On the 22nd and 23rd of November, the very first AFA will be held at the Suntec Convention Hall. This is the first time so big an event is being held here in Singapore. As the name suggests, the theme of the event is anime and manga. There will be special zones that would cater to the cravings of every fan out there like Mangaka, Planet Mech, Anime Live, Akiba Town, etc.

Here are some of the highlights of the event.

Featured Guest

SUPA ROBO SPIRITS!

The undisputed king of anison, Ichirou Mizuki, will be making his way to perform on the 22nd of November! Better known as Aniki by legions of fans around the world, he has been in the business since the early days of the 1960s. Along with Isao Sakaki, he is the father of anison as we know it today. He has performed for shows such as Mazinger Z, Kamen Rider and most recently, along with JAM Project, Kotetsushin Jeeg. Expect nothing short of an explosive performance by this industry great.

MAZIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIN GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

As with May’n performance, there will be VIP seating for his performance as well. Details will follow as soon as we get them.

May’n will be present at the event, performing for the first time outside of Japan. For those who do not recognize the name, she is the singing voice of Sheryl Nome from Macross Frontier. Tentatively, the date is set for the 23rd of November, the second day. There will be premium paid seating for the performance. She will be performing at least seven songs, so we can expect Diamond Crevasse, Welcome to My Fanclub’s Night and Northern Cross. Her site has added details about her date with us. You add welcome notes for her here as well!

Pricings for VIP tickets for her concert have been made known. There will be two tiers of pricing for the seatings.

2. VIP Pass – $68 (300 pax)

• Premium Concert viewing seats
• 2 day pass with VIP Entrance for AFA ‘08
• Lucky draw to attend Autograph and Handshake session with May’n (20 pax)

May’n has also recorded a thank you video for fans here in Singapore. Check it out here.

I am sure most of us have seen at least one of this man’s many works. Kunio Okawara, the man behind iconic mechanical designs like the RX-78-2 Gundam and the MS-06F Zaku II, will making his way here to Singapore. Known as the father of the real robot designs, his works have been enjoyed by many throughout the years. Though he is mainly recognized for his work on the Gundam meta-series, he has worked on other shows like the more recent Choujuushin Gravion with Masari Obari and the long running Brave Saga in the nineties. At the same time, Okawara-sensei willl be judging the finals of the Singapore round of the BAKUC Challenge.

[Left to right] RX-78-2 Gundam [Mobile Suit Gundam 0079], Scopedog II [Votoms], Genesic GaoGaiGar [GaoGaiGar Final]

Commercial Booths

There will be a retail area for merchandise called Akiba Town. Participating companies include Bandai, Good Smile Company, Alter, Kaiyodo, CMs and Kotobukiya, etc. Several local retails like Kare Kano no Mise, La Tendo and Toys n Toys. The full list of particpating companies can be found here. There will be some event exclusive items from some of the participating companies. One detail that is known so far is that there be an exclusive will be an event-only kit from Kotobukiya’s Armoured Core line.

Some of the companies attending the event

Anime Screening

There will be a special section, Anime Blockbusters, showcasing several anime. On show exclusive footage, artifacts, and rare materials behind the creative scenes, such as storyboards, character design, background design, and prop designs. Anime showcased will  be Shakugan no Shana, Mobile Suit Gundam 00, Skip Beat, D.Gray-man, Domo-kun and Code Geass. More will be added as the date draws closer.

Shana wants you to attend the event!

Manga

A vid reader of manga? In the Mangaka section, Shounen Jump will be hosting the last stop of their 40th anniversary world wide tour here. They are the publishers of manga like Bleach, Naruto and Dragonball.

Gaming

AFA will also be hosting an arcade gaming tournament as well, sponsored by TKA and organized by the SCOGA. The games that will be featured are Street Fighter Four, King of Fighters ‘98 and Tekken 6. More details on the tournament can be found here. For the non-competitive gamers, Wangan Midnight: Maximum Tune and Initial D: Arcade Stage machines will be present as well.

Registration

Want to be beat all the long queues for tickets? From now up till the event, you can pre-register at the AFA site now to beat all the queues for tickets. Pre-reg passes are currently for two-days as of now. Passes sold at the event proper will be $5 for a one day pass and $8 for a two day pass. VIP tickets for May’n concert will be sold as well. Details will be given later on.

More details of any other events can be found here at the AFA site.

We hope to see you guys there as well!