Just got back from Singapore over the weekend. It’s been a blast over at the AFAX. This year’s event is definitely bigger than the last with many more cosplayers around this time. The crowd is just simply overwhelming and everywhere was just swarming with visitors and photographers snapping away at some of the really impressive cosplays. I’m still going through the thousands of photos that I’ve taken and hope to post them up shortly along with my experiences at this year’s AFA, be sure to check back soon ^_^.

Had a great time at Mikuni Shimokawa’s Asia Lovers “Replay” Concert Tour at the St James Power Station, Singapore. The concert was a blast with her belting out classic anime theme songs hits such as Sore Ga Ai Deshou(FMP), Tomorrow(FMP), Minami Kaze (FMP), Alone (Saiyuki) and covers from animes such as Hare Hare Yukai (Haruhi), Ai Oboeta Imasuka(Macross), Platinum(Cardcaptor Sakura) and also from her latest single from the anime Fairy Tail.

The fans went wild when she returned for her encore performance with the ever popular Evangelion theme song, Zankoku na Tenshi no Tēze (A Cruel Angel’s Thesis). After the concert, we were treated to a handshaking and autograph session with Mikuni herself. I was actually a little surprised by the rather low turn out despite having over a thousand fans on the official Facebook page but let’s hope despite these minor setbacks the organizers will continue to bring in more Anisong artists to this region ! View the rest of the gallery here !

Mikuni Shimokawa ASIAN LOVERS TOUR 22 August 2010 Gallery

Soundtrack – Replay! Mikuni Shimokawa Seishun Anison Cover III [CD+DVD] (Mikuni Shimokawa) at Play-Asia.com
Soundtrack – Kimi Ga Irukara [CD+DVD] (Mikuni Shimokawa) at Play-Asia.com

It’s back ! The Anime Festival Asia 2010 will be held on the 13 and 14th November 2010 at the Suntec City Convention and Exhibition Hall, Singapore. No other details have been released so far but rest assured that I will be updating this space as soon as new information emerges. Hope to see you folks there !

Source
Anime Festival Asia 2010 Facebook Page
Anime Festival Asia 2010 Official Website

Fans of Mikuni Shimokawa of the Full Metal Panic anime theme songs will be delighted to know that she will be performing the last leg of her Asian Lovers Tour 2010 in Singapore this August ! From her official press release:

Catch Mikuni Shimokawa LIVE in her first show ever in Singapore! Best known as the singer of the theme song for “Full Metal Panic” animation series, she is a top Japan celebrity popular across Asia. Don’t miss her performance in Singapore with her full band from Japan! Make a date with Mikuni Shimokawa this August in Movida, St James Power Station.

Details:
After her previous successful concerts and tour to Asian countries like China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, Mikuni Shimokawa will be hitting Singapore next on 22nd August for her ASIAN LOVERS Tour 2010 “Replay”.

She is well known throughout Asia for her ever popular songs used in the “Full Metal Panic” animation series and her successful singing career. She is not only a singer and songwriter, but also a regular radio personality hosting 4 talk shows which has been receiving hot support from her fans.

Ever since her first overseas performance in Taiwan 2007 which attracted over more than 600 fans, her fanbase outside of Japan has been growing fast. Since then she has been performing live frequently in Asian countries like Korea, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau and more.

Due to her popularity her album is often released not only in Japan, but also in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan on the same date concurrently. In 2009, her album “Tsubasa- Very Best Mikuni Shimokawa” peaked at the top 3 best sales releases for Japanese and Korean music in Hong Kong which further proves her singing abilities and popularity.

See and experience her first LIVE concert in Singapore with her band in Mikuni Shimokawa ASIAN LOVERS Tour 2010 “Replay” happening at Movida, St James Power Station.

Ticket comes with a drink coupon and Mikuni Shimokawa will personally have a hand-shake session with all her fans after the concert.

22nd August 2010 (Sun) Mikuni Shimokawa ASIAN LOVERS Tour 2010 “Replay” in Singapore (With “Band” Version)

Door opens at 5:30pm, Concert Starts at 6pm
*At the end of the concert, there will be handshaking session with all of the fans
Venue: Movida, St James Power Station
Venue’s website: St James Holdings Ltd

Ticket prices have been announced through her official Facebook fan page. It’s SGD $93 (not inclusive of $2 booking charges) free seating style. Here’s hoping that she will perform several of her cover songs from the Reprise album ! ^_^ !

Source
Mikuni Shimokawa SEA Facebook Page
Mikuni Shimokawa Official Website
Mikuni Shimokawa & Band ASIAN LOVERS Tour 2010 “Replay” in Singapore

It’s been a long and exciting week for me. May’N's Big Wave concert was absolutely fantastic and fun ! Haven’t had the time to post up some updates lately but I manage to catch May’N's special appearance last Saturday at the AnimeTech in Sunway Pyramid. It was only a brief appearance where she accepted some gifts and tokens from some of our our local fan clubs and society and signed some posters to be given away. The crowd wasn’t that huge, but that’s probably because the announcement of her visit was made quite late as well. Check out the gallery below.

May’N Big Wave Special Appearance @ AnimeTech

Ticketing details for May’N's upcoming Malaysian tour on the 7th March has been updated at the official concert site. The concert will be held at the KL Live Entertainment Hall with tickets priced at RM 198 from outlets and RM 218 at the door, please note however that the concert will be a free standing event and admission is based on a first come first serve basis . Ticket sales are available from February 9th onwards from KL Live, Sogo and AnimeTech outlets.

