Picture-heavy post ahead. You have been warned. ಠ_ಠ You can read all about my previous AFA escapades here, here and here.  

Anime Festival Asia 2013

Yay! I'm finally back from my short weekend getaway to Singapore!  (●⌒∇⌒●) This post is dedicated to Anime Festival Asia (AFA) 2013 Day 2, which I attended on 9 November (Saturday). AFA this year was a 3-day event, from Friday to Sunday, so you can imagine how far it has come since 2008.

This is it.

Surprisingly, this year the ticketing booths were devoid of queues when we got there around 8.30 a.m., although we did have to sit and wait until the doors opened at 9 a.m.

Ticketing counters

Festival ticket S$10

Rhea and I decided to just get the Festival (main hall) ticket instead of Festival+Stage tickets, because the stage events for Saturday didn't really interest us. Good because we managed to save 10 bucks (lol), bad because it was a shame to miss out on them since we'd gone all the way there. =/ We also met up with Yvonne there. :D

Obligatory welcome sign

Anyway, the doors opened slightly after 9 a.m. (everything was really organized) and everybody got in without any problem. The first thing you see when you enter through the doors is this:

Life-sized Valvrave!

Side view of the Valvrave

They somehow always have to have a bigass mecha standing at the entrance to welcome people, lol.
Here's the regular scale model for your reference.

WANT

After reading the synopsis online, I'm definitely gonna watch Valvrave. If only to satiate my Code Geass cravings.

Gundam scale figures

Of course, you can't mention mecha without showing some Gundam love. Transparent and semi-transparent beauties. *drool*

Life-sized Titan head!

One of the highlights of the event was definitely this life-sized Titan head from the insanely popular anime series 進撃の巨人 Attack on Titan. Just compare it to the tiny humans on the right side and you'll get an idea how big it is. (º_º)

I wanted to go for the Butler Cafe again this year but... my measly budget didn't allow it. ╥﹏╥

So I only took pictures from the outside, lol

And caught a glimpse of Yutaki *insert fangirl squeal*

I went round to the Culture Japan booth to check out the really cute Mirai-chan dolls and merchandise. Guess who was there manning his booth?

Thank you for the pic, Danny-san! :)

Danny Choo himself! He was really nice too, and he even remembered that I took a photo with him several years ago at a previous AFA. (＾▽＾)

Kawaii Mirai-chan nendoroids

Posters. So tempted to get one but... T_T

Mirai-chan smart doll

The distinctive orange booth full of Mirai-chan stuff has always been one of my favourite booths at AFA. Danny being there personally is a bonus. :D

Asuna and Kirito Nendoroids display

Speaking of Nendoroids, these super cute Asuna and Kirito (Sword Art Online) ones were really super cute.

Hatsune Miku Nendoroid Petit

Bought this Vocaloid Nendoroid Petit (random figure) for my bro because he said he couldn't be bothered to assemble a Gundam these days. (¬_¬) *shakes head*

 There were loads of interesting booths and activities at the event, from auditions...

School Idol Project booth

School Project Idol photowall

...mini stages...

K (anime)

AFA Mini Stage area

...photo session (at the Animax booth)...

Always crowded Animax booth

...Attack on Titan temporary tattoos...

This was freaking cool - until it started to peel off T_T

...free Nescafe...
Free Nescafe with salted caramel whipped cream. Like, who in their right minds would say no to salted caramel whipped cream?!

Nescafe never tasted so good.

...and the Creators' Hub, where fanart and doujin artists gather to showcase and sell their artwork. Pretty amazing stuff, I tell ya. These people are so amazingly talented!

2 jam-packed lanes

There was also a Microsoft Internet Explorer booth where they introduced their new official character,
Inori Aizawa, and let visitors test out the new IE browser and other Microsoft stuff. 

Microsoft booth at AFA13

IE's new kawaii mascot ✿

The Hello! Japan booth had lots of Mameshiba stuff and was really colourful and cheerful. Their mascot, Cocolo-chan, was super kawaii as well. (✿◠‿◠)

Yes, that's a human Pikachu leaving the frame :3

That's Toby the ninja mascot with Cocolo-chan

Took some pics of random photowalls too, lol.

Sword Art Online (SAO)

Puella Magi Madoka Magica

It looks like Iron Man is also getting quite a bit of love as well.

They're actually pretty cool with the glowing lights and all

Of course, I needed to get a souvenir, and this AFA13 key chain was the perfect [and cheapest] choice. (≧∇≦)

AFA 2013 key chain souvenir

A selca while resting at the AFA Mini Stage area.

(◕‿◕✿)

We left around 1 p.m. and headed downstairs to snap some cosplayers before heading for lunch.

Cosplayers preparing and photoshooting

I didn't manage to take a lot of cosplayers' photos because 1. most of them were still preparing, 2. I couldn't recognize a lot of characters (I admit, I'm feeling kinda out of the loop these days), and 3. there weren't a lot of them (maybe more arrived later in the afternoon). So yeah, not many cosplayer pics from that day.
o;(_ _)o; Gomenasai!


I quite enjoyed this year's AFA, even though I couldn't really relate or recognize most of the new animes or characters. The atmosphere was fun and lively, the event itself was organized well (except for instances where we were literally pushed through the crowd due to limited space and lots of queues to buy merchandise), and there were so many interesting things and amazing cosplays to see that it was totally worth it.

Next time though, I'll make sure to brush up on my current-season anime knowledge before going. (⌒_⌒;)
See you next year, AFA 2014! (－ｏ⌒)