On 26th September 2011, a press conference of the next big event in Asia was held in the AKB48 Official Cafe Singapore. 

The conference had confirmed all the performing artists of I LOVE ANISONG concert and confirmed Cool Japan Forum speakers. 

Firstly, I would like to thank our readers that had follow my twitter and tumblr for the first hand news update. 

Lets me summarize what is installed for fans this year. 

COOL JAPAN FORUM

The press conference started with Mr Haruhiko Miyano, Anime Festival Asia 2011 Festival Director with regards to the Cool Japan Forum.
This year focus will be on Music, Novels, Anime, Digital contents. The secrets of the strengths of Japanese contents, eg. strong story plots and uniqueness of Japanese music artists. 

The lineup at this moment are as follow, there will have 3 more speakers to be announce at a later date.

Mr Hirano Keiichiro, renowned novelist
Mr Harumiko Mikimoto, character designer
Mr Sampei Yamaguchi, Sony Music Artists’ Senior Vice president
Mr Takaaki Kidani, President of Bushiroad Inc

Tickets will at 85 per delegate

AFA 2011 Official Theme Song – Dream Shooter by Sea☆A

Mr Shawn Chin, Festival Director of AFA11 continued with the announcement of AFA11 theme song, which is also the ending theme of Cardfight Vanguard anime; Dream Shooter by Sea☆A.

KANAME☆

Celebrity cosplayer KANAME☆ will welcome his wave of fans and visitors alike with his amazing cosplays. From Cloud of Final Fantasy VII Advent Children to Ichigo of Bleach and Portgas D.Ace of One Piece, KANAME☆ continues to wow with his high level of quality and realism in his cosplays.

He will be having a phototaking session with his fans and grace AFA11 as a distinguished judge in the Regional Cosplay Championship!

Danny Choo

Danny Choo will be the AFA 11 Main Host

Danny Choo is one of the most well-known and respected bloggers of Japanese pop-culture in the world. In addition to his blogs, he runs MIRAI Inc, an Internet solutions provider, and produces and hosts Culture Japan, a weekly program on Japanese culture on Tokyo MX. He will be the official host of AFA11 for many of our main stage segments.

AKIBA TOWN

Exclusive event-only items from the brands: Bushiroad, Bandai, COSPA, Nitro+, Kotobukiya, Good Smile Company and more to announce!

Bandai is bringing ONE PIECE augmented reality Carddass card games and cards to AFA11.
Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn Episode 4 will be release on the same-day as Japan, and limited DVDs and model kits will be on sale at AFA.

Bushiroad Inc. President; Mr Takaaki Kidani, was present at the conference himself to introduce to us, that there will be exclusive pre-release of the card game Cardfight Vanguard and big-scale tournament to be at AFA.

He is also proud to announce that OKTO will be airing the anime Cardfight Vanguard on 16th October 2011.

He hopes that Vanguard will be a big success in Singapore.

Moe Moe Kyun Café & Atelier Royale

More members and cast for the cafe. 

A video introduction was shown to the media for the new members.
SE Asia's premium Maid Café is back with original MMK looks and uniform! 
Atelier Royale theme this year is "Wonderland"!

Some of the cafe and butlers are introduced 

Main Stage Highlights

Showcasing of some animes at the event.

Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Bokutachi ha mada shiranai あの日見た花の名前を僕達はまだ知らない short for ANOHANA あの花

Masayoshi Tanaka, the character designer for various animes such as Hitman REBORN!, Toradora! and High School of the Dead and the recent ANOHANA will be on AFA11 Main Stage to share his experiences.

Puella Magi Madoka Magica 魔法少女まどか☆マギカ

The seiyuu [voice actress] of Akemi Homura, Chiwa Saitou will be present on AFA11 main stage for a special 'live' dubbing session!

Madoka Magica's Producer Atsuhiro Iwakami as he shares with you insights into creating one of the most influential anime of our time.

Fate/Zero

Join Fate / Zero's producer Atsuhiro Iwakami as he shares insights to the creations of this highly anticipated Anime. What's more, LiSA who is behind the anime's opening theme will also be appearing to perform the show's anime opening theme.

