all filler, nothing that anyone would be mildly interested in. Something to note, however, would be the band named Quis, which performed before May’N’s stage appearance. The singer had pretty decent vocals, but the other band members still have a long way to go. Often, the instrumentals would go out of tune. Also, they should perform songs that are less mainstream.

And now, the event that everyone has been waiting for. MAY’N'S LIVE! Sadly, there will be no images of her concert here, since I didn’t want to get into any trouble with Security. Imagine getting blacklisted from future AFAs. That would suck.

Anyway, for almost everyone except those who stayed back for the rehearsal, this was the first live May’n live experience. From the moment she stepped onto the stage, the crowd went high. The VIP area had a horde of hyperactive well-coordinated fanboys armed with dangerous light sticks. The rest of the crowd was mostly clapping along with the songs.

May’n’s vocals had me impressed thoroughly. I’ve heard about how she was so much better singing live, but it was only until today when I really understood what I was told. During Diamond Crevasse, my favourite song by her, I just stood there dumbfounded. The live version had much more soul within it than I had imagined.

May’N and her manager, whom everyone loves

It was a pity that only 7 songs were sung. The live ended and it was time for the 100 excited fan boys and girls to get an autograph and handshake from their idol. That was went people started feeling upset about the handshake session. Sure, they did get their handshake and autograph. The only problem was that the autograph was signed beforehand, on a dull white canvas board. This meant no autographs on fancy CD booklets or postcards. Rage could be sensed in the atmosphere.

There was this really hilarious moment during the autograph session. Darkmirage was on stage, about to get his handshake, when he was introduced to May’n and her manager as the person who translated the interview. Darkmirage appeared a little confused as the manager began bowing to thank him. At that precise moment, LianYL shouted out “DM I LOVE YOU!”. Hilarity ensures.

In conclusion to the first AFA experience, besides a couple of improvements in the event management methods and more guests and goodies to be included, I think that it was a really enjoyable 2 days I’ve spent. I’m definitely looking forward to AFA09, hopefully.