sumurai's Report (Continued)

Then the gate finally opened! And everyone started pushing around! People were busy grabbing freebies, among them a Ragnarok Online beta CD that were being distributed by the organizers inside.

What I saw inside was nothing more than a sea of people, a few booths and a stage at the far end. Ragnarok Online were being promoted in a corner by an organizer giving out posters, CDs and other Ragnarok merchandise.

Ragnarok board stands

It was really hot and suffocating inside. We went around, following the flow of the crowd. A few people were cosplaying as Ragnarok characters, entertaining the audience and having photo sessions with them. There were also a few anime retail booths there selling Video CDs, models and collectibles.

But I don't understand why they even have a mobile phone booth and a digital camera booth there, in an event that features anime! There was also a booth showing off mobile phone ringtones and screensaver downloads.

Part of the attraction at the Festival were the toys and collectibles being displayed. Those that I can identity were Macross, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Sailormoon, CiBoys, Ultraman, Bearbrick, Starcom and Final Fantasy.

Macross!	Bearbrick!
CiBoys!

It looked like AXN also invited toys' and collectibles' owners to display their stuff to the audience.

More CiBoys!

Meanwhile, contestants of the drawing competition were busy doing their sketches in one corner of the hall. There was also a sumo wrestler game at the event, where players wear fat suits to knock each other out of the ring!

As we moved further, we saw some 'live' art demonstration by people from Malaysia Amateur Artist Online (MAAO). Their artwork was also displayed around the booth. A crowd congregated there, watching them draw. Next to them was a booth from the Multimedia University (MMU). What are they doing there?

The art display

Later in the evening, there were performances by cosplay contestants as well as the local pop group, BY'U. But we went home as soon as the cosplay performances ended. But we left our mark there by drawing and signing on the grafitti wall!

It appeared to be a successful event, judging by the number of visitors. However, it was in fact disappointing to most of the anime fans that went there. There was not much to see there, especially with several "unrelated" booths there displaying mobile phones; digital cameras and promoting their SMS service. They made the event less anime-ish than a real Anime Festival should have been. AXN should have invited more anime-related people and companies to spice up the event.

However, it was good of AXN to launch their first event here since there has not been any anime event organised by a major organiser before. With the experience they learned this time, hopefully we can expect a better AXN Anime Festival next year!