Dedicated Anime Theater

Showing back-to-back anime through the event.

From left to right : 

Full Metal Alchemist: The Star of Milos, Sora no Otoshimono: A Clockwork Angeloid, Naruto: Shippuden – The Blood Prison

For fans that reach early, there will be limited exclusive goodie bags.

I LOVE ANISONG CONCERT

The lineup of the remaining artist are also announced, with the dates of performance.

11.11.11 [Friday] – Day 1

Hatsune Miku

Hatsune Miku is a computer music software that enables users to create synthesized vocals of unprecedented quality and remarkable realism by just typing in lyrics and melody, using voice samples of seiyuu Saki Fujita. Powered by Yamaha's Vocaloid (Vocal + Android) technology, Hatsune Miku was developed by Crypton Future Media in Sapporo, and released on August 31st, 2007.

Since then, there have been more than 30,000 songs and movies about Hatsune Miku posted in a popular Video sharing web site such as YouTube and Nico-Nico- Douga(Japan). In 2008, Hatsune Miku performed for the first time on stage at Animelo Summer Live 2009 in front of a crowd of more than 25,000 people.

This simple software, with a cute voice and an illustration of its avatar on the cover, created not only large amounts of CGM (consumer generated media) music but remarkable numbers of derivative illustrations and dedicated free software as well.

Anime Festival Asia will premiere the first Hatsune Miku concert in Asia. The concert will be a sequel to the most recent live production in Sapporo, which pushed the live Miku experience to a whole new level.

Different from last year on screen performance, this year the performance will be 3D hologram concert.

12.11.11 [Saturday] – Day 2

FLOW

FLOW is a five-member alternative rock band made up of Kohshi (vocals/guitar), Keigo (vocals), Takashi (guitar), Hiroshi (drum) and Yasutaro (Bass). The band dates back to 1998 and made their debut in 2001, with the release of their first single 'Flow #0' and mini-albums, taking the indie charts by storm.

Since then, they have released no less than twenty-one singles and six albums, including 'Colors', opening theme to the first season of Code Geass, and 'GO!!' and 'RE:member', from the Naruto anime. All three singles have brought them success on the Oricon charts, with 'Colors' that ranked 2nd.

At the start of the year, FLOW covered SIAM SHADE's '1/3の純情な感情', ending theme of the Rurouni Kenshin anime, featuring DAITA on guitar. This was followed by a compilation album, 'FLOW ANIME BEST', of many anime theme songs under their belt. Their latest single release is 'Hey!'.

Ichirou Mizuki

This year's Anime Festival Asia marks Ichirou Mizuki's 4th performance in Singapore. With an amazing repertoire of over 1,200 anisongs, Ichirou Mizuki is riding the peak of his fame as the undisputed anisong legend.

More affectionately known by fans as Aniki, meaning "big brother", his Wikipedia entry was also translated into 92 different languages, proving his position as an internationally acclaimed Japanese pop-icon and one of the world's most famous Japanese personality.

As an anisong pioneer, he debuted in 1968 with the theme song for Genshi Shouken Ryuu, Mazinger Z, Captain Harlock, as well as the big TV hit, Kamen Rider, from its initial series right up till now. In 1999, Aniki even made history by singing 1000 songs within 24 hours! He also collaborated with French DJ Dimitri in 2003 while being ordained the "Anime Song Ambassador" in Paris in 2007. Recently, Aniki performed at the 2010 Shanghai International Exhibition's CoFesta.

For over 40 years, Aniki has been raising the dreams and hopes of children with his charismatic singing. Today, he continues to pass on the magic of anisongs with his amazing passion and live performances all over the world.

LiSA

LiSA is one of the hottest, rising stars in Anisong. She has captivated many audiences with her ability to get them into the mood of her performance.

Born in Gifu prefecture, LiSA started her own band while in high school to catch a growing wave of punk rock. In 2008, she moved to Tokyo in order to further her musical career.

In 2010, she was chosen as the singing voice of Yui, the second singer of the fictional band 'Girls Dead Monster', for the hit anime Angel Beats!. Many of the singles and albums released under Girls Dead Monster garnered a lot of success on the Oricon charts.

