AFA 2013 - An Overview

It is the time of the year again with AFA 2013, returning for the 6th year since 2008. And for the very first time, AFA 2013 was held over 3 full days, rather than the previous 2 event days and perhaps an anisong concert on a friday. But this year even friday was included in the main event as well, which was good and bad for some. For those that could make it, I would say friday would be a very good choice to go since there aren't as much people as compared to the weekends and you get to purchase all those goodies first! You might never know if an item would still be in stock if you decide to go only on the weekends.

This year, with the 3 day event, I was prepared to do most of my purchases on day 1, following a photo taking spree on day 2 and lastly a mix of both and some last-minute shopping for day 3. Year after year the ticket prices have increased, especially for the stage access, so I had to really choose carefully which day's stage event I would go. For this year, friday's event ticket had stage access being included, possibly due to the stage event being limited on day 1, so that was a "shun-bian" get kind of thing.

Looking at saturday and sunday, both weren't exactly a must-go but since I already got the anisong standard for sunday, both the event and stage access ticket for that day was already given so in the end I only went for a normal event access for saturday. For the anisong lineup this year, it was pretty good for friday and sunday, where the former included Egoist and it was some sort of a mini miku concert with Hachioji P and livetune there, so it was a pretty good deal IMO. Sunday's lineup was one of the best, with angela, ELISA, T.M. revolution and Nana Mizuki! Have been waiting so long for Nana Mizuki to come to AFA and when it was announced that she was indeed coming, it was a definite must go for me, until I realised that on the lineup list, it wasn't displayed as Nana Mizuki but as Nana Mizuki X TM Revolution, which meant that most likely she'll only sing the Valvrave songs, which were only 2, therefore VIP was out of the question.

Having went all 3 days, I would comfortably say that friday was the best day to buy your stuff since there is so much less people as compared to the weekends. And some of the goods were sold out already on the first day. Reached there around 8+ on friday, roughly an hour+ before the doors open and already the queue to enter AND the queue to purchase the tickets were sooo long, thankfully I collected them the day before :D

 this was the queue for the tickets on friday

and the quiet thursday night at suntec :)

And upon entering the event hall, you are greeted with Valvrave Unit I and the Bandai booth right in front of you. With routes already planned, I headed for the Madoka booth straight after entering, meanwhile looking at those queuing for SAO booth, its a pity that that booth always have long queues doesn't it? And at the Madoka booth, there was less goods than the previous year, possibly due to the lack of a movie showcase this time round but nonetheless I still managed to grab a Kyoko PVC over there which at the end of the day, almost all were sold out except a few Sayaka and Madoka left, and a piece of Mami. Headed shortly after to the Hatsune Miku concert booth, took a look here and there, moved on to Robo Robo and rapidculture, and then to the doujin booths. Picked up most of the stuff here and there, before heading back to the Madoka booth to try my luck on the Kuji available and BAM! Prize A and a F in 2 tickets. Wasn't exactly aiming for the A since it was Mami, pity that I couldn't change the A for a C which was a Kyoko... oh well.

and so that was probably what I got this year round. Wasn't as lucky on the vocaloid petites though, didn't get a single Miku in 3 tries :/ was quite fortunate to find the Nendo Clip instead though, would definitely prove useful in photographing them in the future! The rest of the friday was simply moving around from booth to booth, like MUSE etc. and the other days like Saturday and Sunday was mainly used for taking photos of the things available on display at the event and of course the commonly flooded 3rd floor filled with cosplayers. It was a pity too that KKnM didn't have a booth this year, it would have been one of the few shops I would visit on the first day and I miss holding up the wooden sign that says "end of the queue"... hope to see them coming next year... Other common booths were still available, such as MUSE, horipro, kurocha, toycoin, and of course not forgetting the sword selling booths. Those booths are always a hit every single year... wonder why... wonder what those youths who buy the sword do with them if they're not cosplaying @_@

for the full event photos, you can click here to view it.

So now, moving on the anisong concerts!

took on Basic level for friday's and Standard for sunday's. Was pretty excited for Egoist's concert since its LIVE and it would be interesting to see how they were going to set up a virtual one for her since she wouldn't be showing her face. Turns out they used AR for her, where she sings behind a screen and a virtual AR of Inori was projected onto the screen which moves according to Chelly's actions. It was amazing to watch and at certain angles, you can actually see Chelly singing and moving behind the screen, just that you wouldn't be able to see her face. 

this was basically how it looked like (from Chelly's twitter)

and yup, that was amazing to watch. Furthermore the entire Egoist segment was linked together as though she was telling a story and all her songs just fell into place nicely as her story and narration goes on. Still can't forget the impactful beginning with Psycho-Pass's ED, Namae no Nai Kaibutsu. Soon after it was Valerie, Motsu X DJ Kaya, Hachioji P and finally livetune. Was indeed an eye-opener watching and listening to a DJ style concert, it felt amazing while the songs were being remixed especially when you know most of the songs. Friday's anisong then came to a close with livetune's Tell Your World and the 3 hour long concert had ended. 

almost every artiste was taking photo of the crowd on friday :D and this was the end of Friday's anisong!

Sunday's Valvrave Night was presumably the most anticipated anisong with all the powerhouses being placed together on one night. Well, we do have to give credit to Valvrave for stringing so many wonderful artistes together. One of the plus points of the concert was that it wasn't limited to just songs from Valvrave. The concert was kicked off by angela, who sang Valvrave's Boku Ja Nai and among all, the one that I could remember strongly was Fafner's Shangri-La. That was simply amazing. Following that was ELISA, which blew the crowd away with her high vocal range, singing songs from Euphoric Field and The World God Only Knows, and of course not forgetting the amazing song Realism. Shortly after her was T.M. Revolution's turn and I would honestly say that the crowd went from high to crazy when those familiar Gundam Seed songs were sung, like Invoke, Vestige etc. And then finally, it was the moment that everyone was waiting for. The duets.

Both Preserved Rose and Kakumeiki Dualism were exceptionally wonderful songs and being sung by T.M. and Nana Mizuki LIVE, that was where my money for the concert had flew to. All for that. It was really a pity that Nana Mizuki only sang 3 songs with T.M. and none of her own songs, but it was already kind of expected seeing how the lineup was announced. If she ever would come AFA again, it would definitely be a must-go for her anisong. 

So that basically wraps up AFA 2013, definitely better than last year which was held in Expo, too little booths and not much things to see and walk around. Suntec is definitely better, especially with the 3rd floor being free for all, which meant that the 4th floor was the event area and the 3rd would be the cosplayer area. Almost seems like Suntec was built just nice for events like AFA :) Would definitely be going again next year, not sure if I would be attend all 3 days if it will be the same again, so till then!