AFA SG 2013

Secret War Journal[10 November 2013][Long Post][Photo-Heavy]
A little background to get our readers to be on the same page as us. AFA is short for Anime Festival (ASIA). AFA is a series of conventions mainly held in Singapore designed to promote the Japanese culture. What sets it apart from other anime conventions is the scale of operations and the crowd it attracts. AFA is without a doubt, the anime convention that boast the highest number of people attending the convention. Personally, I feel that if you are ever invited to such activities, you should definitely go for the annual AFA.

Before AFA 2013, I think I had only attended AFA once (See my post here). This year, armed with a steady income, I was invited to attend AFA. This year, armed with a steady income, I was invited to attend AFA. Seizing upon the opportunity, I accepted the invitation. However, it should be noted that I did hesitate for a moment if I should purchase the tickets for the concert.

Jie Sheng was the first person to ask if I was interested in the early bird package. The early bird package consists of entrance pass for the full duration of the convention, stage pass and VIP seats for the I <3 Anisong concert. The early bird package is considered to be a good deal if you are planning to attend the convention for the full 3 days. As an added bonus, the package would include props that you might use during the concert, such as light sticks. The reason why I did not agree to get the package right away is due to the fact that I could not confirm if I was available on the 8th of November as it was a Friday. As I am now in the army, my schedule is not completely in my control. Thus, while I was sure I should be able to attend for the 9th November since it is a Saturday, I could not fully commit to the event. As a result, Jie Sheng bought the early bird package alone. (I feel bad but it could not be helped.)

The next group who asked was Johnston, Meldon, and Qi Xiang. They heard about the early bird package from me. With similar commitments, apart from Johnston, we all missed the early bird package. For Johnston, he had trouble attending the event as his examinations would be near the corners. Despite all this, we each tried several means and compromises to attend the event. For my side, I was constantly looking out for opportunities to apply for the period of the convention. Qi Xiang and Meldon each managed to make themselves available on the days to attend for the convention. Johnston, on the other hand, studied extra hard in advance to squeeze out a day to go for the event. As luck would have it, I was able to attend for the whole duration of the event.

If the above paragraph was any indication, we decided to only attend the convention for only one day, on the 9th. Instead of getting the early bird package, we are only buying the entrance and stage pass for a day. In addition, we are purchasing a Cat 3 ticket for the concert on that day. The rationale for compromising as such was because we felt that was not much of a point buying a 3-day entrance pass as the exhibition would largely be the same through the period.

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Suntec Convention Centre
The venue of the convention this year was at Suntec Convention Centre. The convention centre had been under renovation for some time. In fact, this year was the first time I went to the newly renovated place. I remembered feeling kinda lost, entering the place despite managing to reach the destination with the aid of signboards.

Accompanying us are my Junior College classmates, Timothy and Leon. They did not buy the concert tickets but they wanted to see what was the convention like. Despite buying the early bird package, Jie Sheng did not join us for the morning as he was exhausted from the concert the night before. Furthermore, he had already visited the exhibitions. Thus, he would only join us in the afternoon to prepare for tonight's concert.

In a twist of event, we realised that we only purchased the concert tickets online but did not buy the entrance pass tickets. Thinking back, since it was already day 2, maybe there was not much point in buying the entrance and stage pass. Now, why did I say that?

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Booths, booths, booths?!

View from the first floor. 
Need tickets to enter the exhibitors on the second floor. :)

The sight of queuing up for the entrance pass was truly a sight to behold. It has been some time since I saw such a long queue which twists and turns so numerous times, enough to fill a floor. While the scene was intimidating, the queue moves surprisingly fast. Within minutes, we are in the convention hall.

From Left: Johnston, Qi Xiang, Timothy, Leon

The queue is moving very fast! It is already clearing up!

Bandai Booth. You would find Gundam models here.

Shingeki no Kyojin fans would know what is this. Hahas.

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Gundam Models

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Pass the large Gundam models on display, you would be presented with a showcase of figurines from various animes.