In the spring of 2011, LiSA released her own solo mini-album, 'Letters to U". In support of the album's release, she toured Japan to perform to sell-out crowds nationwide. Her next single has been announced to be the opening of Fate/Zero.

Sea☆A

From Anime Festival Asia's very own Moe Moe Kyun maid cafe comes the latest Anisong idol unit to debut in Japan, Sea☆A! Made up of Winnie, Beryl, Valerie and Estelle, Sea☆A hopes to capture the hearts and minds of anime fans, both in Japan and overseas, with their own special brand of appeal.

Their first single, Dream Shooter, has been featured as the third ending theme of the hit TV anime, Cardfight!! Vanguard. Their next single, 'DELI-DELI☆DELICIOUS', will be the ending theme of Toriko. Come end November, the girls will be performing at the prestigious Animax Musix 2011, in Yokohama Arena, alongside names such as May'n, Shoko Nakagawa and angela.

The name Sea☆A is made of three parts. SEA is short for South-East Asia, as all four members who come from South-East Asia. The star represents the stars that they hope to be. And finally, A is for their passion for Japanese anime and the wish to spread their songs throughout Asia with their activities.

13.11.11 [Sunday] – Day 3

Kalafina

Kalafina is the latest project by hit composer Yuki Kajiura, the genius behind FictionJunction and See-Saw, keeping Kajiura's signature new age and synthesizer sounds.

The trio debuted with 'Oblivious' from the Original Video Animation Kara no Kyoukai, released in January 2008, with 'sprinter/aria' and 'fairytale' following in the same year. The three singles all hit top 10 spots on the Oricon Weekly charts. Their Oricon success has continued with their subsequent singles and two albums, all reaching top 10 spots.

Kara no Kyoukai, with Kalafina providing theme songs to all the ep isodes, sold a total of 600,000 units over the course of its run.

In addition to performing in Japan, Kalafina has performed overseas as well. In 2010, they toured Asia, stopping in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Taiwan. The group has also performed in United States at Anime Boston and Anime Expo.

Kanako Itou + Shikura Chiyomaru

Debuting with 'Reichin Rin'inshan' ending theme to Kikokugai: The Cyber Slayer (2002), Kanako Itou is one of the Japanese gaming industry's most prolific artistes, with more than eighty songs to her name. She is known for her songs "Kanashimi no Mukō e" from the School Days game, 'F.D.D' from the Chaos;Head and her most recent release has been 'Hacking to the Gate' from the Steins;Gate animation.

She has performed at many events in Japan and around the world. Itou has performed for three consecutive years at the anisong's largest event, Animelo Summer Live. Her overseas events include trips to Brazil and South Korea. Her 10th year anniversary event was held this year on the 13th of August in the Shibuya Liquid Room.

May'n

A frequent visitor to Singapore, this year will be May'n's 4th Performance at Anime Festival Asia. She also held her very own Solo concert and made her ScreenSingapore movie debut in June this year.

Every single audience who has witnessed her live performance is immediately transported into another world by her mesmerising and powerful vocals that pierce deep into the heart. Despite her young age, May'n is already rising towards her dream of being Japan's top female rock vocalist with sold out concerts at the acclaimed Budokan and all over Asia, including Singapore in June this year.

While she may seem like a carefree and cheerful 20-year-old, watch her transform as she picks up the microphone. Commanding a wide range of singing styles from pop rock, soul to R&B and grand ballad, May'n unleashes her high notes with absolute precision and ease, captivating fans throughout her entire magical performance.

Since her debut, May'n's album and singles have graced the Oricon Chart's top spots. Her phenomenal success has also earned her the support of leading producers who have worked with Ayumi Hamasaki, Porno Grafitti, Ikimonogakari, Chemistry and Misia. This year, she worked with Daisuke Asakura on Scarlet Ballet, opening theme to Hidan no Aria.

Milky Holmes

Made up of Suzuko Mimori, Sora Tokui, Mikoi Sasaki and Izumi Kitta, Milky Holmes is the representative unit of the hit anime and PSP game Tantei Opera Milky Holmes, performing both the theme songs and voicing the main characters.

