Come 21st and 22nd November 2009, Anime Festival Asia 09 will take place in Singapore at the Suntec City Convention Hall. While it’s still a 2 month wait till then, the organisers behind the eagerly awaited event held a press conference today. Finally, something to soothe our throbbing curious hearts!
On the day before AFA09 begins, the Animation Asia Conference 2009 will be held. The event aims to share with content creators 3 main things; Create, Manage and Engage.
As for the 2 official AFA09 days, the following are the main highlights of the upcoming AFA09:
Besides May’n and Mizuki Ichirou coming back for yet another performance at the AFA, there will be 2 more new guests to grace the stage, namely Nakagawa Shoko (Otaku idol/blogger) and Fukuyama Yoshiki (Jam Project Member, vocals for Macross 7’s Nekki Basara’s songs).
I’m looking forward to Fukuyama Yoshiki’s performance as some guitar action will be a nice change from the usual singing. My preferences tend to fall towards artistes who play an instrument while singing, as opposed to just singing. I do hope that we get to see a live band playing while the artiste performs. That would totally heighten the tension of the live performances to the next level.
Regional Cosplay Championships
The top cosplay team from each South-East Asia country will be sponsored by AFA09 to compete on AFA09’s stage with their performances. The judges will include distinguished guests from Japan. I guess this will be a step closer to the World Cosplay Championship’s scale?
Most people should be familiar with the name Danny Choo by now. He’ll be present with his Mirai merchandise. I’m sure there are people out there eagerly looking forward to the Mirai-chan figma.
7 maids will be present at the maid cafe to soothe weary souls. Apparently, each will have her own distinct character.
For the kiddos, Bandai will dedicate an area just for them, with activities such as Hands-on interactive sessions on how to make sushi and workshops on model kit assembling. Also, Bandai will be launching products such as Power Rangers, Harumika and the Battle Spirits trading card game.
Gundam lovers will enjoy the Gundam 30th Anniversary celebration, BAKUC and the Bandai World Gundam Competition.
There are still around 2 months till the actual event, so additional information with regards to the AFA09 highlights will be released as time passes. Who knows, maybe it’ll be more artistes gracing the stage? What surprises will there be? We’ll just have to wait to find out. Meanwhile, I’m really looking forward to the other guests for the animation and design segment.
Well then, until further release of AFA09 information.
I doubt there’ll be more artistes for Anisong since doubling the number of concerts is already a bit much.
Too many performances and they’ll have to dedicate a single day for Anisong in the future.