Comic Fiesta 2009 1st day report!

The pictures here are not for commercial use. If you are in any of it as a cosplayer, do leave a comment so I can credit you. The same goes if you would like the picture to be taken down. Thank you.

This post may also contain wrong facts because of bad memory. To those who had been to Comic Fiesta and noticed any wrong facts, please be kind as to let me now through a comment. Once again, thank you. Also, pictures don't really follow content but please bare with me.

I only have one word for it and it’s:

AWESOME!

I don’t care if anyone has issues regarding this and that but for a first AMG con (Anime Hanabi Festival doesn’t count!) that I attended; it sure had me on the tips of my toes.
Comic Fiesta wasn’t how I imagined it to be. In fact, it was even more amazing. Everything, from the artist booth to the MC to the management and, most importantly, the cosplay, it was just an unbelievable experience for me. It might just be because it’s my first con but I sure am certain I’d like to attend the next one. And maybe next time, it won’t just be for a day.

I guess my report should begin with the morning preparation of that day.
Both nee-san and I awoke quite early so we took our time preparing. Since I was cosplaying as a daily normal wallpaper-like innocent citizen, I didn’t have much to worry. Nee-san, on the other hand, was quite fussy since she wanted to go there in something that stood out. But in all honesty, even I could see that she wouldn’t. She didn’t like lacey frills, didn’t have boots, was short on accessories and looked pretty much as simple as…well, me. I didn’t tell her that though. It’d break her heart.

Next year, she said she’ll try harder.

*looks away*

Anyway, a bit after 9, nee-san’s friend, A-san, came to pick us up. There was a bit of a fuss and we nearly thought he couldn’t make it since he told her he had gotten lost but it turned out he was joking. Nee-san looked about ready to bite his head off but that would be too barbaric.

The ride to Sunway Pyramid was pretty far but A-san really drove like the wind. For a moment there, I thought we had entered the Grand Prix but that would be an insult to his driving abilities

What – is it?

We arrived at 10 and I was pretty surprised that I didn’t see fre- I mean cosplayers around.

*cough*


First cosplayer we approached: Squall

A-san and nee-san wanted to go around Sunway Pyramid at first, probably to get breakfast but I was adamant to see the convention hall where Comic Fiesta was going to be held at. A-san led the way and before I could approach the single escalator up, I started noticing people with strange clothes on and I was immediately going, “OMG! Cosplayers!”

But I didn’t say it out loud. I really didn’t. If nee-san, like, totally says I did, she’s, like, lying or something.

I knew that people would already be there at 10 in the morning but the crowd waiting in line for the ticket really did surprise me a bit. Now that I think of it, I should’ve felt weird that the hall wasn’t even more crowded than it was. Meh.



As we were waiting in line, I pointed at random cosplayers and told nee-san who came from which anime but she didn’t seem to understand anyway. I spotted Vampire Knight cosplayers and also a few D.Gray-man. There was even an Allen who had a bright Tim on top of his(?) head and was walking with Tyki. I really wanted to laugh at the irony then.



We got our tickets and also a One Academy goody bag at the One day ticket counter. After that we just aimlessly travelled around. I rang Zima-kun to ask her if she could come but she said she didn’t feel so good. Somehow, I knew she wasn’t going to come anyway. I took a few photographs of nee-san and a few cosplayers before we attempted to get into the convention hall but it turned out it wasn’t open until 11 so we lounged outside. I was finally able to dig around in the goody bag and pulled out a book with Comic Fiesta’s schedule and regulations. It seems that Artist Booths are places you can’t pull out a camera so I was a bit disappointed but the One Academy quirked my interests a bit.

Will look up their websites later.

The place we were lounging around was pretty in the middle of the road so nee-chan felt a bit embarrassed because she thought people were looking at us. I didn’t mind at all, they were probably only letting their eyes wonder around. Sometimes I think nee-san can be quite high of herself but let’s not tell her that. Despite wanting to dig in some more, I followed nee-san’s lead and wondered around. The cosplayers there really made me excited and my eyes roamed the crowds for a certain pasta-loving idiot with a signature hair curl.

To my disappointment, there was none. In fact, there wasn’t a SINGLE Hetalia cosplayer and my heart just kind of crashed. I really thought Hetalia was the ‘in’ anime in the present time but it seems Vocaloid and Kuroshitsuji was. Not that I mind the latter.


Roy(FMA) and Mukuro(KHR) cosplayer

A bit after 11, we finally made our way into the convention hall. I was practically bouncing as I walked around inside and immediately headed for the artist booth. It came as a bit of a surprise and major delight to find that Hetalia and KHReborn were quite popular among the artist there. Especially Hetalia.

My eyes were immediately on Italy items but it seems UK and US practically won overall popularity. Nee-san advised me to go around every booth before deciding on what to buy and I did. Well, at least I tried to. I think I managed to miss two or three rows. I even missed Kidchan’s and shiroineko’s booth! Not to mention the booth that sold Uruhara-san’s items! Once nee-san had helped take out our last RM50, I kind of just lost her in the midst of my excitement to purchase items. I can’t quite remember the first thing I bought but I do remember that the first doujin I bought was a Holy Roman EmpireXChibitalia fanbook. It reeked of cuteness to the MAX!



Gakuen Kagura cosplayer

I do remember something else that I overheard while I was searching for some hetalia items. I didn’t recognize it at first until she mentioned, “I lost my Hong Kong” and “Sorry, I’m a hardcore Nordic fan” but standing next to me was a China cosplayer. I just kind of freezed up but panicked when I noticed that I didn’t have the camera with me. In my head I was shouting

[“ZETSUBOUSHITAAAA!!!!”] – means ‘I’m in despair’. BTW, towards the end of the event, I really did see two Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei cosplayers.

