Ani-Com 2013!
It's only two days until I begin my full time job...so today was pretty much my last day of thoughtless fun and frivolity. It began with waking up at the crack of dawn - just kidding, only around 8am, because my friends and I finally watched Monsters University. If you watch the first showing, it'll be half price, so...yes, we were there at 9am. It worked out in the end though, because we emerged at roughly 11, making good time for lunch after shopping for some birthday cards. By then, our other friend Isabella and her visiting boyfriend Ben arrived too, and they accompanied me to Hong Kong Ani-Com and Games 2013!!
I recall that the last time I went, which was two years ago (seeing that last summer was spent in Toronto...but Fan Expo was awesome too), I had tried to make a post as well but ended up making a summary after the content got eaten up in an accidental backspace. Here's to hoping that this won't have the same fate.
The first thing I'd like to comment on was the ridiculous line-up. I didn't take that many pictures (the ones I did take will be here and amount to no more than four actually) but this is my third time attending this convention and....I HAVE NEVER SPENT SO LONG WAITING IN LINE FOR A CON. Seriously! This includes Hong Kong Book Fair, which I went to just the other week, and it drew over a million people on its opening day (that is a seventh of the city's population!). To the organisers' and police's credit, they made the line loop around several times in order to prevent too much crowding and stopping...but that in itself was also ridiculous. I'm used to getting out of the MTR, walking across the pedestrian bridge, through the Immigration Tower and Central Plaza, then perhaps some open-air line-ups on the sidewalk before finally entering the convention centre via the main entrance. That's what we did for Book Fair, and it's how I remember past Ani-Coms. But today, we got onto the bridge, through the Immigration Tower, Central Plaza, then onto another pedestrian bridge leading to the China Resources Building in which we had to WALK AROUND IT COMPLETELY before going back to the second bridge, then onto the sidewalks for some serious congested line-ups in the baking sun before finally getting inside! I have NEVER had to do this in my previous visits to Ani-Com! If I wasn't with Isa and Ben, I would have been fuming by the time I got there...instead, I was able to laugh it off.
Anyway, after all this was done, our tickets were ripped and we entered the hall. "The land of the Otakus," as Ben put it. As I expected and remembered, it was just crowds of Chinese teenagers/youth eagerly snapping up toys, collectibles, posters, pillows and manga. One of the most fascinating things, to me, is to observe what currently are the most popular series. This year it was without a doubt Shingeki no Kyojin/Attack on Titan. Everywhere we went, we saw pouty-faced Levi, blond Armin, and impassive Mikasa. I don't watch this anime, but have seen enough of it on tumblr to recognise and name several characters on sight. Isabella and Ben are fans though, even if Ben was horrified at the blatant objectification of Mikasa...he spotted her on body pillows and those "boobie mousepads" (Isabella and I revealed that we are 12 year old boys in our minds when we couldn't stop ourselves from sniggering over them.). "She's sixteen!" he protested.
Although I do not intend to begin watching it, the chibi versions were irresistibly cute. These are designs for pillowcases.
There was also the infamous "swimming anime", Free! - which I would actually like to watch some day. I was pleased to see it featured!
I didn't expect to see much of the animes I love, since Axis Powers Hetalia is no longer popular (I only saw a handful of keychains...which ended up being fake, discoloured, and some even broken!), and Full Metal Alchemist and Ouran High School Host Club have long been finished. To my chagrin, there was still a lot of Naruto around. Argh, just end already! Good series know when they should end. Anyway, One Piece is also still very popular and going strong. Isabella and I took note of a Luffy cosplayer walking by us - not only was his costume well done, but he was also pretty fit and possessed a cute face. We tried to find him again to take photos for the sole reason that he was good lookin', but alas, to no avail. I have to admit that I didn't recognise many of the cosplayers...but there was a REALLY CUTE expat family of three, the dad dressed as Iron Man and the mom as Storm!! I was delighted to see some Western comics representation.
What I really wanted to see was Gin no Saji/Silver Spoon, the manga and newly aired anime that I absolutely adore right now. It's a slice-of-life manga about an agricultural school by the amazing Hiromu Arakawa who gained fame with her brilliant Full Metal Alchemist. If Free! is "swimming anime", GnS is "farming anime". I didn't see much until near the end, where we rounded the corner and saw this beautiful sight!
