Image unrelated. Source: Danbooru
With the end of today, we will have reached a new year, 2009. Though it is sad to see another year pass by, I am, overall, pleased with what this year has brought.
A lot of stuff has happened to me in this past year. Sometime February, I decided to make this blog into an otaku/Malaysia blog. Prior to this, I had been blogging about personal matters, and so this was all very new to me.
Initially, I was a "stand-alone" blogger- that is, I never visited other blogs, forums, or even fansites. As you can imagine, I was getting nowhere at that point. One day, while searching for fapping blogging material, I stumbled across Danny's site, and from there I began networking. I got to know some other bloggers, like Panther, Gordon, Squee X, Fariz Asuka, and, eventually, joined Team Blue.
I would really like to thank both Team Blue and Danny for helping drive traffic to this blog. Also, special thanks to Team Blue (and to Panther, who founded TB), for you guys really helped me grow, both as a blogger and as a person (well, sort of. lol).
I do have to apologize to my readers though. As you might have noticed, in the past three months, the amount of posts I write has decreased significantly. Due to some real life commitments, I have been busy, and any free time I have left is spent trying to catch up on anime, or getting precious and necessary sleep.
Anyway, it's been a great year, and I hope to enjoy more great times with you guys next year.
To close, here's one of my favorite EDs of this year- "Changes" by Base Ball Bear (Toshokan Sensou)
See you 2009! o/
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
2008 - Close -
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Comic Fiesta 2008 - Day 2
Finally, it's time for day 2 coverage of CF. Having already covered the booths and convention site in my day 1 post, this post focuses on the cosplay aspect of the event
I arrived later on this day, (sometime after noon) because I had some business to attend to in the morning. Upon entering the convention hall, it's straight off to snapping pictures of cosplayers.
Alfred was wearing a skirt for the day. lol
Day 2 featured the Solo category cosplay competition. There were tons of contestants- about 55 of them, IIRC.
Trap Haruhi #2!
Trap Lenalee! This is the third trap I've posted in my CF posts.
The crowd on day 2 was much larger than the crowd on day 1.
Loli Sheryl is cute!
Shinigami-sama also had a damaged mask, but I did not see him wear it.
There were several song performances by some cosplayers. Naturally, Sheryl Nome was one of them.
And strangely, Ranka Lee didn't give a solo performance. :(
Emcees playing some games with the members of the crowd. In this game, you had to be the first to fold the Foldees voucher into an origami paper crane.
This cute loli, Elsa, played as well, but she ended up folding a paper boat. ^^;After the game ended, it was time to present the awards to the winners of the competitions. Though I did not get pictures of all the award winners, here they are:
Art Competition
Over-18 Category
Grand Prize: Roden Chong Yii Siang (Roden)
First Prize: Sinn Chun Hou (Sitomize)
Second Prize: ">Fung Kin Chew (Santa Fung)
Under-18 Category
Grand Prize: Sonia Dai (Pochi)
First Prize: Low Soon Yie (Pyromaniac03)
Second Prize: Ain Hafizah bt Mohd Saadon (Lavendra)
Comic Competition
Coffy Award - Sou (Yam Gene Group)
Tea Award - Leong Tze Lin (Noir Mystere Group)
Merchandise Award - Loo Sooyan (Meowed Group)
Cosplay Competition
Best Cosplayer: Skye (Sheryl Nome from Macross Frontier)
Honourable Mention: Zend (Nemesis from Resident Evil 3)
Honourable Mention: Dusty (Yuna from Final Fantasy X-2)
Best in Hall: Pinky (Ashura from RG Veda)
Best Group Cosplay: D. Gray Man Group
After the awards presentation, they had the final performance: "Lion" by Sheryl Nome, Sheryl Nome, Tako, Ranka, and Ranka's mom.
Video thanks to swordlink93
Group photos on-stage. Because of rain outside, the roof was leaking at this point. lol
Though CF08 had officially ended, there were still some cosplayers I hadn't gotten photos of, and so I went around and
As I continued to look for cosplayers, a familiar song started playing...
U-u-uma-uma!
