I missed the EOY (End Of Year) cosplay event last year as I was in Japan for a month. Little did I know that it was to be the last EOY ever, as the organizers had run out of people to keep the thing running.

Fortunately, the event name was acquired by a new group of people and given new life. Under the new administration, a lot has changed from the familiar practices of past EOY events, some for the better.

The most prominent change is of course the venue this year: the Drama Centre on the 3rd floor of the National Library. While I can see the advantage of moving the event from the Singapore EXPO, located at the eastern tip of the island, to a more central location in the city area, the National Library just seems to be an odd place to have such an event. For one thing, cosplay events are always very noisy and flashy.

The Drama Centre consists of a decent-sized theatre, where the on-stage programmes were held, and a rather spacious lobby area, where the cosplayers and doujin booths were located. Of course, while the lobby was more than roomy enough to serve its primary function, it was wholly inadequate as a cosplay area. Walking space was extremely limited and there was very little room for any photo-taking. In the end, most of it spilled outside to the first floor, which I think the librarians were not too happy about.

The event area does have pretty good natural lighting, but unfortunately it turned cloudy and started to rain immediately after I arrived. And as I had predicted in my AFA09 post, I once again did not have in my possession an external flash for my camera. Maybe next time.

Due to the unholy trinity of the stage programmes in the fully-packed theatre, the overcast sky and lunchtime, there was pretty much nothing for me to take pictures of when I got there. Fortunately, the sky cleared later in the afternoon and all the cosplayers came out of hiding.

For some inexplicable reason, the organizers invited Yui Makino to perform and sign autographs at the event. It just seems so out-of-place and bizarre for a cosplay event. Perhaps the new committee has greater things in mind for EOY…

The Gundam was too huge to fit into the event area and had to stay around the open area on the first floor.

Interestingly, I applied for a media pass for this event which was supposedly approved. When I asked for it at the entrance, the guy gave me the pass without verifying anything. This seems very easily abusable, and considering the fact that the normal entry ticket costs S$15…

I want to say that EOY this year felt more professional than the previous ones, but I think professional isn’t the right word. It feels more commercialized, despite the organizer’s assurance that EOY continues to be a fan-organized event for fans.

With the new SOY (start of year) cosplay event being organized by Ngee Ann Polytechnic’s Japanese Cultural Club next year, there are now four annual cosplay events in Singapore: Cosfest, Anime Festival Asia, EOY and SOY, all of them taking place within a short span of half a year. Does anyone else think that this is getting a bit out of hand?

Pictured above is the best cosplay of the whole event, according to me. Rei does exist in real-life.

I arrived at the Expo quite late and didn’t stay for very long, but I still had to pay the $12 entrance fee. I really should have applied for the media pass, but I wasn’t sure if I was going and also I’m lazy.

I did get even by paying them with a $5 Brunei note which is actually legal tender in Singapore due to the fixed one-one exchange rate, but the plan backfired on me because I had to wait while they confirm the validity of the note.

Costumes I liked

First picture of the day

How long did it take?

Nice ass. o_o

Gives off the right vibes

Best costume if not for Rei

It’s really Rei

Random stuff

Who’s that lurking at the back?

It’s Bj0rn the worm!

Backlash is a bitch

“In the name of the Moon, I shall punish you!”

I want one :(

Dangerous bunch

The real GN-004

“I thought you were supposed to be Mikuru?” “No, you!”

Too many

Maybe next year some kind-hearted person will give me a media pass. *hint hint*

You can see the rest of my pictures in my gallery as usual. I didn’t take a lot of pictures because I was there for less than two hours.

I’m using Canon EOS 400D with a Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 lens. As you can see from some of the Dynames cosplay pictures (taken with the internal flash), I really need a Speedlite.

You can contact me if you want the original 10-megapixel JPGs. I distribute them under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0 License.

The quality is bad because it was taken by me with a Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W1 camera. In addition to photography, I also suck at video recording and editing.

Shangri-La is a really nice song and this performance was pretty darn good. Atsuko would have been proud. BTW, you can hear me and Tsubaki talking. <_<

The programme sheet doesn’t say who the singer was. Whoever you are, PLEASE BE AT THE NEXT COSPLAY EVENT TOO! Me love you long time. :3

Pictures, lots and lots of pictures. They say a picture speaks a thousand words. I suck at speaking, so I shall pad my post with pictures.