It was for a booth selling NOTHING but manga! I was totally pumped until I remembered that it was all in Chinese, and being the pathetic jook sing I am, they were all unintelligible to me. There were also volumes of Shirokuma (Polar Bear) Cafe, which I also quite like but am perfectly okay with just watching the saccharine cuteness of the anime. Isa bought the first volume of Shirokuma Cafe though, her Chinese being way better than mine, and we were both really tempted by some FMA artbooks. I wrestled with getting some Gin no Saji anyway, but in the end decided that although it's great motivation, it'll be a while until I'm at that language level. Still, it made me so happy to see it.
Augh! These little hanging pictures were just so cute...I would have loved the Gin no Saji one, but they weren't for sale, obviously.
We ended up purchasing a lot of things from the fan booths. I've had friends who greatly dislike getting "unofficial" merchandise, but I really don't understand that. I like looking at how the art is rendered in different, unique styles, plus it makes me feel good to support an independent artist. Speaking of which, there were a lot of booths for local Hong Kong/Chinese artists, and I did buy some stuff such as a sticker sheet (featuring the artist's original character, "Pineapple Bun girl" - very Hong Kong!) and what I thought was a pen bag, but it might actually be a canvas purse. Either way, they were very cute and I was happy with it. This year's fanbooths seemed to be more about original artisan work, since there were a lot of people selling handmade accessories. In spite of that, I managed to procure an adorable necklace pendant featuring the title character of Tonari no Totoro/My Neighbour Totoro!
Yes, that's a classic Hong Kong tong lau, in this case a pawn shop complete with the bat-and-coin signage. Although I speak of it last, it was my very first purchase at the terrific model store here in HK, Hobby. They specialise in these vintage Hong Kong stuff, and last time I bought a miniature eggy waffle cart from them! What I love about this one though is that it functions as a pen holder, in spite of its slimness. This model actually belongs in a set of four, and employees encouraged me to get the rest, but I have only so much money. Maybe in the future; Hobby has several stores all around HK and I'm quite familiar with them. Well, naturally - I'm their perfect target demographic! C:
I missed Ani-Com last year, so this was a happy return. Looking forward to next year's already. Oh yeah, I mentioned the Book Fair - here's a glimpse of my haul for that too!
Yep, I'm finally going through A Song of Ice and Fire! Currently on A Clash of Kings. Since I love the Game of Thrones show, it's proving to be really enjoyable.
Well, I'll be off to rest up for the next few days. Thanks for readin'!
I recall that the last time I went, which was two years ago (seeing that last summer was spent in Toronto...but Fan Expo was awesome too), I had tried to make a post as well but ended up making a summary after the content got eaten up in an accidental backspace. Here's to hoping that this won't have the same fate.
The first thing I'd like to comment on was the ridiculous line-up. I didn't take that many pictures (the ones I did take will be here and amount to no more than four actually) but this is my third time attending this convention and....I HAVE NEVER SPENT SO LONG WAITING IN LINE FOR A CON. Seriously! This includes Hong Kong Book Fair, which I went to just the other week, and it drew over a million people on its opening day (that is a seventh of the city's population!). To the organisers' and police's credit, they made the line loop around several times in order to prevent too much crowding and stopping...but that in itself was also ridiculous. I'm used to getting out of the MTR, walking across the pedestrian bridge, through the Immigration Tower and Central Plaza, then perhaps some open-air line-ups on the sidewalk before finally entering the convention centre via the main entrance. That's what we did for Book Fair, and it's how I remember past Ani-Coms. But today, we got onto the bridge, through the Immigration Tower, Central Plaza, then onto another pedestrian bridge leading to the China Resources Building in which we had to WALK AROUND IT COMPLETELY before going back to the second bridge, then onto the sidewalks for some serious congested line-ups in the baking sun before finally getting inside! I have NEVER had to do this in my previous visits to Ani-Com! If I wasn't with Isa and Ben, I would have been fuming by the time I got there...instead, I was able to laugh it off.