And that ends my coverage of CF08. ^^
This was my first time attending the Comic Fiesta, and I must say, it was a very enjoyable event. To be honest, I had expected fail and such, but it turned out good. Definitely worth the entry fee. XD
Omake
Comic Fiesta Day 2 complete photo album
Other people who posted about day 2 of CF08:
Atarashii Prelude
-=Mystical-Era=- (Part 1, Part 2) Click here to read more about 'Comic Fiesta 2008 - Day 2'
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Comic Fiesta 2008 - Freebies and Loot
As with every convention, one is almost sure to bring back some goods, be it freebies or loot. And CF, being somewhat of a comiket, was no exception.
First, let's take a look at the freebies I got:
A Foldees.com voucher, stickers by TEH Wedgie, a hp pen, hp sharpener, and color pencils, from hp!
I heard that there was also supposed to be a bag of freebies, but I did not get any. :( Not that I'm complaining though. lol
Yes, it's the CF08 t-shirt! Despite it being a time of financial crisis, I still had the cash to fork out and buy this t-shirt I won it by duck-walking up the stage. :D
Selling price for this was RM25.
Text at the bottom says, "i went to the event and bought this blardy t-shirt"
It's a pretty cool shirt. Black, green, and white! A nice combination of colors.
That's pretty much all the freebies I got. Now, onto the loot:
Rabbid badge (RM5), C.C. badge, and a ZETSUBOU badge (RM3.50 ea). There was also a pedobear badge, but it was sold out by the time I decided to get it. :( Admittedly, I hesitated over buying the C.C. badge, because the artwork isn't too fantastic.
Poster by Kaizeru (RM5). Before I bought this print, I was also contemplating purchasing this awesome piece, but decided against it.
Lastly, a Vocaloid print set (RM10) that I bought from Toonikun. The artwork is beautiful. It's highly detailed, and I love the way the colors of the prints go together.
Well, that's all I got from CF this year. There were some things I regret not buying (like certain interesting headgear, or some awesome t-shirts), but I hope next year will produce even more cool items.
There is one thing regarding the artwork that I have to complain about though...
There was a severe lack of C.C.! I only remember seeing about.. four items with C.C. :( And of those four items, there was certainly no good artwork of her. That's mostly the reason why I refused to buy stuff. ^^;
Monday, December 22, 2008
Comic Fiesta 2008 - Day 1
Comic Fiesta! That is the name of one of Malaysia's biggest otaku events. Similar to the Japanese Comiket (but on a much, much smaller scale), CF is a place for artists and the like come to display and sell some doujin work.
As you can see in the above picture, this year's CF was held at Sunway Pyramid, on 20th and 21st December.
Was there early on day 1, but there was already a number of people waiting to enter.
I entered the convention hall through the exit (that door you see in the above picture), which I only found out was the exit on day 2 because the guard told me so. If you full-view the above picture, you can make out the word "EXIT" written on a piece of paper and stuck on top of the door where no one would see it.
The first thing I see when I'm in there is the doujin booths area.
Well, let's take a quick look at the stuff to be found at this year's booths.
The Figure Mall booth. I could be wrong, but I believe their goods were only for display, and none for sale.
Amazing stuff, really. The artwork present was impressive. I had a hard time deciding where to place my money. ^^;
Other than the doujin booths, there were also the sponsor booths. Let's take a look at some of those booths:
Blank DVDs, for all your piracy data burning needs
This booth (which sold make-up, I believe) felt a little out of place at this event.
Awesome shirt!
One booth was selling bootleg goods, which was rather saddening. :(
On to the stage area. To the right of the stage, there was the screen and some artwork on display.
They were screening this awesome video
To the left of the main stage, there was a smaller stage.
They later changed the setup of this area a little by moving the chairs.
And that was basically the convention site of Comic Fiesta '08.
Let's meet the two emcees for this event.
Alfred
and Chuck
The emcees were good at keeping the crowd entertained, but their humor was rather crude, as some people have pointed out. Admittedly, I personally found them very funny, though I do agree that they should tone down on their jokes a little. Afterall, this is a public event.
VIPs getting ready to cut the ribbon for the official opening
Being half the attraction of CF, here are some cosplayers of day 1.
Nyan~
At one point in day 1, kiDChan was having a live demo, and what you see above is the crowd that had gathered to watch her.
kiDChan in action
Trap Haruhi!
Playing some games for prizes
... This was part of the game
When I stay too long at conventions, I tend to forget which cosplayers I've taken pictures of, and so I sometimes end up with repeats.