Angel Beats!

Hatsune Miku & Vocaloids

Madoka

Accel World Universe

Fate Universe

Stein's Gate Universe

To aru Index

Code Geas

Others

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Past the figurines galore, there are also posters on display, some are for sale. Do note some are fan-made. 

Notice that those posters on display on the wall are meant to be free gifts for buying from the booths.
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One thing that was worth mentioning would be the long queues at certain booths, notably those selling anime merchandise. At those booths, it is not uncommon to see a queue snaking around the booth. To combat the crowd, these booths are designed such that they have only one entrance and one exit. In this way, the shopkeepers are able to control the number of people entering their booths. By controlling the inflow of the customers, it helps to prevent the customers who are inside the booth from feeling being squeezed by the crowd. This helps to improve the shopping experience of the customers.

Entering the booths, we quickly realised that most of the goods in demand were already sold out. Apparently, it is common for the merchandise to be out of stock within hours of opening on the first day of the convention. Bear in mind that we attended the convention on the second day. Yet, the queue is still considerably long, as the shoppers want to grab whatever is left. Not wanting to hinder them, we simply browsed through and continued exploring the rest of the exhibition hall.

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Stage Performances

The second aspect of the convention would be the performances at the main stage. These performances are showcased at a stipulated timing and require a stage pass to enter. After visiting some of the main stage events, I would say that unless you understand spoken Japanese, I would not recommend you to buy the stage pass. Yes, there is a translator on-site who will help to translate what was spoken to English. However, in doing so, it disrupts the flow of the dialogue and much of the essence of the discussion is lost in the process. While there are song performances, interviews are more common at the main stage. Thus, if you are coming to listen to songs or band performances, you should save the money and buy yourself a concert ticket instead. (It is more worth it, trust me.)

Below is a song performed by Azusa TADOKORO, enjoy. :)

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Mini Stage
These performances are not performed at the main stage. Rather, they can be found at the booths. They have a timetable too though you would have to go to their booths to find out.


This was the theme song of the AFA this year, Origami. The singer is Valerie who is a Singaporean. She was scouted in 2010 at the AFA's maid cafe. She was a member of the now-defunct anisong idol group, Sea*A. After the disbanding of Sea*A, Valerie continues as a solo act, as part of the Asian Pop Collective, based in Singapore. Currently, she is a regular emcee for AFA's official youtube channel, "WOW JAPAN".

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Cosplay Fest

Of course, we should not forget another attraction of the convention - Cosplays! Not an advertised feature in the convention itself, in that the organisers do not hire cosplayers. (I hope? They do invite famous cosplayers to grace the event though.) Somehow, everyone just took the opportunity to cosplay for the convention and it has been the tradition since. The good thing about is that you do not need to own an entrance pass to have access to the cosplayers. (Save the renowned guest cosplayers, of course.) Most of the cosplayers can be found along the hallways, outside the exhibition halls.

 

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I <3 Anisong

Night soon befall upon us. As this was the first time we were attending the concert, we were caught off guard by how early the others went to gather at the main stage entrance. We were alerted by Jie Sheng who asked if we were at the gathering area. Alarmed, we rushed for dinner and bolted for the concert hall entrance. Fortunately, it all went well as we managed to secure the front rows for Cat 3.

So many people, so early.

While I was worried that being at the furthest position, (being Cat 3) would affect the concert experience, my fears were quickly dispelled when the concert started. Though I was unable to look at the singers up close (privilege of Cat 1), the screens did help to give us a clear yet close view of the stage. One benefit of being at the front row of Cat 3 was that we can look over the crows and be able to view the stage. I am not sure how is it like at other areas where everyone is standing up too, obscuring your with human heads at every side.

Singers for Saturday Concert:

1. Eir Aoi
2. LiSA
3. Milky Holmes (Suzuko Mimori, Sora Tokui, Mikoi Sasaki and Izumi Kitta,)
4. May'n

The singers were all great but if I had to choose. I would say I enjoyed LiSA's performances the most. Her segment was the most engaging and interactive. She came up with a simple dance gesture for us to follow along as she sings. I found that very interesting and I had a lot of fun during her segment.

