AFA 2023 - STARDOM, Kisses and Boredom

Anime Festival Asia. An event that I swore an oath to not attend anymore. An event that causes anger years past. Disappointment always goes hand in hand whenever "AFA" is mentioned.

Yet here I am, waking up early and braving the snaking queue.

The wait to enter the venue was excruciating and the human traffic was horrendous. Event goers, exhibitors, vendors and guests, all using the same walkways where you can feel each one's breath and sweat. Resonating around are blaring stage announcements, patter from vendors doing sales transactions and conversations of people, mostly of cringe. Its gonna be a long day.....

As mentioned in most of previous articles, I hate attending AFA. Yet, I parted 30SGD, enduring the queue, jostling around the human traffic... Why??

Its because of this: 

See that word over there? Its STARDOM, a female only wrestling promotion Yes... attend I must.

So AFA in a nutshell: Wrestling, Watching, Mingling. The rest, Boring. (I dont care if readers come with pitchforks due to this!)

As mentioned, the queue was brutal. It literally meanders and zigzags all around the Suntec venue. Well all around floor 1 to 3. One of the main reasons is them having all things Hololive including their concert, being held today. Hololive has suddenly become the most trending thing among otakus, thus the surging crowd. Thank god I have company during the 1 hour long wait. Thankfully my wristbands were redemned days before, with that I avoided the extra queue.

Look at the massive crowd!

The actual flow goes like this:

1) Queue and buy your writsbands
2) Queue for bag checks
3) Queue to scan your wristbands and enter venue.

From AFA website, the flow from redemption to entry

To be fair, it was quite smooth once the queue starts moving. Though managing the snaking lines should be done better. Latecomers have no idea where to queue up. Additionally, certain points for bag checks has less manpower, thus the disparity of how quickly one can enter from their respective queue points.

Layout of AFA

Ah the wristbands. And the price. Yes AFA have raised their ticket prices. It is now 30SGD just to enter the exhibition area. Its way too expensive for me, I grimaced when I had to part money for it. They have to thank wrestling for making me and most of my friends to come over.

AFA wristband in its full glory...

Within the venue, there are 3 things I need to accomplish

1) Get a cosplayer's photobook
2) Watch the STARDOM performance
3) Watch KissBee performance

Task 1 was done fairly quickly. Thankfully was 3rd in queue. Priority is nailing the photobook, thus not meeting the cosplayer was OK for me. Done and dusted, off to the next tasks.

Guess you know who the cosplayer is

Performances were done at Akiba Stage. My Akiba Stage plan as followed: Kirameki Future, Re-Tired/Tokimeki Jump, KissBee and DearKiss.

Someone sung Baka Mitai on stage

Kirameki Future is our local cover group mostly doing alternative idol songs. Interesting choice of ZOC's Idol Song, CY8ER's Hakuchuumu and Appare's Apparaina. Took chekis with Evie and Yukira. Coincidentally Evie will perform as Vie Hana later in the day.

Kirameki Future on stage

Next was Re-Tired/Tokimeki Jump. A collaboration performance between 2 local groups "Re-Tired" and "Tokimeki Jump". Re-Tired consists of ex members from Natsuiro Party. My ex-oshi inside, I have to support. Tokimeki Jump also had a milestone, it was Natsumi's final performance in AFA. Unfortunately I have to leave after the 3rd song and I was late for STARDOM's wrestling. Sorry Natsumi...

FINALLY! STARDOM!

And I was late.

Missed the first match and I dont have a good vantage point to take photos let alone see the showcase. Its evident from the photos here.

Due to the massive logistics effort, the ring used was from our local wrestling promotion Grapple Max. Have been following them although yet to watch their matches proper. They have grown quite alot. They started out their humble beginnings by wrestling on mat. This is to place further emphasis on skills and technique. Now they have their own ring!

The current roster for the Singapore event

Regardless they put up a good show! Unfortunately one of the wrestlers, Momo Watanabe, was unable to come over due to passport issues. Deep inside, I wished that Bushiroad would do another seperate event instead. Also dont mind they do an actual STARDOM only show here.

Another unfortunate thing, STARDOM didnt bring their merchandise. Only spoils I got were the Bushiroad freebies and the STARDOM file. Curse of disappointment that is AFA!

Afterwards is back to the Akiba Stage. Just in time for KissBee!

KissBee is the other Japanese female group performing. The other being Dear Kiss. Unfortunately they are performing for 1 day only. They were the main reason that I chose Saturday instead of Sunday. I really want to utilize the value of the ticket. I rather go to a day that has more "content".

KissBee on stage

Ahhh... KissBee didnt bring their full lineup. Instead 4 members were selected to attend AFA. Story goes, they have an event back home and they had to reach a goal in some mobile game to nail the right to attend. They kinda dont hype themselves much about attending AFA, perhaps afraid of the reception? Anyways alot of the old generation wotas were looking forward to it. Thankfully they have a buppan too!

Nonoka waving to crowd

Took a cheki with member Nonoka. But I was duped by the pricing. Seriously the people manning the buppan should do better. (And your fault AFA, your space given is too small too!). A cheki costs 15sgd and to have it signed (aka talk time) costs another 10sgd. In all, pay 25SGD for a signed cheki. And you pass the cash to the member. Because the staff were not available during the transaction, gave 30SGD to the idol and they pocketed my change. Sigh, but I let it pass, cant blame the idol much since they might not know how much is the denomination. Overall, at least I have a cheki session with an idol group here, and its a different one.

Next was watching DearKiss. I lost count by the number of times "Sign Wa B" and "Idol" were performed by the different performers onstage LOL. Didnt opt for their buppan since 30SGD flew away prior...

Instead send them off at the airport where I got a group photo

Had some time and watched boys group "Forbidden Equation" perform. Boy or girl, regardless, the wotas all do their mixes haha. Sadly no photos of them.

And just like that it was end of AFA. Ended the day with dinner in Long John Silvers.

Cheki of Nonoka...

Apart from wrestling and the idol groups, nothing much for me to do in AFA. Most of the booths cater for the younger generation. I really dont feel the ticket price justifies the stuff that are inside AFA. AFA is getting more crowded too,. Feels like they've outgrown the place, perhaps its time they change venue.

Although tickets are expensive, I still stand that if your content is good, I wont mind. Honestly, I couldnt care anymore. Its always the same old rehashed stuff.

Although I do agree that the Ultraman and STARDOM showcase were fantastic. Perhaps they can build upon that to attract people and justify the amount they paid. I love variety in events. Bring more idols, then more people, especially overseas, will come. Honest truth. Well if one can dare play crypto, why not try this "gamble". At least noone will do a rugpull aye.

Well catching up with all my friends was great too. Some whom I didnt meet in years. Had fun reminiscing those good old times over coffee.

Ah, we are getting old....

Chekis Obtained:

1x Nonoka (KissBee)

1x Vie Hana (Kirameki Future)
1x Yukira (Kirameki Future)
1x Miki (Re-Tired)