Anime Festival Asia 2017

ZenZen
Jun 12, 2017
3 min read

ANIME FESTIVAL ASIA (AFA): The annual cosplay event that I had been waiting for finally came. I was really excited since my return from a hiatus for a year when I almost quit cosplaying because I thought it wasn't meant for me. But here we are at last!! The event was from June 10-11 which was a Saturday and Sunday. Usually I would attend just one day but I have been challenging myself to attend as much events as I can to gain experience and so I attended both days!

My character line up for the event was Tohru from the anime "Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid" on Day 1, and 2B from the game "NieR: Automata" on Day 2. I went as early as I can on the first day because I wanted to grab the chance to one of the first 150 people to spend over a certain amount on cosplayer merchandise and get a special meet and greet ticket to meet all guest cosplayers!! And I actually did it!! I quickly changed into my costume and did my makeup but started to feel anxious and nervous. And that's when it happened.

As I got out from the restrooms I saw the guest cosplayers being guided to backstage to avoid the crowd. My favorite cosplayers were among them: Baozi & Hana. I was really close when they walked by but I was anxious and did not want to fangirl or give a bad impression so I turned away to the other direction. When I turned my back, Hana made eye contact with me, gave me the brightest smile, and waved hello to me. Now that was the gesture that made my day off to a great start.

I waved back at him and smiled, but it felt almost as if he had recognized me from the last fan meeting or somewhere. It didn't matter after that, because I was able to enjoy the event. I took photos with the guest cosplayers, with other amazing cosplayers, I bought and supported the creators that attended the event from their booths. I was really happy and having a good time with my friends and we took lots of photos! I even met some of my followers from my cosplay account on Instagram! They were all so nice and fun to be around!!

My favorite part had to be when I attended the autograph signing session of Baozi & Hana. I was able to talk to them and their English had gradually improved so well and they kept smiling and it was the best feeling to see them interact with the fans! I gave them my fan letter and gift and shook their hands and thanked them for coming. That concludes Day 1!! Day 2 was exausting because I cosplayed a bold character which was 2B. Her boots were killing me and I was mostly walking blind around the con.

I was able to take really good photos with the help of my friend Rin, and met lots of people who wanted my photo as well. My feet were dying but I didn't give up just yet! At around a certain time slot, Baozi & Hana made their appearance at the official AFA merchandise shop. It was said that if we are to buy merchandise directly during their appearance we get a special selfie with them, and that's what I did!! Day 2 wasn't much except me dying to get off the painful boots but I had a lot of fun!! Of course there were some moments that almost put me down such as my 2B sword not making it in time, or losing my chance to take a special photo with Baozi & Hana at the CANON photo booth. But those didn't stop me from having fun!!

I am so happy to have attended the event and met so many amazing cosplayers, I really hope that future events like this will encourage me to show who I am!