Being in a Japanese concert for the first time, I really could feel the energy from their fans from Cat 1 and 2. All their cheers and waving of the light sticks to the rhythm was really energising. So this is what a concert feels like, hahas.

After the concert, we were exhausted but we really enjoyed ourselves. In fact, we are tempted to attend next year's concert. :P 

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tl;dr: AFA 13, booths were average, concert is to die for.

X-encounter

Secret War Journal[November 2013]
I can't set flight from here
Just looking at your profile won't help
I could lament my powerlessness
But that's not a tactic anyone would recommend

Birds that have forgotten how to fly
Cry their hearts out in regret

There is something I desire
From this cold, inhumane world
But that's not all there is to it
There's a certain hope already welling inside of me

What am I capable of?
I won't find out until I give it a shot
I sprint towards the start line
I'm sure this is how it was meant to be
So I spread my wings and kick off the ground hard
And take off to where you are
Here comes the ravens

Fight! Keep holding on!
We'll come together in the middle of a thousand loops
Right here on this place
My destiny can no longer be stopped
No how little
I can actually do

Whatever you may be burdened with
I hope to be able to share your pain
Until that day, I'll stay by your side
Now's the time to fly, ravens.



Raven by *theDURRRRIAN on deviantART

Introversion

Secret War Journal[18 October 2013]

As someone who works with people all the time, you’d think I’d be an extrovert. I’m friendly. I’m not shy. But when I get close to my “people time” limit, it’s time to shut down, be quiet and hole up with a good book. I love helping people, but there’s a huge reason that I balance that type of work with work where I get to be quiet and dive in to working with words instead of being bombarded with interaction.

It’s because—although I don’t fall into some of the old stereotypes—I’m an introvert.

I spent years feeling guilty if I wanted to spend time alone instead of doing things with friends. I learned to make the best of it, and often pushed myself to be social—even when it felt exhausting. Many people do this, as extroversion tends to be prized in our society, while introversion is seen as a “second-class personality trait, somewhere between a disappointment and a pathology.” It is none of those things. It’s the way an estimated two-thirds to one-half of us are wired, and it can be our greatest asset.

As I mentioned, being introverted isn’t the same thing as being shy (though there’s nothing wrong with being shy either). Many shy people are also introverted, but one doesn’t really have much to do with the other. The best explanation I was ever given (and maybe one of the biggest “aha!” moments of my adult life) was that while extroverts are energized by connecting and spending time with others, introverts need inward-focused, alone time to recharge.

Being introverted has nothing to do with lack of confidence. Many confident people are introverted, and gather their strength from the time they spend alone rather than from the input of others. In some ways, I believe that the ability to enjoy being by yourself says a great deal about your confidence.
It isn’t that introverts don’t like social time—it’s that for us, social time is giving out energy rather than receiving energy.

A lot of us fall somewhere in the middle between the two, and some interactions take more out of people than others.

A few things to consider if someone you care about falls more on the introverted end of the spectrum:

1. Think of each of us as having a cup of energy available.

For introverts, most social interactions take a little out of that cup instead of filling it the way it does for extroverts. Most of us like it. We’re happy to give and love to see you. When the cup is empty, though, we need some time to refuel. We aren’t mad. We don’t stop caring about you. We’ll be so happy to see you and talk to you again when we’ve had some time to decompress.

2. Silence isn’t a bad thing.

Really. It’s not an insult. It’s the introvert’s way of conserving energy and restoring him or herself. If we can be quiet with you (and you can be content being quiet with us) it’s a huge compliment and a huge relief. Other times the quiet really does need to be spent alone. We come back when we’re ready. It’s worth the wait.

3. Just because someone is friendly, she isn’t necessarily an extrovert; just because someone is quiet doesn’t mean he’s an introvert.