The unit was formed in 2010 and performed in Animelo Summer Live at Saitama Super Arena in August the same year. During Anime Festival Asia X, the four performed to a sell-out crowd during their main stage segment.

In 2011, Milky Holmes embarked on a sell-out nation-wide tour of Japan, performing in Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya and Fukuoka. They released their third mini-album in August and in September, a live DVD of their performance in Yokohama BLITZ was released.

With their catchy songs and groovy choreography, Milky Holmes wants to bring a smile to everyone's faces and have them enjoy songs such as Ameagari no Mirai, Seikai wa hitotsu! Jyanai!!and Koi no Chousahoukokusho.

TICKETING

ANISONG 1 day vip – #148SGD

ANISONG 3 day vip – 368SGD

ANISONG 1 day standing pass 48SGD

Festival Ticket is from 8SGD /day

Festival + Main Stage is 18SGD /day

SPECIAL GUEST AT THE PRESS CONFERENCE : LiSA

LiSA was invited to the press conference to give the media a surprise and the host had asked LiSA a few questions.

Q: What is the first impression of Singapore prior to coming here?
A: All I knew about Singapore was Merlion, and the word lion. I thought this place was like Safari or jungle. I know it was a very beautiful city and was very excited to come here.

Q: What are your thoughts for performing in Singapore for the very first time?
A: Its my first time here so I can't really feel its gonna be like. The people here are very warm and nice so I think we will have a very good time together.

Q: You are cast as the singing voice of Yui in last year's hit anime: Angel Beats!, as a singing voice what you do to get into the singer role of Yui during recording and performances.
A: I did not change anything about myself or did anything special. I try to send my message and Yui's message together to get into the character.

Q: The next single "oath sign" will be the single of  one of the most anticipated anime Fate/Zero. What kind of song is "oath sign" and how it fit into the show?
A:  Fate/Zero had 7 characters that are participating in the Holy Grail war, that each have their own dream. They get worried, scared, and made me think about myself chasing my dream too. My message is there is nothing wrong with what you are doing right now.

Q: This year marks your first year as a solo artist, how challenging was it and do you have any goals for this year?
A: There is something that I changed about myself, I've learnt so much from Yui, from Girls Dead Monster, I want to work hard so that each of your days is a better one.

That concludes my coverage of the press conference Yesterday. 

Here are some photos.

Thanks for reading!

In the earlier press conference there is mention of AKB48 Experience Zone, which is not mention in this press conference, more updates will be confirmed by the official facebook and webpage of the event soon I hoped. As I am also looking forward to it!

ANIME FESTIVAL ASIA 2011

I LOVE ANISONG PRESENTS!

ROCK YOUR SOUL!!!

SUPER ANISONG CONCERT

11.11.11 ~ 13.11.11

FIRST ANNOUNCEMENT!

PERFORMING ARTISTES FACT SHEET

AS OF AUGUST 2011

MORE TO BE ANNOUNCED SOON!

ANIME FESTIVAL ASIA – ANISONG AMBASSADOR

May’n – ANISONG SUPER STAR

A frequent visitor to Singapore, this year will be May’n’s 4th Performance at Anime Festival Asia whilst performing at her very own Solo concert and Screen Singapore movie debut in June this year.

Despite her young age, May’n is already rising towards her dream of being Japan’s top female rock vocalist with sold out concerts at the acclaimed Budokan twice and all over Asia, including Singapore.

While she may seem like a carefree and cheerful 20-year-old, watch her transform as she picks up the microphone. Commanding a wide range of singing styles from pop rock, soul to R&B and grand ballad, May’n unleashes her high notes with absolute precision and ease, captivating fans throughout her entire magical performance.

Since her debut, May’n’s album and singles have graced the Oricon Chart’s top three spots. Her phenomenal success has also earned her the support of leading producers who have worked with Ayumi Hamasaki, Porno Grafitti, Ikimonogatari, Chemistry and Misia.

