Alright first Anime Con of the year! The event was not so much packed, but it was still fun. There was a karaoke contest where you get to sing an anime song, and there was this kid who sang a Mazinger Z song, and he performed like a professional Japanese singer LOL. I wasn’t able to catch the awarding ceremonies, but I think he won. And those capsule gashapon toys that you get for 2 tokens, they sold it for 1 token each! How cool is that? I was able to grab two Kamen Rider figures (Decade and Hibiki).

It was also my nephew Renzo’s first time to attend an anime convention, and he sure had fun during the event. There was an arcade setup and he got to play the new release of Marvel Vs Capcom. I wasn’t able to buy some indie manga because of budget constraints. I hope they’re still available next month, as they are really good, especially the one which was made by an Indonesian artist.

Now here are the photos to prove I was there LOL.

I had a chance to visit Arts in the City at Fort Bonifacio in Taguig for the German Comics & Manga Exhibit. My nephew Renzo, who loves to draw, tagged along. I’m not very familiar with the current state of their comic industry, but there sure are some incredible talent from that country. I’m particularly impressed with Christina Plaka . Her artworks are at par with the some of the best Manga that I’ve seen. She already worked with Tokyo Pop in Germany, which I think is a big manga publisher.

The exhibit area was a bit small, but packed with great comic art. They just need to advertise it some more, I saw just a few visitors when we were there. German comics is growing strong, I hope to see more of their cool art.

Probably the last event that I will be attending for 2011, as the remaining convention which I think is being organized by Psicom will be held on a weekday.

There weren’t much cosplayers on this event, probably because the convention is focused more on toys, and not anime. I was able to get one of those Kamen Rider replica weapons as an event souvenir. I was with quite a big group this time, and met some fellow artists from the toy and comic biz.

Merry Christmas everyone! God bless!

For all you aspiring animators out there who are struggling with walk cycle animation, i’ve stumbled across this feature by 11 Second Club.  This article holds massive information about animating walk cycles, which will definitely help improve your work.

Read it HERE

This was my first time attending Anime Fest Asia, the biggest anime event in Southeast Asia.  Japanese culture blogger Danny Choo hosted the show.  I only purchased the Festival+Main Stage tickets so I wasn’t able to watch the I Love AniSong concert in the evening, but I was able to catch a glimpse of LiSa performing two songs from the Fate Zero soundtrack.

I was there on Saturday, and the cosplay competition was held on Sunday, maybe that explains why there weren’t much anime characters roaming around the venue.

Lots of toy companies set up their booths like Bandai, Hasbro, Kotubikiya which unfortunately weren’t accepting credit cards, only cash or NETS, the debit card used in Singapore.  Maybe not unfortunate, because I could have overspent using my Mastercard lol.  Danny Choo passed by where I was standing, but my companion wasn’t with me, I was hoping to have a photo with him! Aaarggh!

Anyways, this blog will not be complete without the photos, so here they are.

This is only my second time to attend Komikon.  As much as I would love to attend this event every year,  it was either I was too busy with work,  conflicting schedules, or just plain laziness LOL.

Komikon is the Philippines’ premiere comic convention.  This is where you get to meet the industry veterans, along with the upcoming artists with their indie comics on sale.  Marvel superstars like Leinil Yu  (Secret Invasion, Superman: Birthright, Superior), Stephen Segovia (Silver Surfer), Carlo Pagulayan (World War Hulk), Harvey Tolibao (Ultimate X-Men) and many others grace this event and have panel talks where attendees can ask questions about the industry.

Bayanihan Center was so jampacked that the place looked small.  It’s great to know that Philippine comics is growing, even the youth are attending conventions and not partying or spending time on facebook.  If it weren’t for my Singapore trip, I would have bought more of those indie comics to support my fellow pinoy artists, and those comics look good!  Hope I would be better prepared next time.

And of course, this blog won’t be complete without the…photos!

I will be attending this event in Singapore. I guess this will be the biggest anime convention outside of Japan, which is a bit costly for me to go to right now. Maybe next year.