If you pay attention to people you care about, often you can see what energizes them and what drains them. If you aren’t sure, ask. If you notice a friend seems wiped out, ask if spending time together sounds like fun or if they’d like some down time. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve become almost giddy because plans were cancelled—even with people I love. When you know someone needs some space in order to re-energize, be respectful and give it to them. It isn’t rejection.

4. Text. Write letters. Email. We love it.

There are times that you can’t beat a face to face conversation, I’d agree 100%. But for introverts, sometimes being able to stay connected and stay in touch in a less intense and less draining way is a huge help. Being in crowds is tough. Even long conversations can be tough if we’re already “peopled out.” Having the freedom to respond when we are ready is a great feeling. Sometimes, it’s right away. If it’s not, don’t be offended. (It’s not you…it’s me. Really!)

5. All of this really comes down to respect.

Each of us has our own set of boundaries, our own way of communicating and our own needs. When you care about someone, you choose to communicate with him or her in ways that show you love and respect them. If your cup is filled by lots of interaction with others, go for it! Be in tune with your own needs, and enjoy the way that time with others energizes you. If someone you love is an introvert, and needs time to him or herself, tune into and respect that as well. We don’t do activities alone because we are sad, or negative or depressed; we do it because that’s what fills our cup back up. We’ll be even happier to see you when we come back.
One of the best things I’ve read on the subject was the book Quiet: The Power of Introverts by Susan Cain. The shorter 12-question quiz on her site can give you some good insights into your own personal introversion or extroversion that bypasses some of those long held stereotypes (P.S. I’m 12 for 12).

-  By Kate Bartolotta

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Source: Thought Catalog

Magneta Nano

Secret War Journal[October 2013]



Got addicted to this song recently. Enjoy!

Gravity

Secret War Journal[6 November 2013][Spoiler Alert]
Formal Review Background

Winning the "Future Film Festival Digital Award" at the Venice Film Festival, this film visualises what happens if there were to be a man-made catastrophe in space.

The film excels on the heavy use of visual effects to depict the various scenes enacted in the film.

Personal Thoughts
I have no idea why this is categorised as a sci-fic thriller. I was certainly not in any way thrilled by the execution of the movie. There was little suspense, little tension and little excitement from the scenes.

I blame it on the way the scenes are played out. Watching the trailer before the screening made matters worse. The trailer shows you how the story would develop, throwing the suspension right out of the window. Most of the time, I had gripes with the pacing of the show because the film goes in circles to get to the point. We all know the satellite is going to be destroyed by the debris. Get on with it. All this adds to the frustration of trying to 'will' the movie to advance with the plot instead of watching the character drifting in space. While I may acknowledge that it is to highlight to the audience that this is space and when you are lost, you simply drift, but it was done too repetitively. Simply said, it was too much and too long.

The plot twists from the various obstacles she faced along her way to escape was quite a let-down, especially when you knew the length of the film. There was no way the main character would escape without a problem since we have like 60 minutes remaining?

I was kind of disappointed that the male lead was killed, however imminent it was. I dislike shows with only one character on screen but I must admit such a plot device helps to improve the realism of the show (which it excels in).

There was a heart attack moment on the audience when nearing the end of the film, all the signs seems to point towards the female character giving up and tries to commit suicide. As my best friend likes to put it, "If she dies, the theater owes me a movie ticket." While this was done to emulate how an actual person would do when all hope is seemingly gone, it is not appropriate in a thriller. What this scene only serves to frustrate the audience who already cannot wait for the conclusion. Instead of creating suspense (from what? What happens after she dies?), tension (tension from who? No one else is alive...), excitement (what's there left when she just wants to ends her life), what is left is disappointment.

Thus I was kinda glad and relieved when she decides not to instead. How she got the brainwave to escape was cliché but bearable.

Overall, I would not recommend watching this. Unless you are an emotional person who likes to empathise with the characters, you should not be watching this. I would not even recommend this to CGI fans. While there may be various eye candy on the effects (as realistic as they may), I believe there are better films out there with as good effects and better plot.