Notable anime series involved in – Macross Frontier, Shangri La, Ookami-san, Sengoku Basara, Scarlet Ballet

Official Webpage – http://pc.mayn.jp/index.html

—–

ANIME FESTIVAL ASIA – ANISONG AMBASSADOR

Ichirou Mizuki – THE ANISONG LEGEND

This year’s Anime Festival Asia marks Ichirou Mizuki’s 4th performance in Singapore. With an amazing repertoire of over 1,200 anisongs, Ichirou Mizuki is riding the peak of his fame as the undisputed anisong legend.

More affectionately known by fans as Aniki, meaning “big brother”, his Wikipedia entry was also translated into 92 different languages, proving his position as an internationally acclaimed Japanese pop-icon and one of the world’s most famous Japanese personality.

As an anisong pioneer, he debuted in 1968 with the theme song for Genshi Shouken Ryuu, Mazinger Z, Captain Harlock, as well as the big TV hit, Kamen Rider, from its initial series right up till now. In 1999, Aniki even made history by singing 1000 songs within 24 hours! He also collaborated with French DJ Dimitri in 2003 while being ordained the “Anime Song Ambassador” in Paris in 2007.

Recently, Aniki performed at the 2010 Shanghai International Exhibition’s CoFesta.

For over 40 years, Aniki has been raising the dreams and hopes of children with his charismatic singing. Today, he continues to pass on the magic of anisongs with his amazing passion and live performances all over the world.

Notable anime series involved in – Mazinger Z, Iron Jeeg, Kamen Rider, Captain Harlock, Gatchaman

Official Webpage – http://www.mizuki-spirits.com/

—–

FIRST APPEARANCE IN ANIME FESTIVAL ASIA!

FLOW – ANISONG ROCK MASTERS

FLOW is made of five piece alternative rock band made up of Kohshi (vocals/guitar), Keigo (vocals), Takashi (guitar), Hiroshi (drum) and Yasutaro (Bass). The band dates back to 1998 and made their debut in 2001, with the release of their first single “Flow #0” and mini-albums, and taking the indie charts by storm.

Since then, they have released no less than twenty-one singles and six albums, including “Colors”, opening theme to the first season of Code Geass, and “GO!!” And “RE:member”, from the Naruto anime. All three singles have brought them success on the Oricon charts, with “Colors” maxing out at 2nd.

At the start of the year, FLOW covered SIAM SHADE’s “1/3の純情な感”, ending theme of the Rurouni Kenshin anime, featuring DAITA on guitar. This was followed by a compilation album, FLOW ANIME BEST of the many anime theme song under their belt Their latest single release is “Hey!”.

Notable anime series involved in – Code Geass, Eureka 7, Naruto, Naruto Shinpudden, Eureka Seven, Heroman, Persona Trinity Soul

FLOW official site – http://www.flow.mu/

—–

FIRST APPEARANCE IN ANIME FESTIVAL ASIA!

LiSA – ANISONG RISING STAR

LiSA is one of the hottest, rising stars in Anisong to have come out.

She has captivated the many audiences she has performed in front of with her ability to get them into the mood of her performance.

Born in Gifu prefecture, LiSA started her own band while in high school to catch a growing wave of punk rock. In 2008, she moved to Tokyo in order to further her musical career.

In 2010, she was chosen as the singing voice of Yui, the second singer of the fictional band ‘Girls Dead Monster’, for the hit anime “Angel Beats!”. Many of the singles and albums released under Girls Dead Monster garnered a lot of success on the Oricon charts.

In the spring of 2011, LiSA released her own solo mini-album, ‘Letters to U”. In support of the album’s release, she toured Japan to perform to sell-out crowds nationwide.

Notable anime series involved in – Angel Beats!

Official site – http://www.lxixsxa.com/

A media conference was held yesterday at AKB Official Cafe Singapore by Anime Festival Asia 2011 Festival Directors; Mr Shawn Chin and Mr Haruhiko Miyano.

Media were presented by AFA's regional plans, Cool Japan Forum and Festival Highlights that supporters are to expect this year. 

