J-POP Anime Festival: THE MOONLAND WANTS YOU

So, the Japanese Embassy, along with its foundation, organized some kind of event that commemorates J-POP, Anime, and Manga, which are some of the main attractions one can get from the most coveted land of Japan. I was out there for the lulz. Wait, that was wrong: I WAS JUST PASSING BY.

By the way, I didn’t get too much pics since this was be one crappy event, so to speak. Just the main attractions, nothing else.

The J-POP Anime Matsuri (J-POP－アニメ祭り), or J.A.M in short, kicked off by the time the Shang opened up at around 10:30 AM, gathering crowds and crowds of people by the minute. Cosplayers readied up at the backstage, while wapanese people pretending they can read Japanese gathered up at the “lounge” full of Japanese magazines, manga, and drawing tutorials, which were mostly on raw. The officials and important people were reserved at the front seats, while the back seats were occupied by “interested” people.

This human-sized thing was standing right in front of the “gate”.

I dare not call it by its namesake.

Aside from the events listed above, there were also human-sized (not really, imagine 7 or 8 feet sophisticated blocks of metal) mechas, face painting (for those who have little care on their visage and wish to have their faces as available canvas for phail artists) and hair coloring (for those who wish to look like anime-ish just be cause they have different hair). The regime of the program was pretty much all on cosplay, guests speakers (mostly from the embassy), some basic Moonspeak for the aspiring wapanese, promotions on J-POP and some Anime titles as “singers” (because they know Japanese, they can sing it) wear their lungs out on OPs and EDs of some popular titles (yeah, good ol’ Voltes V). Also, the Embassy took its time to bring out the Japanese Language Proficiency Course for people who want to know Japanese, and for people who want to study or work on Moonland. No, there were no prepared somethings for the manga category, so I have to bitch that out.

“Japanization”: Make things look “Moonified”

Of course, the Moonland look never fails as some people wore yukatas and kimonos for the event, mostly from the people within the foundation. They also displayed some items sporting the cultural imagery of Japan. I can’t say it’s overreacting, but hey, dressing up in a “festival” ain’t bad after all.

The cosplay is still so-so as usual. Never was a fan of it anyway, but this one cosplayer caught my attention very clearly:

This Optimus Prime is 8 to 9 feet, intricately designed, AND YES, IT’S NOT A DISPLAY.

Clearly, this has gotten my attention. No, don’t make me crack Tony Stark jokes again. If I saw a good Iron Man cosplayer, I’d commit seppuku. I FUCKING SWEAR.

I also found out I know the guy. Mark Cerezo. He’s a Transformers fanatic, particularly Optimus Prime, hence the “costume”. The suit is actually made of rubber, mostly from your everday pieces worn under your feet (doesn’t smell like athlete’s foot, though). The feet up to the legs is already around 5 to 6 feet, and the arms from the shoulders to the hands are 4 to 5 feet, and are interchangable from free hands to hands holding laser cannons (for that photo-op opportunity). I’d dare not elaborate further on the “internals”, as he might get mad, but yeah, you get the picture. This guy’s been on a winning streak with that suit, and it’s nasty that he’s rigged to win this one. I fear the Decepticons are in for a grand defeat on reality, and shit.

After a few more hours, I decided to flee and go home. Not much, not few, event-wise. Anybody who went in with expectations went out disappointed, as always. You’ll feel you’ve went into Comiket, minus goods and the feeling of contentment, so yeah.

It’s free anyways, so fuck, what gives a damn.