I really enjoyed myself at CF this year. I got to perform with my anisong band, Crimson Heroes. But this blog post is to talk about the experience as a CF participant.
How to put it... i was overwhelmed by the mood and the sheer size of the convention. I had more money than time. I couldn't get to see all the shops.
There were razer shops, a LoL singapore competition, a blackshot competition, a FIFA competition... The blackshot one was dumb though, who the hell plays team death match/team flag match competitively. and they even had commentators. There was some chinese game involving placing your soldiers too. But I didn't really take time at that one. It had a lot of support, though. DA Master i think.
First and foremost, the COSPLAY. So much effort the people put into the cosplay, but I just put mine together without a care in quality, haha. I was so happy when 2 girls asked me to take a photo with them. I unzipped the mouth of my Kaneki mask and said "but mine is the worst kaneki cosplay"
They took the photo on their phone, so I don't have it.
here's a funny cosplay i saw. GHILLIE SUIT. Probably cosplaying as Ghost from the COD series. Or one of the characters from COD:Ghosts. Never played that game, though.
I was happy to see some fanbases are still alive. For example, when this person walked past me i shouted "MEDIC!!!"
and when this guy said he didn't finish his sniper rifle i said "why not use jarate"
I saw this mikuo cosplayer that I didn't talk to. I liked what he did with the doll on guitar. Very cute. The glove thing is great too. I might do mikuo sometime in the future.
I was so excited when I saw that THERE ARE STILL FANS OF MONOGATARI XDD
My biggest regret here is that I didn't take a full body shot for this one. They had the skirt, and Hanekawa had the black bag. Oh and the cosplayers are quite cute, no?
Lastly, I was filled with excitement when I saw Kagamine cosplay.
My Kaneki cosplay was crap. It had so little effort put into it, and i didn't bother putting on makeup.
But I was so happy when two malay girls asked me to take a photo with them (using their phone). I unzipped my mouth and said "but my kaneki cosplay is the WORST!", they said nvm still want to take...
Side note, I also got a fan of my violin playing! My first ever fan.. Honestly I don't know how to react to it. I feel like fanboyism is very bad, it creates unproductive heated arguments and it makes it easier for fans to be manipulated, into either spending more money or doing whatever the fanboyee asks. I've decided to try to make friends with the person rather than treat the person as a fan.
===
So there are two categories of Creative Art booths, one is called Premium and the other is called Basic. Premium is by bigger companies or foreign artists. Basic is for local artists. The photos i'm about to show are photos of artwork i liked but didn't buy.
The artists are trying to sell their renditions of franchises. If it's not a franchise, it's an original work or cats. Cats.
The following are pictures of food with cat in them.
@kader: wouldn't you love this
I also saw a lot of fanfic, your favourite pairings drawn in in front of you for commish, but some already printed. Kind of heartwarming to look at too.
And this fanfic tho. Transcription:
Sensei! Sensei! I found your brothers !
Genos... I don't even know them! How can they be my brothers!?
I saw this funny comic title
Next I want to talk about artwork that I saw.
To summarize what i felt in 1 picture which is also an artwork:
=== represents different artist
It says 'Sri Angkasa Dato Vader'
===
===
pardon the bad cam quality for the last 2 pics above
===
Loka Made. I bought the artbook. It's a pun on 'Local made'. When I saw this book I was amazed, it gave me a sense of nostalgia and a sense of home. Basically, he did elaborate architecture using malaysian-relevant style and the girls featured are wearing our blue pinafore instead. He also designed the poster for The Journey, which I happened to have watched.
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/00/The_Journey_Theatrical_Movie_Poster(2014_Malaysia_Movie).jpg)
At the Loka Made booth there was 3d paper cut art that i was amazed by, too.
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rRtTeW-1qQw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3bZg-RdXpW8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_XBw8LA0cRs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
===
At saturday night there was a 'Jam session' where two local bands, Pretzel Heart and Raijin, each have their 30 minute segment to rock the stage. Pretzel Heart is a rock band with a lead violinist to play the vocal melodies. Sometimes the lead violinist sings (his name is Eugene) and sometimes he plays. Overall he doesn't go very high, but his pitch and vibrato is pretty solid.
Raijin was great, they're like a standard rock band. But the sad part is that after these 2 performances, JRock band FLOW will perform. So Raijin, which was before FLOW, was told by the crowd saying WE WANT FLOW, etc before they got to leave the stage. I imagine it must have been very hurtful to them. It's like they were a set-up for FLOW.
When FLOW performed, the crowd was so hyper. I used my little light-bow-stick to wave as well.
TBH i don't know who FLOW is, but I cheered along anyway and it was a whole lot of fun. They really make the crowd feel appreciated and hyped. We jumped and we chanted, etc. They gave us a special encore at the end and the drummer threw 2 drumsticks to the audience.
Here's some phone camera pics of Pretzel Heart that looks like it's from an anime
===
I tried the Maid Cafe for the first time. Cost RM45. Tbh the food is not worth the money. They had services there though. RM5 to ask a maid or butler of your choice to spoonfeed you 3 times, RM10 to take a polaroid photo with a maid/butler, RM10 for them to design a fan memento in front of you.