Oh shi- I just remembered that I suck at taking pictures too. Oh well, I bet it’s still worth at least 100 words apiece.

I actually arrived at the event area at about 12pm+ and waited nearly 2 hours before tj han and tsubaki arrived. ZZZzzzz.

Umehiko was also with them and I joined their party to fight a high level boss. The loot sucked. umehiko was the Yuki cosplayer btw.

After slaying the boss and selling the loot, we went for lunch at Burger King. I noticed that the Gundam SEED cosplayers were all eating Burger King. Burger King: where all Gundam pilots eat. Worst Burger King I’ve ever eaten btw.

After lunch, we walked back to the event area. The organisers didn’t rent a convention hall and used a conference hall instead. It’s quite small but sufficient until late afternoon when it got really crowded.

Did I mention that I suck at photography? I did? Okay.

The event location actually had relatively good lighting compared to Cosfest. But my camera and I suck, so together we managed to screw up anyway.

I bet no one saw me at the event. I was in a brilliant disguise. Here’s my T-shirt design btw.

R.O.D., get it? No? It’s okay. Only DrmChsr0 got the joke the first time. I guess I suck at humour too. orz

Umehiko spent the rest of the day calling me “R.O.D.-kun”. Yet another nickname to add to my collection. Just a few more before I forget my real identity.

The whole place felt like it was filled with Rozen Maidens. Okay maybe not, but you couldn’t look in any direction without seeing one.

I was attacked by a rogue Domo-kun. I think it mistook me for a kitty.

So anyway we walked around and we took pictures and we walked around and we took pictures and we walked around more and we took more pictures. Time flies when you are having fun.

According to the programme sheet, which was given to those people who paid the $12 entrance fee, there was going to be a live performance of “God knows…” and “Lost my music” at 5.30pm by a mysterious band called “SOS Dan”.

That performance didn’t happen. We were conned. Tsubaki threatened to tear the place down.

That said, the girl who sang Shangri-la was AWESOME!!! (Was it Rika? The programme sheet doesn’t say.) Hope to hear more next time. :)

There were two Haruhi cosplayers and umehiko was the only Yuki. No Mikuru, Ryouko or Tsuruya. Booooo.

HARUHIISM WILL TAKE OVER THE WORLD!

Other than the lack of “God knows…”, we were also quite pissed with the event organizers for letting people in for free in the afternoon. What was our 12 bucks for? A lousy UV stamp, an inaccurate programme sheet and an issue of Playworks which no one reads? I feel cheated. BTW bj0rn was one of those who entered for free. Bastard.

From what I have been hearing, the organization of the stage programmes was really, really bad. That explains why the printed programme sheets seem to be completely off. Also, the hosts made one bad joke for every two lines they spoke. *shudder*

Although the event was clearly not very well organized, the turnout was pretty good and that was all that matter. Seriously, no one goes to cosplay events for the stage performances. It’s all about the cosplayers.

Which brings me back to the topic of how much I suck at taking pictures. I apologize to everyone pictured here.

^I felt like an asshole for not buying anything. It’s the thought that counts, maybe?

I prefer boku to desu. Just how many Rozen Maidens were at the event?

The scene of massive pwnage. The School Rumble team had Harima too, but I didn’t manage to get his picture. Oh well.

There’s just something magical about nekomimi. It is genetically embedded into every one of us.

Pretty darn cool Shana at the event. Tsubaki says that she was the highlight of the entire thing. Too bad my photography sucks.

おおきな夢＆夢　スキでしょ？
ooki na yume & yume suki desho?

View the rest of the pictures.

After the event, the group of us went to Changi Airport and we had sushi for dinner. My wallet burns…

If only I didn’t have to pay 12-fricking-dollars to enter the place. I feel so cheated. CHEATED! And I didn’t even get to have a cool press pass to wave around in people’s face.

I’m dead tired. I need to sleep.

P.S. Leave a comment here if you want the full 5mp version of any picture you see in the gallery. Then again, my photography skill sucks so that’s impossible. :P