As I was on the escalator going down, on my way to lunch, I spotted this Akita Neru cosplayer.
Since there were people behind me on the escalator, I waited til I reached the bottom, then went back up, just to get a picture of her. After taking my picture, I got back on the downward escalator, when I saw some Macross Frontier cosplayers go up.
I was like, "Why..? ;_;"
Lunch @ Mr. Teppanyaki
When I got back, the group cosplay competition had already started/was just about to begin, and so I rushed to the stage.
I only saw three groups perform. The first being a miscellaneous collection of cosplayers, then D. Gray-man, and finally Bleach.
Frankly, I didn't really enjoy the perfomances, though the D. Gray-man one wasn't too bad.
Well, that's all I have for day 1. There weren't many events going on. At one point, they even screened a full episode of Tentai Senshi Sunred, which I lol'd at, because they showed FANSUBS by ANBU.
Omake
Comic Fiesta 2008 Day 1 album here.
Other people who posted about day 1 of CF08:
Atarashii Prelude
e-jump's Weblog
I crave for seme(s).
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Hannah Tan Aims for Japan
27-year-old Malaysian Hannah Tan, now aims to make her debut in Japan. A singer-songwriter and TV personality, Hannah Tan hopes to make a name for Malaysia there by using her music and movie scripts.
“Japan is a leader in digital technology, so I’m trying to see what I can bring back to change the way people do business in the entertainment industry,” says Hannah.
Source: the Star
Anime fans in Asia might recognize her as the ambassador of Animax Asia.
It will be interesting to see how far she can make it in Japan. To be honest, I don't expect her to make it very far. ^^;
More pictures of Hannah Tan in the full post.
Check out those eye... bags.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Imaginary Friends Studio @ Comic Fiesta 2008
That's right! Imaginary Friends Studio (IFS), South East Asia's
Premier Concept Art group, will be coming to Comic Fiesta 2008!
They'll be bringing their artbooks, conducting live demos, and will be
on hand to have meet-the-fans sessions throughout the day!
Aspiring artists should also bring their portfolios for reviews,
cause IFS will also be at the Portfolio Pavilion too!
If Art's your life, like it is for Imaginary Friends Studios' founder
Artgerm, then you won't want to miss this!
About Imaginary Friends Studios
Imaginary Friends Studios (IFS) is a regional homegrown concept art
and illustration studio. Founded by a group of established artists in
2008, IFS has 30 artists under their wings across Asia and Europe.
Based in Singapore, it also has a branch in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Most of IFS' artists were influenced by Eastern and Western
animations, games, films and comics, creating a rich diversity of
works reflecting their upbringing.
IFS has provided concept art for games, comics, cards, entertainment,
film and animation projects. The studio counts Square Enix, Sony
Online Entertainment, Ubisoft, Electronic Arts, Animax, DC Comics,
Marvel Entertainment, Top Cow, Radical Comics, Games Workshop, Upper
Deck, WizKids and many others on their ever-growing list of
prestigious clients.
IFS is the first of its kind in Southeast Asia and is the place-to-be
for industry professionals and talented artists from not only
Singapore but from around the world, allowing them to realize their
dreams of becoming a professional concept artist.
Article Source: Comic Fiesta Click here to read more about 'Imaginary Friends Studio @ Comic Fiesta 2008'
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Soul Eater ED3 Single - Bakusou Yumeuta
A maxi single by Diggy-MO', 「Bakusou Yumeuta」, was released on 28th November. This single contains the third ED of Soul Eater.
The first track, 「Bakusou Yumeuta」, is a bit of light J-Rap. Among the three songs, this track is my favorite. There is a nice background melody, and Diggy-MO's rapping is awesome!
Romaji lyrics for TV Size 「Bakusou Yumeuta」 here.
The second song, 「CHALLENGER」, is fast-paced, and personally, I am not too keen on this song. It is okay, but it's not a song I'd want to listen to the whole day.
Also, half of the song is in English.
「UNCHAIN」, the last song, also has rapping, but is also heavy on the techno side. There are some parts where his voice is distorted, and I think the voice distortion doesn't go very well with the overall flow of the song. This song is more on the "fail" side for me. :\
Here's the third ED to Soul Eater.
Full versions of the songs below.