Mr Chin revealed that Anime Festival Asia will be truely going Asia as there will be 2 events of AFA next year in Malaysia and Indonesia,

while AFA will continue to be held in Singapore annually!  More details will be reveal at AFA11 event itself!

Mr Miyano revealed the first guest speaker confirmed for this year's Cool Japan Forum; Mr Hirano Keiichiro 平野啓一郎, Reowned Novelist and Akutagawa Prize Winner.

Regional Cosplay Championship will be held this year and registration will start this weekend with

a audition at the local participating countries to choose the finalists that will make it to the finals at AFA11.

Festival Highlights includes, 

AKIBA TOWN, AKB48 Experience Zone, Maid Cafe, Bulter Cafe.

Movie Screening of Gundam Unicorn Episode 4 are expected to have a same day airing as Japan at AFA itself!

Some confirmed artistes are also announced for the I LOVE ANISONG – ROCK YOUR SOUL concert; Aniki, May'n, FLOW, LiSA. More artiste will be announce when confirmed.

Below will be the press release by Anime Festival Asia. 

Anime Festival Asia returns with Star-studded Line-up and Content 
in Japanese Entertainment and Pop Culture

• Anime Festival Asia 2011 expands regionally to encompass a wider audience
• Bigger and better – Festival sees strong line-up in both consumer and business-to-business aspects with the best of industry leaders and Japanese popular culture

Singapore, 16 August 2011 – Anime Festival Asia (AFA) 2011 returns to Singapore for its fourth year running as Southeast Asia’s biggest and most anticipated showcase of the latest Japanese popular culture and anime content and stars.

From 11 to 13 November this year, members of the public can look forward to three halls in Suntec Convention & Exhibition Centre Halls, expanded from last year’s two, that showcases of Japan’s top talent and latest offerings in the animation and Japanese Popular Culture scene. One of the festival’s key highlights, the “I Love Anisong concerts”, will take on a rock theme with heart-pumping entertainment over three days. Businesses keen to explore collaborations with Japanese content owners can also glean insights from the Cool Japan Forum’s high-powered speaker list. Organisers gave an update and preview today of some of the developments, activities and guest line-up in what’s shaping up to be the Festival to look out for this November.

Anime Festival Asia Goes Regional

Jointly organised by Dentsu Singapore and SOZO Pte Ltd, the home-grown AFA is today one of the region’s top entertainment convention and showcase platform. AFA saw visitor numbers grow from 46,000 to 71,000 last year over three days, with local and international fans mainly from the region. This year’s festival estimates that it will attract at least 85,000 visitors.

Organisers are in talks with Indonesia and Malaysia to hold overseas Anime Festivals. For a start Malaysia and Indonesia’s Anime Festivals are expected to be scheduled in 2012. The flagship event, AFA, will continue to be held in Singapore annually. While the Singapore event will see a congregation of the latest Japanese animation and popular culture content and host regional events such as the Regional Cosplay Championships, the overseas events will follow a similar format as AFA with the content adapted to the local communities’ interests.

“As AFA grows in popularity, having Anime Festivals in different countries is our next step to reaching out to more audiences in the region. Fans who are keen on animation and Japanese Pop Culture will have an added opportunity to have the content brought under one roof, right at their doorsteps,” said Shawn Chin, AFA 11’s Festival Director.

Reaching out to Businesses – Cool Japan Forum returns as a networking and sharing platform from Japan’s Best

One of the key highlights of AFA 11, the Cool Japan Forum returns on 11 November to showcase several of Japan’s leaders in the music, animation and publishing industries. Cool Japan Forum’s theme this year focuses on methods to monetize content. Talks will include topics on how killer content can be built on the digital field, shared experiences from companies which have developed successful business models using anime content, and how content can be used to boost a company’s brand image. One of the speakers, Mr Keiichiro Hirano, a renowned novelist who won an Akutagawa prize (one of the most prestigious prizes for the industry) when he was a university student, will share his secrets behind developing engaging storylines. 

