I may not have a “OMG I met the Great Danny Choo!!!” story to tell, but instead, a present you this: My tl;dr UP AME 8th Avenue con report!! This is weeks late, considering the event was way back last November 8, but who cares. I had fun writing this, and I can only hope you do too! Beware, this post is full of e-peen, kinda.

A brief intro for starters: Think of AME (Anime Manga Enthusiasts) as the counterpart of Genshiken; it’s the anime/manga organization in one of the top universities in the country, UP Diliman. I don’t have much inside info about this organization since I’m neither part of it, nor do I hail from the aforementioned university (Animo LaSalle!), but from what I gather, AME is most known for the annual anime event they organize, and has since become one of the most anticipated anime cons each year.

This year marks the 8th anniversary of AME (hence the ‘8th Avenue’) and the organizers opted for a Harajuku-centric theme, so on top of the usual individual and group cosplays, they also had this “Harajuku fashion contest” (since Harajuku is a well-known fashion district in Japan), which I was no longer able to witness because I had to hurry home. Blah blah blah, I know you’re tired of reading this intro so on with the event coverage!

A Stormy Prelude

The weather gods bestowed us their blessing last Saturday, putting the 雨[ame] in this AME event (literally). Before the outpour of otakus in the place, there was an outpour of RAIN (freaking rain with semi-turbulent WINDS, demmit), which got me all soaking wet from waist down because I was by the roadside for about 20 minutes waiting for my jeepney ride! RAWRR. Good thing I wore a jacket so at least my blouse was kept safe from the rain, whew. I met up with my officemates, who accompanied me in buying a pair of slippers because my rubber shoes was all soaked (wouldn’t want my feet to stink now, would I?), before finally heading to the venue.

Into the Heart of the Con

A few minutes later, we found ourselves joining the long queue of people buying tickets, and I took this opportunity to take random shots of people in the queue and other cosplayers arriving in the scene, particularly this bunch of Naruto cosplayers who really stand out from the crowd (that’s a compliment btw). The venue was bigger than where Anicon and Cosmania (report on this has yet to materialize lol) were held (SM Megatrade Hall), but it was still jampacked as ever, despite having a second floor for other activities. Fortunately, it was more organized than the aforementioned cons, so there wasn’t much of a hassle despite the long queue and overall crowded-ness.

Strolling Around

There was this Q&A/gift giveaway session going on in the first floor by the time we got inside, and since we didn’t want to miss out on the fun (or the lack thereof), we decided to take a little peek, curious as we are. Apparently, it’s an Animax Promotion gig; they’re the major sponsor of this event, after all. Might as well pimp as much as possible, right? So the emcees ask the audience Animax-related questions, and every correct answer earns you an Animax freebie! w00t? We never bothered checking what the prizes at stake are though; none of us were zealous (and thick-skinned) enough to want to go up the stage and answer the questions that would’ve led us to fame. I guess it’s better that way too, at least we won’t know what we missed out on, heh. Oh, and a Yankumi cosplayer was one of the brave souls who went up the stage for this, and she was made to catwalk first before answering the question lol

We headed upstairs not long after, to check out what’s in store for us in the activity area, only to find out we had to pay extra monies the darts game, whose promised plushie prizes already ran out of stock T__T; Not like playing darts will be any memorable or worth posting about, unless I tried out and ended up hitting someone else instead. Then it would’ve been quite a hit! (literally)

We proceeded to the fanart exhibit after that, which made me all nostalgic about fanart-ing. Ahh, those were the days~ My faves among the fanarts has got to be this watercolor art from Bleach, and the one beside it… from Trinity Blood, if I’m not mistaken.

BL biases aside (not like I have ‘em), I found this Kurama x Hiei fanart pretty impressive as well.

There was also this Soul x Maka fanart which I found rather cute.

On the same floor was the AME 8th Avenue Café (pun on RuroKen’s 4th Avenue Café?), which catered to both fanboys and fangirls as it featured meidos and butlers cosplaying waiters and waitresses! The meidos in Anicon were cuter, but hey, at least they’ve got guys here! I didn’t get up-close-and-personal with the mighty waiters, however, since that would rob me of the right to call myself a ‘stalker’, so I just stood by the sidelines and took pictures. Which reminds me, there was also this Photo Booth within the area, which is like a part-time photo studio and part-time stalker, as you can pay them to take your pic, or ask them to take a picture of a certain someone. Pandering to the shy otakus, I see. Gotta wonder who availed of this.

