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 ^_^.

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

Comic Fiesta 2009 is one of the liveliest and funniest anime convention which I have attended this year. AFA 2009 was grand, but CF 2009 was just zany and everyone was there to have fun and enjoy themselves silly. I attended the second day of the CF 2009 but didn’t manage to check out the other activities held during the event. The number of doujinshi booths, stalls and sponsorships this year clearly shows how much CF has grown in scale. Cosplayers were aplenty and the detail put in some of these costumes were simply amazing.

The Solo Cosplay event was held on that day and it was won by someone cosplaying as Kirin from Monster Hunter. Her final sketch coupled with the remarks from the hosts had the audience in stitches. Towards the end of the stage events, they played a number of popular dance tracks and  everyone was invited to join in the fun. I’m sure everyone had a great time there, the CF team definitely did an excellent job. Can’t wait for CF 2010 !

Check out the full gallery here.

Comic Fiesta is back ! This year it will be held at Sunway Pyramid from the 19th – 20th December 2009. Pre Ordered tickets are available at SunComic and AnimeTech outlets around Klang Valley or purchased online via instructions at their site at a discounted rate of RM 25 for both days, the regular walk in price is RM 15 per day. From their site:

Cosplay Competition
The CF Cosplay Department is proud to announce our NEW competition – One True Pairing (OTP) Cosplay Competition!!

Art Competition
Comic Fiesta’s on-site art competition is back again this year! Held at the Sunway Pyramid Convention Center, this year’s art competition will be giving away many prizes including brand new Wacom Tablets!

Portfolio Review Pavillion
After last year’s successful Portfolio Review Pavilion, we are now keeping it as a mainstay event! For those who want to hear more critiques and comments from the best the creative industry has to offer, do keep an eye out for when this event is happening and who will be there to give out advice, tips and comments on your works. This may even lead you to an in-depth interview with the studios, so do come prepared with your portfolio and resume.

Live Art Demonstration
Another most-wanted Comic Fiesta event returns! A very popular event, the Live Art Demos will feature studios showcasing one of their finest to do a short workshop on what they do at their studios on a daily basis. This will comprise lectures, live-demos, art showcases, and even a short class on “how-to” for those who are interested to participate.

Industry Seminar
Following on the success of the Portfolio Review Pavilion, Comic Fiesta 2009 is proud to present a new event for the year: Comic Fiesta Industry Seminar! It will be half-day long (on Day 2) and will have speakers from the creative industry taking the stage to share their views and experiences.

Aside from the events, there will also be booths selling anime, manga and figure related merchandise.

Comic Fiesta Official Site

Variety – Warner brings “Death” to big screen

Via Slashfilm
Mandalay Pictures has recently acquired the theatrical rights to the live-action movie version of the high-school action comedy anime Full Metal Panic!. Full Metal Panic started off as a novel which was later adapted to manga followed by 3 anime series with the latest one released in 2005, Full Metal Panic : The Second Raid. The story revolves around a covert mercenary agent, Sagara Sousuke who is tasked with protecting a high school girl named Kaname Chidori who possesses some mysterious knowledge. Mix a high strung uptight military guy with a head strong and high spirited school girl in the same class and you get an explosive combination… literrally. The series is known for its accurate portrayal of weapons and mech action.

Zac Efron of High School Musical fame is rumored to be interested in the leading role of Sagara Sousuke. I’m not sure if this is a good call considering the original character in the series is someone who’s war harddened and more mature. Zac might fit well in the high school setting but not really someone you’d expect piloting a mech or breaking a terrorist’s neck off. Oh well, the Transformer and Robotech rights are already taken up, so someone just gotta pick this up right ? So where’s my Gundam movie already ?

Slashfilm – Mandalay Acquires Rights to Full Metal Panic Movie
FirstShowing.net – Mandalay Picks Up Rights to Full Metal Panic Movie

ComicBookMovie.com reports that the Akira movie will be adapted into 2 movies based on the original 6 volume manga. Irish filmaker Ruairi Robinson will be making his debut directorial feature with the first time screen writer Gary Whitta as previously reported. The original Neo Tokyo setting has been Americanised to New Manhattan instead. I’m sure the fanboys are already up in arms with this switch. Leo may have the budget for the movie, but having first timers helm the project is risky and I personally think that the movie would only work out well if they could recapture the cyberpunk feel of the original movie. Let’s keep our fingers crossed on this one.

ComicBookMovie.com – Akira Movie Update

FirstShowing.net reports that Leonardo DiCaprio’s studio has yet again picked up another anime to be adapted into a live-action movie and this time its the ninja anime legend, Ninja Scroll. Screen writer Alex Tse who wrote the  the upcoming Watchmen graphic novel adaptation will be writing the script but no director has been named yet for the project.

Ninja Scroll is set during the feudal times in Japan and follows the story of a rouge ninja named Jubei Kibanami as he roams the lands and rids of demon trying to conquer Japan. Ninja Scroll was famed for its excessive violence, gore and nude scenes back in the times. It’s interesting to note that Leo’s production company has picked two of the notoriously violent anime to be adapted to live action. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see if Hollywood decides to sanitize them to become a kiddy fare or worse still to follow the footsteps of a certain German director in producing anime to big screen adaptation.

FirstShowing.net – Ninja Scroll Officially Headed to the Big Screen, Too!

Dropped by ACGC 2008 on a very packed Sunday. Online games booths dominated most of the event floor space but I gotta admit that ACGC had some of the best looking booths that I’ve ever seen in a while for an anime convention. The number of cosplayers were below expectation although many people turned out for the event. Spotted a few regulars from previous events as well (hi Reno and the tomato girl from GACC’08).

Nintendo had a booth showcasing their latest Wii Fit device and also Guitar Hero attachment for the Nintendo DS. I didn’t have my flash handy with me this time, so the photos taken weren’t as good. Check out the gallery for more pics from the event.

Date : 27 – 28 September 2008
Time : 10am – 9pm (free admission)
Venue : Midvalley Exhibition Center Hall 3, Midvalley KL

Looks like ACGC 2008 is back again for a finale. The first one was held sometime in February which I missed. There’ll be doujinshi booths, Cosplay competition with a Nintendo Wii as the grand prize this time as well as Call of Duty 4 competition. The website is a little scarce on details but expect the usual stalls selling figurines and anime DVDs.

ACGC 2008 Official website