Anicult 2015 Part 2 (Aarin's crew cam)
Continuing from my previous post here: http://aarinfantasy.com/forum/f359/t...-part-1-a.html
I would like to introduce my team members who went with me to Anicult, Surabaya (Indonesia). There are 4 of us including the photographer.
Pic: From left to right - Lisa (Erisa), Aarin and sef
Lisa does most of the Japanese translation job while sef does most of Mandarin translation job there.
Both of them are Malaysians, just like me.
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Day 0: Press Con Day
We started by being introduced to Nekota Yonezou-sensei and Libre's editor/producer, Hisako Miyoshi. As most of you already know, I am unable to post any pictures of them publicly. But the good thing is, Nekota-sensei has been posting pictures of her hands, so I will be showing you just that~
Let me just say that when me and my team saw Nekota Yonezou-sensei walked into the lobby area, she has this air of elegance surrounding her. She's tall and very much model like, with a short stylish bob cut (you know the type made famous by Victoria Beckham)... there she was walking in with a flowy blouse and black skirt, wearing a pair of sunglasses and holding on what I believe was a cup of coffee. Not long after that, we sat down and interviewed her privately in the press con room... during the interview, she's extremely friendly, laughed with us and you can go on and on listening to her. She's just so down-to-earth kind of person and big smile throughout the entire interview although we knew that she may be tired because she just arrived at Surabaya from Japan the very same day. So after our private interview session, she took some time to sign one of my teammate's manga of Nekota-sensei.
Pic: Nekota-sensei signing on sef's manga
(She has very cool manicure there too!~)
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The press con for Nekota-sensei started after this but I am unable to show you any pictures from that too because I just realized all of it has her inside ^_^;;; The press con mainly introduced to the media and fans about Nekota-sensei and her works. Fans were delighted to see her and one of them even made her characters' masks and distribute it to some of us, so we can hold it up and let her see.
Soon after her session is the guest cosplayers press con session. Before they enter the press con room, they stood outside to take some pictures for Anicult staff and some fans.
Pic: Guest cosplayers from left to right: Hana, Baozi, DDTenka, Pinky, Kuryu, Nakoto, Asuka and Reach.
(Fun fact for those who didn't know: They all like BL and has cosplayed BL characters before!)
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Pic: Guest cosplayers during the press con, with their translators
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They have a lot of fans in the room. They had Q&A sessions with fans and even did some fanservice for fans. Throughout the press con, I can see people holding up their phones or tablet devices to take pictures and record videos of their favorite cosplayers.
Pic: A fan taking picture of the session
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Pic: Even a broken phone doesn't stop a fan from taking pictures or recording their fav idol!!
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Pic: A fan interacting with DDTenka
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Pic: Fans putting up Baozi and Hana poster during break time
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The session lasted over 1 hour with everyone being treated to some local Surabaya food. Just before everyone leaves, Baozi and Hana fans gave presents and a birthday cake for Hana (because it was his birthday around the press con day) and them singing a birthday song for him. Of course, what is better than letting Baozi giving Hana the cake? :)
Pic: Birthday cake and song for Hana
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Pic: Baozi holding the cake for Hana
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After that, we sat down for a private interview with Baozi and Hana. They were very enthutiastic when talking about BL during the interview and also shared some of their concerns with us. The interview has to be cut short a bit due to time constrains and everyone already exhausted by the end of the day.
We ended up going to dinner with some of the staff and all of the guests. There we saw Nekota-sensei fangirling over Baozi and Hana, and you can see those sparkles in her eyes, yeah you get what I mean ^_^
All guest cosplayers are without their usual cosplay makeup... each and everyone of them looked so pretty and handsome! Some are so different from their cosplay characters, we were amazed!
Day 1 and 2 : Anicult Event
We setup our booth quickly by putting up the booth's banner, courtesy of Anicult. We printed our own tshirts too!
Our booth is for three Lucky Draw sessions during both days, where we give away BL manga and AarinSecret mag. The booth is mostly vacant, so anyone can just go in to take a picture of or with the banner.
Pic: AarinFantasy's booth and team
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Pic: Table display at booth, postcard of Crimson Spell courtesy of SuBLime manga
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Pic: Lucky draw prizes up for grabs at the booth. I chose to buy SuBLime manga as prizes since the titles are awesome.
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People who knew about the lucky draw started queuing up pretty early to get their names registered for it. After 30-45 minutes, we start our lucky draw session. We were very surprised by the amount of people registering for it and everyone being so eager about the lucky draw. The queue ended up very very long and actually caused inconvenience to the other booths, and we really felt bad about it since it was so unexpected. The crowd during the lucky winner draw session was even crazier when sudden swarm of people flooding our booth, all very passionate BL fans. I must also apologize (which we did at the end of the session) to the booth owners beside mine, as some fans accidentally knocked over their booth's stuff during this session. So for that and safety reason too, we have to set a limit to the number of people who registered for the other sessions. (Thanks for your understanding!)
Pic: Registration of the lucky draw
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Pic: During the lucky draw session, fans were actually screaming for the book they wanted or like
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Pic: We even get to take pictures with fellow BL fans who visit or know AarinFantasy forum
(We took a lot with our fujoshi sisters and fudanshi brothers, but I am unable to post all of them here unfortunately!)
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Pic: A BL fan feeding Edge-kun a cake
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Pic: Gave the last AarinSecret on the table which is a display copy to a fan who really really wanted it, and it's Aoba who got it!
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For Nekota-sensei's two days sessions, it was held in a different area beside the main hall of the event, the session is only open for people who have bought her merchandise. Lisa and I were initially the emcees for the sessions. Unfortunately, we have to cut it down to only Lisa doing it since there was only one microphone available and she's more versed in Japanese and better in speaking than I am. For both days, Nekota-sensei's session went well with introduction to her and her artwork, getting to know her personally and had some Q&A session with fans. She also mentioned about the future of her works and what she plans to do. After the talk session, the autograph session started where fans queue to get her to sign on her posters or merchandise.
Pic: Our team preparing for Nekota-sensei's session
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Pic: A fan from Taiwan gave Nekota-sensei a box of custom made cookies!
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At the end of the day, we went back stage and interviewed Pinky and DDTenka, regarding how and why they like BL. Pinky was extremely passionate and all-arms-out about it, while DDTenka seems a bit shy on the topic at first but quick to let us know that she's a BL fan as well.
Pic: Our interview with Pinky and DDTenka, friendly and lovely girls
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Of course, there are other yaoi stuff being sold in the event too. Not too many though but here's one picture from Black Monkey Pro's booth.
Pic: BMP's booth items.
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Pic: The crowd at the end of Day 2. The queue at foreground is for autograph session with the guest cosplayers
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I guess that's all about what I can mention here for now!
I have more pictures but they need approval first (pending) before I can release them out.
So expect more "intimate" pictures and all interview content in the next AarinSecret!
Also, please watch out for Nekota-sensei's signed poster for giveaway some time soon, most probably from our forum contest!
Finally, a very special thanks to all who helped in our journey leading to the event, during the event and also after the event! You all made us feel so welcomed! Thank you Ika, Amika, Francisca/Chika, Danz, Elisabeth and everyone at Anicult! We hope we can visit again next year!~
I will just end this with a few more photos... of my "sisters" team members with Baozi and Hana! (I know you wanna see more of B&H) XD
Pic: sef with Baozi and Hana in Day 1 FREE! costumes
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Pic: Lisa with Baozi and Hana in Day 2 Touken Ranbu costumes
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