And of course, let us not forget to mention one of the main highlights of UP AME, no other than… *drumroll* the Speed Dating! The perfect way for otakus to find the love of their life!!111ONE11! *insert cute onion head emoticon here* It turned out to be a big hit (no surprise in that), seeing how there was about 6+ rounds for the speed dating event. I didn’t dare joining because I’m a wimp, and the thought of meeting “super otakus” kinda scared me off -___-; I bet most of the participants are in their teens anyways, so unless I want to be called a shotacon, no way. Then again, I could easily pass as a teenager, haha.

It would’ve been great for the kicks though. And I guess if I really wanted, I could’ve taken a look at the guys signing up to see if my predictions were any true. If there ever was a guy I deem worthy of my affection then I wouldn’t have hesitated to sign up… NOT! But darn, it only occurred to me that the speed dating would’ve been the perfect opportunity to pimp our blog!! Would love to see their reaction when I say “Wanna get to know me better? Visit my blog *wink* “ I guess I should start making business cards of our blog now, like tj, it’ll come in handy in times like these lol. Any one of our readers who participated in the Speed Dating and would like to share their stories? You can drop us an email if you’re too shy to comment

A few minutes later, our rumbling tummies led us downstairs, to the food stalls just outside the venue. We grabbed some takoyaki for snacks, and tried out some of the curry potato balls that Dean bought. Our happy snack time was accompanied by the sirens of the karaoke participants, many of which made me wanna scream 原曲レイプ[1] (Genkyoku RAEEEEPPP)!!!!!! especially the off-key rendition of YUI’s LIFE -_-; Someone also sang Cruel Angel Thesis (Neon Genesis Evangelion OP), Triangular (Macross Frontier OP), and Mystic Eyes (Vision of Escaflowne ED), but alas, there wasn’t quite justice for them too (but at least it wasn’t off-key? >.>). There was another participant who sang Hare Hare Yuukai, which was pretty good, but would’ve been much better had it been accompanied with the famous dance

Then, as we were taking a look at the booths around the place (partially ignoring the karaoke competition going on), one contestant emerged from the shadows… it’s a Ranka-chan!! I’m not really a Ranka or Macross Frontier fan, but I got [subconsciously] excited and found myself recording her performance. I was imbued by the spirit of the Ranka / Macross Frontier fans, I guess, so yeah, this one’s for you, ghostlightning, Crusader, Shin, Martin, also otou-san and Kabitzin (a little (?), since it doesn’t seem like these two are really fond of Ranka lol), and other fans out there. Given her all-out performance (with the costume and dance choreography), I really thought she was gonna win the competition, but the results said otherwise, as she has very well said in her blog. The one who sang Hare Hare Yuukai won, according to her, and I’d have to say it was well-deserved. Does this mean no extra points for the dance choreography and stuff? D:

Now for a little segue. I don’t know much about these karaoke events, considering this is the first time I got to witness one, but I really thought it would be comprised of divas / competitive singers, since only 15 people could participate. And what can I say, I underestimated the power of the gutsy zealous otakus, who had the courage to go up the stage, with their love for singing anime theme songs, even though singing doesn’t love them! Yes I’m an egotistic bastard, sue me. This actually made me relieved, since I was also trying to gauge the standards in these singing competitions, and seeing how the so-called “standards” isn’t that high made me gain the courage and confidence to join one, because even if my performance turns out sucky, someone is bound to be suckier hahahaha I just hope I won’t eat my words later, lol. It’s also reassuring that the participants are allowed to have the lyrics in hand while singing, so mental blackout (with regards to lyrics) isn’t something to be afraid of. RAWR.

…and this post has become incredibly long and self-indulgent, more of the cosplay piccies and lengthy commentaries in the next part!

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1. Fun Times @ UP AME 8th Avenue Part 2: The Art of Filipino Cosplaying
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