On Saturday 28th March, Animania kicked started the year by holding it’s first mini event at the Citigate Central Hotel. Initially, I had plans of not attending like I did for the pass 2 years but considering it’s my day off and and I know I will be staying home and gaming like I mostly do on a normal Saturday, I decided on a last minute decision to make the trip there. Besides, this was a great way to catch up with mates and meet up with new people in the otaku world.

Borrowed from moemoerabu.net

When I arrived there at 10am, I could see the line to the front entrance was very long. It was so long, it took me a hour an a half to finally get in and pay for the entrance fee. For the pass conventions I’ve attended, the longest I’ve waited in line was approx. 45min~60min but for 90mins was just ridiculous. Given it was a mini event, I’m surprised by the number of people who attended this year. Reading from other blogs about the coverage of event, there was more people who attended this year than last year. Mental note to myself,  must pre-register in advance for future events.

When I walked upstairs to the main floor, I could already see it was very crowded. So crowded, I had to push my way through to main stage where the cosplay event was about to start. Over there, I met up with Adun and Buddy who already got  front row seats for the main event. Luckily I was able to squeeze in with them. ^^

Special Note: Fancybox for WP is installed. Click on the image to see a larger version and/or to easy navigate through the images. This will benefit a few readers I sure.

Straight after the Single and Group Cosplay event, they had the Preliminary Rounds of the WCS (World Cosplay Summit) event. The only 2 entries were a group doing an X skit and the other group doing a Chrono Crusade skit. Personally, I enjoyed both skit but the one which stood out the most was the Chrono Cursade one.

After the cosplay event, Adun and I decided to grab some lunch outside. Not only was I getting hungry but I really need some fresh air. lol

When we headed back to the event, we could see many people has already left. While this made moving in-between areas a lot more easier, it also meant some of the cosplayers and my friends has already called it a day like my mate Snark. Hopefully we could meet up next time. ^^

For the rest of day, I hanged around with Adun and his mates, took a few more shots of the remaining cosplayers and checked out the ABJD area where Adun Erika was amongst the rest of them.

It was a pity M12 decided not to attend this year’s event. He missed out something worth going crazy about. LOL
This shot is for you, matey. xD

As my first mini-event, I thought it turned out well and I enjoyed it. There were a lot more different and good quality cosplayers compared to pass events I’ve attended. Despite wasting an hour an a half in line, I pretty much covered all of the main events. Given it was 1 day convention, there wasn’t much to expect with a range of activities and shows happening around.

Just 2 things I wanna mention before I end it, I came out empty handed (for the first time ever lol). As I have a mass quite a big collection of assorted goods, I ‘ve become picky in what I want next as given from the fact, most of the stallholders are the same and selling the same items from pass conventions. If I want the variety I’m looking for, online is the place to look.

Secondly, the location where it’s held at. This is most pointed out issue from many people because the area is just too small. Stallholders situated in one room, where people browsering from the front and another lot of people peeking from the back and where you got people taking pictures from behind that just makes moving around litterally impossible. I’m pretty good at squeezing through crowded areas given I’m tall and less muscular than an average person but not this time.
Hopefully they will take into considering about the issue and re-locate at next years event.

Other coverage of the event

• Moé Moé Rabu
• Buddy SmugMug.com
• A Certain Magical Grimoire
• Hunting the Elusive (Pixels on Prieze gallery)