I met and lost nee-san quite a number of times and I figure my bill raised a sum because I kept calling her to ask where she was. There was even one time she called me to draw something to get a free poster but I ended up losing her a few minutes after.

By 1:30, nee-san called to ask if I was hungry and I seriously answered ‘no’ because I seriously wasn’t. I think I ate my own excitement but that also sounds barbaric so let’s just go with ‘excitement filled my breakfast-less stomach’. It was actually quite an awesome feeling. I told nee-san that we needed to be up there by 2 because the cosplay competition was going to start and she argued that with the time remaining, we wouldn’t be able to grab a decent bite.

In the end, she opted to wait until the group cosplay competition was over. She complained that her feet hurt so she and A-san went to sit down. I, on the other hand, dominated the camera and went on pursuit to find that Hetalia cosplayer. That afternoon, fate didn’t favour me much and I ended up wondering around the artist booth until the cosplay competition started. Before that, I managed to grab an awesome cheesy USxUK doujin with pretty artwork.



Sebastian Michaelis(Kuroshitsuji) cosplayer waiting while people took pictures of her Ciel

The MC’s there were really vein-burstingly hilarious. You don’t get tired hearing them talk and comment on random things. The group cosplay competition was pretty fun to watch and cosplayers from series like Vocaloid, Vampire Knights and Bleach fandom participated. I particularly like the Vampire Knight skit. It was really just made of hilarity. Even nee-san, who knew neither hair nor toe of the series, was laughing along. They were also making fun of Twilight, which was the best part of all.

After that was a break session and I finally suggested we go eat. I wasn’t particularly hungry and though the time showed it was 2:30PM and the next One True Pairing Cosplay Competition starts at 3:30PM, I knew we just had to grab something to eat before one of us passes out.

We went down and I was quite surprised that there was no fre- I mean cosplayers wondering around. Did everyone bring their bento? My mind sought to wonder. We settled down at KFC and ordered three chicken rice plates – all paid by the generous A-san

[Domo arigatou~!]


A Pandora Hearts cosplay group

I showed what I had bought and they showed me theirs but alas, it well passed 3.30 by the time we were stepping out of KFC. When nee-san and I finally got up through the escalator, I noticed a group of Hetalia cosplayers sitting on the carpeted floor right next to the escalator. Among them was a very kawaii Italy dressed in his trademark blue uniform. My dreams were probably already realized at that time but since they were still busy preparing, I didn’t want to disturb them but I was convinced to finally be able to get a picture of them later on.

In the hall, many people crowded around the stage to watch the OTP Cosplay Competition. I didn’t really know why I wasn’t as interested but I did watch it. It wasn’t until the Vampire Knight skit that I got my spirit back. Those cosplayers were just made of win. Even after the cosplay competitions, the MC managed to liven up the mood with free goods and many more shows. I continued to go in and out of the artist booth, snapping random pictures and joining in with the crowds of photographers, mostly made up of men.



Performance after performance was done on the stage. After a group of assorted cosplayers performed a series of what I assume would be a synchronized dance routine, caramelldansen started to play. The crowd went wild and everyone started to get on stage. Everyone’s enthusiasm made me feel strangely elated and I couldn’t help but to dance along. There was also a cosplayer in front of me who danced to it. I think if there was an animanga maniac who didn’t know caramelldansen, they should, like, do more research on youtube lol.

Nee-san was pretty stuffy later on about the fact that I was conquering the camera and I told her that if she could find me a cosplayer who had short brown hair, a large curl in the hair and in a blue uniform, I’d return the camera. We went through the hall a bit before we spotted Sealand-kun with someone who’s either Hungary or Belarus. I forced nee-san to take a picture with Sealand-kun. Nee-san suggested that we go search outside the hall because the cosplayer I was searching for might be outside.

I can’t believe how right she was.


Finally! I found Italy!

Sitting in a group of four, Italy, Romano, China and Japan were talking animatedly with each other. Italy was no longer wearing the blue uniform but I was just excited to see the curl sticking out of that brown wig. Once I had realized my dream of taking pictures of the Hetalia cast, nee-san, A-san and I practically wondered around and took pictures with random cosplayers. I can’t help but notice that there really were a lot of Vocaloid cosplayers in comparison to every other animes but it might just be my imagination. Pandora Hearts and Fullmetal Alchemist were thankfully there too. Seeing Sakata Gintoki and Shimura Shinpachi’s cosplayer also made me feel more complete since nee-san took a picture of gakuen Kagura earlier on.

I tried my luck inside once more and sadly noted that the battery of nee-san's camera was quickly dying. It was getting late anyway and our feet were hurting us and nee-san was worried she was starting to smell.



To my greatest awe, the Nordic brothers(?) headed my way and I quickly collected my wits and approached Finland. To add the cherry on my massive hetalia fandom cake, Su-san remained standing next to Finland. My heart was about ready to burst with fangirlish awesomeness. After that last picture, the battery completely died and I suggested we go home even though there was another hour left. I didn’t feel like I was up to watching the cosplayers without being able to take pictures of them.

So we returned home and I dozed off in the car.

That also concludes the amazing day I spent at Comic Fiesta 2009. I hope next year will be better.

Here are also a few blog/journal entries I found regarding this event
http://cloudine-syin.livejournal.com/3387.html
http://www.jonykt.com/2009/12/comic-fiesta.html

I would also like to read about others reaction/reports regarding CF09'. So if it is not much of a hassle, please drop a link to the sites in comments.
As a reminder, pictures on this post are not for comercial use(though I don't see why anyone would even consider) and any mistakes on facts or my bad grammar even will hopefully be alerted on. I'll thank you a million if you do.
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Later on, I'll edit this entry with more pictures