New Festival Experiences and a Star-studded Lineup

Again in this year, visitors can look forward to the latest and best content from Japan as well as a line-up of some of the biggest and most promising names in the anime and anisong industry. With a larger floor space of 8,000 sq metres (up from 5,000 sq metres last year), highlights include:

            I love Anisong – Rock Your Soul

I Love Anisong will see three evenings of concerts, with a rock theme this year. Visitors can expect Japanese anisong artistes who are behind some of today’s biggest anime titles, with energetic performances, live bands and more. Artistes include those who will perform in Singapore for the very first time, as well as AFA Festival favourites. Organisers are currently finalizing the full line-up and will share more closer to date.

            Regional Cosplay Championship

AFA 11 will host its third Regional Cosplay Championship to showcase top cosplayers from Singapore and throughout the region. This time around, the bar has been raised with an enhanced competition format. Participants will now have to go through a live audition in each country, as opposed to submitting electronic entries in previous years. Winners of each country will have the prestigious opportunity to compete in the Regional Cosplay Championships in Singapore, and prove their worth before a panel of judges that include some of Japan’s top cosplayers. Calls for entry will start this Saturday with application details on the AFA website. Prizes will include a trip to Japan.

Experience Zones for Movie Screenings and Japanese Popular Culture Content

A new AKB48 Experience Zone will also be created. Popular Experience Zones will remain within the festival, with activities such as live dubbing sessions by popular seiyuus, Maid Café and Butler Café. Akiba Town will be bringing in top players direct from the toy and merchandising industries in Japan, including Bushiroad and Bandai.

There will also be a same day screening as Japan of the highly anticipated movie ‘Gundam Unicorn’.

Bringing the Best and More – Anime Festival Asia

AFA 11 will be held at Suntec Convention & Exhibition Centre Halls 402 to 404. Tickets details will be announced closer to date. For more information on the festival, members of the public and businesses can check out www.animefestival.asia and www.facebook.com/animefestivalasia.

Up on stage was KANAME and his translator, fans were given the opportunity to go up the stage and ask their celebrity cosplayer questions on cosplay.

In the other hall, the movie screening of Mardock Scramble had just ended, it was soon followed by a talk by Mr Go Nakanishi; Animation Producer of King Records.

I don’t even recall if I had lunch on that day or not?!

Next I left for the Show Management office to meet my friends that are collecting their pre-signed autographed poster from May’n. When she came out of the door to the booth, she waved and smiled at me as I was standing at the 1^st row of the audience; I was surprised that she still remembers me.  

I started the queue for JAM PROJECT autograph and was the 1^st to shake JAM PROJECT hands and collect the poster!

Lunch or not, the next lineup follows, the Cosplay Meet and Greet with Alodia Gosiengfiao, a cosplayer from the Philippines, and a common face on the Animax channel. Fans are able to take a photo with her in her Haruhi Gothic Lolita costume.

There’s never enough time and I wished I could have splitting abilities, on the Stage hall, was a special appearance by MILKY HOLMES seiyuu team which I will cover on a separate post.

After the MILKY HOLMES, was the ANIKI autograph collection, again I was lucky enough as my friend let me collect the poster in his place.  Off to Show Management Office I go.  The queue for ANIKI was epic long and I was the last few to get the poster and handshake with him.

By the time ANIKI finish issuing the posters, Kana Hanazawa the seiyuu for many well known animes and the recent hit, KUROI MATO from Black Rock Shooter, was already on stage. She did a live dubbing of the scene where she brought Yomi to the place she likes to view sunset and presents Yomi the star strap.

And that was the last event of the day. Other then the I LOVE ANISONG concert.

Stay tuned for the MILKY HOLMES post. 

On the morning of 12^th Nov 2010, many members of the media, and press gathered to attend a very important event by AFA X. The press preview of AFA X was held in Suntec Convention Hall 402, where the Festival Director, Mr Shawn Chin gave the opening speech to the media.

KANAME, AIRA and ALODIA was brought on stage followed by; angela, SCANDAL, May’n, Aniki, JAM PROJECT, the 16 members of AKB48, and the MILKY HOLMES seiyuus [voice actors]. Thereafter a short interview was held for AKB48, JAM Project and Aniki for the media. SCANDAL was interviewed by ANIMAX.