Anyway, after all this was done, our tickets were ripped and we entered the hall. "The land of the Otakus," as Ben put it. As I expected and remembered, it was just crowds of Chinese teenagers/youth eagerly snapping up toys, collectibles, posters, pillows and manga. One of the most fascinating things, to me, is to observe what currently are the most popular series. This year it was without a doubt Shingeki no Kyojin/Attack on Titan. Everywhere we went, we saw pouty-faced Levi, blond Armin, and impassive Mikasa. I don't watch this anime, but have seen enough of it on tumblr to recognise and name several characters on sight. Isabella and Ben are fans though, even if Ben was horrified at the blatant objectification of Mikasa...he spotted her on body pillows and those "boobie mousepads" (Isabella and I revealed that we are 12 year old boys in our minds when we couldn't stop ourselves from sniggering over them.). "She's sixteen!" he protested.
Although I do not intend to begin watching it, the chibi versions were irresistibly cute. These are designs for pillowcases.
There was also the infamous "swimming anime", Free! - which I would actually like to watch some day. I was pleased to see it featured!
I didn't expect to see much of the animes I love, since Axis Powers Hetalia is no longer popular (I only saw a handful of keychains...which ended up being fake, discoloured, and some even broken!), and Full Metal Alchemist and Ouran High School Host Club have long been finished. To my chagrin, there was still a lot of Naruto around. Argh, just end already! Good series know when they should end. Anyway, One Piece is also still very popular and going strong. Isabella and I took note of a Luffy cosplayer walking by us - not only was his costume well done, but he was also pretty fit and possessed a cute face. We tried to find him again to take photos for the sole reason that he was good lookin', but alas, to no avail. I have to admit that I didn't recognise many of the cosplayers...but there was a REALLY CUTE expat family of three, the dad dressed as Iron Man and the mom as Storm!! I was delighted to see some Western comics representation.
What I really wanted to see was Gin no Saji/Silver Spoon, the manga and newly aired anime that I absolutely adore right now. It's a slice-of-life manga about an agricultural school by the amazing Hiromu Arakawa who gained fame with her brilliant Full Metal Alchemist. If Free! is "swimming anime", GnS is "farming anime". I didn't see much until near the end, where we rounded the corner and saw this beautiful sight!
It was for a booth selling NOTHING but manga! I was totally pumped until I remembered that it was all in Chinese, and being the pathetic jook sing I am, they were all unintelligible to me. There were also volumes of Shirokuma (Polar Bear) Cafe, which I also quite like but am perfectly okay with just watching the saccharine cuteness of the anime. Isa bought the first volume of Shirokuma Cafe though, her Chinese being way better than mine, and we were both really tempted by some FMA artbooks. I wrestled with getting some Gin no Saji anyway, but in the end decided that although it's great motivation, it'll be a while until I'm at that language level. Still, it made me so happy to see it.
Augh! These little hanging pictures were just so cute...I would have loved the Gin no Saji one, but they weren't for sale, obviously.
We ended up purchasing a lot of things from the fan booths. I've had friends who greatly dislike getting "unofficial" merchandise, but I really don't understand that. I like looking at how the art is rendered in different, unique styles, plus it makes me feel good to support an independent artist. Speaking of which, there were a lot of booths for local Hong Kong/Chinese artists, and I did buy some stuff such as a sticker sheet (featuring the artist's original character, "Pineapple Bun girl" - very Hong Kong!) and what I thought was a pen bag, but it might actually be a canvas purse. Either way, they were very cute and I was happy with it. This year's fanbooths seemed to be more about original artisan work, since there were a lot of people selling handmade accessories. In spite of that, I managed to procure an adorable necklace pendant featuring the title character of Tonari no Totoro/My Neighbour Totoro!
Yes, that's a classic Hong Kong tong lau, in this case a pawn shop complete with the bat-and-coin signage. Although I speak of it last, it was my very first purchase at the terrific model store here in HK, Hobby. They specialise in these vintage Hong Kong stuff, and last time I bought a miniature eggy waffle cart from them! What I love about this one though is that it functions as a pen holder, in spite of its slimness. This model actually belongs in a set of four, and employees encouraged me to get the rest, but I have only so much money. Maybe in the future; Hobby has several stores all around HK and I'm quite familiar with them. Well, naturally - I'm their perfect target demographic! C:
I missed Ani-Com last year, so this was a happy return. Looking forward to next year's already. Oh yeah, I mentioned the Book Fair - here's a glimpse of my haul for that too!
Yep, I'm finally going through A Song of Ice and Fire! Currently on A Clash of Kings. Since I love the Game of Thrones show, it's proving to be really enjoyable.
Well, I'll be off to rest up for the next few days. Thanks for readin'!