Doors Open : 7.00pm
Show Starts : 8.00pm
Ticket Price : Outlet RM 198 At-The-Door RM 218
Ticketing Starts : 9th Feb 2010
Enquiry
Phone : +65 6325 9871
Email : info@mayn.asia

Tickets Available from :
KL Live @ 1^st Floor,
Life Centre 20
Jalan Sultan Ismail,
50250 Kuala Lumpur.

Anime Tech – Sunway Pyramid
L-1.23, Level 1, Sunway Pyramid,
No. 3, Jalan PJ 11/15,
46150 Petaling Jaya,
Selangor,
Malaysia.
Tel No: 603-7494 0389

Anime Teach – Mid Valley
T036A, 3rd Floor, Mid Valley Megamall,
Lingkaran Syed Putra,
59200 Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia.
Tel : 603-2283 2628

Anime Tech – Time Square
05-94, 5th Floor, Berjaya Times Square,
No 1, Jalan Imbi,
52200 Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia.
Tel : 603-2141 2623

Anime Tech – 1 Utama
Lot S22, 2nd Floor,
Jusco 1-Utama Shopping Centre,
Bandar Utama Damansara,
47800 Bandar Utama,
Selangor,
Malaysia.
Tel : 603-7722 5361

May’N Asia Tour 2010 Official Site http://www.mayn.asia/
KL Live! http://www.kl-live.com.my/

This is probably one of the biggest Otaku/Jpop news to hit our shores in recent times. Hot J-Pop Diva May’N will be having her first ever Asian Tour in Malaysia, Hong Kong and Taiwan ! From the official press release:,

The organizers of Mayʼn BIG☆WAAAAAVE!! Asia Tour 2010 are excited to announce Mayʼnʼs first ever concert tour of Asia, which promises to deliver the latest hits from her chart topping repertoire of successful music releases. Her first concert of the tour is scheduled to take place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on the 7th of March 2010, while her concert in Hong Kong will be taking place on the 19th of March 2010, followed by the concert in Taipei, Taiwan on the 21st of March 2010.

“After my Budokan, to come to Asia again is a great honor for me. I love Asia and look forward to be connected with everyone all around the world through my music. I look forward to meeting everyone! Letʼs sing together!” Translated quote from Mayʼn.

For her Asian tour, Mayʼn will be delivering a full concert experience, featuring specially choreographed dance moves and exclusive performances. Extremely popular with the Asian audience, Mayʼn has performed to sell-out concert audiences of over 5,000 twice at Singaporeʼs annual Anime Festival Asia event, and full house audiences in South Korea and Guangzhou, China.

That’s right ! The legendary Songstress of the Galaxy, May’N aka Sheryl Nome from the hit anime series Macross Frontier will be belting out her famous hits in Malaysia. I attended her recent concert at the Anime Festival Asia 09 held in Singapore November last year and it was a blast and so full of energy ! The tour dates are as follows:

• Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur – 7 March 2010
• Hong Kong – 19 March 2010
• Taiwan, Taipei – 21 March 2010

Ticketing details are yet to be published but stay tuned for more info. This is definitely one concert you should not miss whether you’re a May’N fan or Macross Fan or a Jpop Fan !

Mayʼn BIG☆WAAAAAVE!! Asia Tour 2010 Official Website – http://www.mayn.asia/
(even the official site link looks awesome !)

Flight tickets. Checked. Hotel bookings. Checked. 2 Day ‘I Love Anisong’ AFA 09 Concert Passes… definitely checked ! With only 5 more days to go I just can’t wait till the event starts.

I got myself a new DSLR camera to capture the full AFA’09 experience. DSLRs don’t come cheap but they’re certainly a worthy investment if you ever wanted to capture high quality photos in challenging environments. I’ll be sharing a bit more on my new found hobby in future posts . Along with the camera, I will be bringing my trusty ol’ Macbook and will try to provide as much real time coverage as possible during the event but this really depends on how the events are scheduled on that day itself.

So anyone else out there as crazy and excited as myself attending the AFA this year ?

IT’S BACK ! ! One of the most highly anticipated anime event of the region, the Anime Festival Asia 2009 will be held from 21st – 22nd November at the Singapore Suntec Convention Center. Among the highlights this year are the great artists invited to perform the I Love Anisong Concert, featuring May’N, Shoko Nakagawa, Ichiro Mizuki, Yoshiki Fukuyama AND Hatsune Miku! Celebrity Otaku blogger Danny Choo will also be making an appearance this year and will most likely introduce some of his merchandise during the event. Other activities held during the event includes the Bandai World Gunpla Modeling Competition as well as the Regional Cosplay Championship 2009 and lots of other features.

Anime Festival Asia 2009 Official Site

Via wikipedia

Ayumi Hamasaki (浜崎 あゆみ (also 浜崎歩) , Hamasaki Ayumi), born October 2, 1978, is a Japanese singer-songwriter and former actress. Also known as Ayu to her fans, Hamasaki has been dubbed the “Empress of pop” and “the Empress of J-Pop” due to her popularity and widespread influence in Japan. Born and raised in Fukuoka, she moved to Tokyo at fourteen to pursue a career in entertainment. In 1998, under the tutelage of Avex CEO Max Matsuura, she released a string of modestly selling singles that concluded with her 1999 debut album A Song for XX, which debuted atop the Oricon charts and stayed there for four weeks in a row, establishing her popularity in Japan.

Aptly dubbed the “Empress of J-Pop”, Ayumi’s popularity and success is unchallenged. Her songs have also been used in numerous animes and video games like Onimusha 4 : Dawn of Dreams (Startin’) and Inuyasha (Dearest). I managed to find a rare MV of one of my favorite songs by her, Evolution. Enjoy.

Ayumi Hamasaki Official Website
Divine Ayu – Ayumi Hamasaki Fan Site
Ayumi Hamasaki Sekai