Here are some photos to share with everyone from the press preview: 

Cool Japan Forum

It was my first time attending such forum. The speakers are invited to share with us their success and opinions of making Asia into COOL ASIA.

Hi, I am Eriol, will be helping out Kippei write some of the articles for Anime Festival Asia  X also known as AFA X.
AFA X had ended yesterday with a big bang!  Now its time for me to do some work!

The first set of performance for Anime Festival Asia X a,k.a AFA X is A Cool Japan special – AKB48 LIVE IN SINGAPORE concert. Sixteen members from the AKB48 idol group arrived in Singapore on 10th Nov 2010 on an ANA flight. 

TEAM A:

岩佐美咲 Misaki Iwasa

多田愛佳 Aika Ota

片山陽加 Haruka Katayama

仲川遥香 Haruka Nakagawa

前田亜美 Ami Maeda

TEAM K:

秋元才加 Sayaka Akimoto

菊地あやか Ayaka Kikuchi

野中美郷 Misato Nonaka

宮澤佐江 Sae Miyazawa

TEAM B:

河西智美 Tomomi Kasai

小林香菜 Kana Kobayashi

小森美果 Mika Komori

佐藤亜美菜 Amina Sato

佐藤夏希 Natsuki Sato

鈴木まりや Mariya Suzuki

渡辺麻友 Mayu Watanabe

The flight information had never been disclosed to anyone, but a lot of fans had found their way to get the information and gathered at the airport for their arrival. Many fans were dressed their pink AKB48 Singapore tee shirt. I was very surprised as it was their first time in Singapore; there are already fan tees for them!  

The leakage of their flight should be because the members blogged about their trip to Singapore on the morning of their trip. 

When AKB48 stepped out of the transit into the luggage collection a great response from the fans quickly caught their idols attention. Camera were snipping away. Fanboys and girls screams will all over. Nicely decorated boards were waved to attract their idols to come closer. 

While waiting for the other AKB members to get their luggage, the girls came closer to the glass panel of the waiting area to take photos of their supporters and the boards. The girls were very happy to see so many fans gathered to welcome them. 

After around 10-15 minutes of waiting, they were escorted to the bus via the airport staff and that’s when the fans got wild, as fans presented their idols will cards, belated birthday gifts and get closer to them. I got to shake hand with Mayuyu too! XD 

Their pickup bus was parked outside the arrival hall and was soon flood with fans all over after the AKB members board the bus, there will around 5 minutes of interval before the bus drove them off for dinner.

At the airport, I had also got confirmation from the AFA X festival director Mr Shawn Chin that the remaining artist will arrive on the 11th Nov 2010 on two separated flights. This information was never posted on the AFA X website, or media to avoid fan floods. 

The info was 2 simple lines. For JAM Project, angela and Aniki will come from Terminal 2, SCANDAL and May’n will come from Terminal 1.

On the 11th Nov 2010, I was at Terminal 1 to welcome SCANDAL and May’n. Fans will there as early as 4pm. Unlike the previous day welcoming at Terminal 2, the space are smaller due to the construction works going on at the waiting area. 

Fans crowded around the barricades to try to get as close as possible when the stars walks out. This time there were no fan clubs, just fans in micro groups gathered together, causing the situation that time were a little messier. 

The crowd got more complicated when people that have no clue of whos coming joined in, 

The tension got higher when May’n exited to the barricade area. She was in a hurry so there wasn’t much interaction with fans.

A few minutes after SCANDAL also came out; everyone was busy waving their hands at them. 

My friends and I managed to get outside to wave our goodbye to SCANDAL too! It was great to be able to welcome them to Singapore. 

Stay tuned for the reviews for the AFA Press Conference, Cool Japan Forum, AFA Day 1, AFA Day 2 and I Love Anisong posts coming soon over the next few days as I am working XD.

Meanwhile please follow me on twitter XD

Japan Airline

The Welcoming Sign

Ranka

Her concert will be on 23 Nov late evening~~ and I wish I have access to the press conference tomorrow. So everybody cheers~~~

Edited: I have been requested to take down the pictures of May’N ^^. Will post the offical send in pictures soon