When they serve the cake, they will gather some maids to do some 'magical charm' on the cake, which is a cute moe dance. the people on the table is supposed to follow along.
Frankly, I didn't enjoy myself. I actually did the spoonfeed thing and was imagining in my mind some cute heart-pounding anime scene. But in reality it was meh. I guess the maids didn't act cute enough ? xD
My friend later told me "Aiya, you don't know how to play the maid cafe! You're supposed to make them your slave for the day. Like when they spoon feed you, you should say "nono, i want aeroplane" then the second time "ah nono, now i want like a train"
===
And now, the part I'm most hyped about: badges. BUTTON BADGES (and other trinkets). omgwtfbbq i spent way too much on button badges. Now I have to go get a bag to hold all of it. I already put some on my violin case.
Here are pics of buttons i saw (sorry for cam quality)
don't starve buttons!!!! :OOO
and bee and puppycat.... and those stylized horrific stickers on the left ... There were Bravest Warriors buttons but i didn't take a photo.
the one below is pretty funny, because i don't know who would want to wear a button that tells the world that they enjoy hentai... But i see it as a joke.
and now, for collection of things i collected from CF:
DOTA 2 PLAYING CARDS were sold for RM60 a pack. I felt he made a few design flaws, though. He said this: K is for King/Kunkka, Q is for the queens etc. 10 is for tanks.
I assume Ace is for all those solo mid heroes.
My problem is, why didn't he put Sven at number 7?? Why didn't he put all the 2 headed heroes on number 2?? (ogre, jakiro, alchemist) or any duos like alch or trio like techies..
For number 5, he could have put a meepo there... At least he should have grouped the heroes better, like agi range carries on the same number, etc.. He could have put 4 and 5 as the supports (position 4, position 5, etc.
But whatever, dota 2 cards, i buy it anyway.
I totally love the lina/cm combo buttons. you must be a monster if you bought one without the other.
One that really touched my heart is the Kagerou Project buttons. Many shops sell Kagerou buttons but they are single characters. This particular shop sold them with characters in pairs, so i instantly remember their relationship/friendship together. Every time i look at the button it gives me feels.
From the don't starve buttons, Chester is the best because you can put them on your bags.
Another one i really find to be GENIUS is the Jake the dog one. The simplicity of it, if you want you can buy more straight or corners then make it go however long you want.
And of course, the vocaloid ones for the moe factor.
The three Sesame-street-like at the top are characters from Don't Hug Me I'm Scared. There was only 1 shop that sells it.
My prized collection from CF, is of course the purple card at the top. All performers get a purple card that allows them access into the hall through the side doors. The signatures on the card are from my bandmates. There are more signatures behind it. The goatee on the neko is a representation of my goatee in real life.
===
There was this book I saw but didn't get to read all of, it was a collection of depressing stories in manga form. I cried manly tears through my Kaneki mask. Sad that i didn't take a photo because I was rushing for time.
===
About T-Shirts and bags. I was actually looking for an ACG-themed bag with a franchise i liked on drawn on it. I had been looking for something like that for years. The ones in stores outside sell merch for things i don't know of, such as Naruto and One Piece.
But when I got to CF, the shirts for Black Rock Shooter were out of stock!! nooo
The bags sold were so limited, the only one I wanted to buy was one that had Black Rock Shooter on it... BUT THEY SPELLED IT WRONG :(
"BCACK ROCK SHOOTER"
Anyways, Another said thing is that I didn't see a single Monogatari merchandise. Not even a button or a shirt!! The series is still going, I even saw cosplay of it.... Maybe Malaysians don't really like Monogatari? But I knew a few friends who followed the show too...
===================
CONCLUSIONS
I loved CF, it brought me so much joy. The merch I bought is going to bring me joy for a long time after this. One of the best part about CF is how they support the local talent. What is sold at the big booths (premium) are what the corporate companies or big artists are selling, which reflects on what is POPULAR among the general public.
What is sold at the small booths (basic) are what the local artists are selling, which reflects on what the local artists LOVE. They love it enough to draw fan art of it.
This means that from anime conventions, you can tell which franchise (cartoon, anime, game, novel, vocaloid, manga) from any media are in hot demand, or in niche demand (for lack of a better word)
If I were to say which are in demand, I would definitely say Touken Ranbu, Kancolle, One punch man and Hatsune Miku are overloaded. A lot of booths are selling it, both basic and premium.
Basic booths seems to be interested in western stuff. I was so surprised but happy to know that the adventure time fanbase is very very strong. 1 in 3 basic booths will sell either adventure time, Steven Universe, Gravity Falls, Bee and Puppycat, Bravest Warriors, etc. in decreasing order or frequency. Tbh i only saw one bee and puppycat and one bravest warriors one.
There was a basic booth selling malaysian-made vocaloid music in malay language. I already knew they were coming, though. I even heard some of their music online before this. If I were to pass a comment on it, I would say Malaysian vocaloid producers still have a lot to improve on. But the local visual artists are pro.
Thank you for reading :]
