December | 2009 | The Hello!Avengers

Sydney Trip – Saturday: Animania

14 12 2009

Ok, I’ve talked about my City trip now it’s time for Animania 2009!! 😀 I only found out about Animania a few months ago through spying a promotional postcard sent to the library I work for……… I took it and photocopied it to take home XD I was so excited about finding out about it I immediately wanted to buy my tickets, but as I found out pre-reg wasn’t open and wouldn’t open until weeks before the event. I bought a full two-day pass just to have the option to return on the Sunday if I felt like it, which I didn’t as A) I was buggered and B) I ran out of money after like an hour or two of getting through the doors XD The following is a shot of the front of Bay 8, where Animania was held.

Bay 8 - Locomotive Hall

I got a lift into the Australian Technology Park on Saturday morning, getting there at 9:30-ish AM. The lines were already damn long, the funny thing being that the line for pre-registration was double the size of door sales XD Only by chance did I end up in the right line since they weren’t labeled with signs saying “Door Sales” and “Pre-Reg”. Well at least none that I could see. I didn’t remember I had a camera with me until I was happily in the line, so I don’t have pictures of the lines (… the above picture was taken after I’d left the event for the day XD …) The following is the floor plan for the event:

Animania 2009 Sydney weekend floor plan

And the schedule for the event over the two days:

Animania 2009 Sydney weekend schedule

This is the inside of the main entrance:

Bay 8 - Main Entrance

It took about a half hour to get inside the doors then another 15-odd minutes to get to the book-in place where they scan your ticket. At which point you were allowed into the inner sanctum 😀 The first thing you walk into was the Cloakroom (… area C on the map …) which was one of two Photoshoot areas where you could find cosplayers awaiting to have their pictures taken (… but in honesty you could just ask anyone around the event if you could take their picture and they’d strike a pose for you 🙂 Nice people …) The following pictures are from the “Cloakroom” 😀 :

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As I was taking the second photo up there a member of staff who was also taking a photo of him looked at my camera and said to me “We have the same camera! =D” The expression on her face was really cute XD Ok, next I headed over to the Cosplay Expo in area D, Cosplay HQ. They had costumes displayed that had won previous cosplay competitions, but without the people having to hang around all day long for you to gawk at XD They were really nicely done and you could see some serious work went into them. Here’s some photo’s of the costumes:

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They also had a display that people couple enter their weapons in, like swords and delicate pieces. I could have sworn I took a photo of it but going through my camera I can’t find it ._. I kinda suck at this don’t I? T_T Next was the Stallholders Area, area N:

Stallholders Area

This photo was taken pretty early on and was already pretty full. You kinda had to either wait for an opening or push your way in……… I’m a waiter XD I was rather eager to find a stall called VOID (stall 16) run by Itasugen who I had contacted and gotten her to hold somethings over for me:

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That stuffed bunny up there was a gift 😀 I signed up to deviantART just to ask her to keep the artworks for me and she said she’d have a gift for me. I didn’t remind her or anything because I didn’t want to take something she’d made without paying for it but she remembered and handed it over when I came to the stall ^_^ It’s so neat and cool. I like the fact that it’s hand-made, down to the little dress…….. I’m a sucker for those sorts of things XD The poster and the postcards (the ones in the middle) will eventually be framed and hung on my wall 😀

Next I went to the Kiseki stall (#18), which is an all Australian Manga Magazine which has just started being published. I bought the first two issues 😀 :

Kiseki Manga Magazine - Volume 1 and 2

Kiseki has an online store and an online community forum. I suggest if you like manga and are Australian then you give Kiseki a thought and support them 😀 Tell your friends, talk about it on your blog and join the forum. That’s the end of my sprooking 😛 Next I wondered through the Games Zone, area F:

Games Zone

This place was popular! They had a PS2, PS3, Wii, Gamecube, SNES (?)……… those are the ones I can remember. Some of the people playing these games were brilliant and obviously played the games for a long time. One guy won 15 times straight at Soulcaliber on the PS2 before he got up and walked away with friends. They also apparently had Nintendo DS Pictochat sessions set up, which sucks big time because I was this close *holds up fingers close together* to bringing my DS with me. Really wish I had brought it, it’s always easier for me when it’s not face-to-face but through typing. Kinda pathetic I know ._. Next was Cosplay Chess at Cosplay HQ (… it’s the chess board on the map 😛 …):

Cosplay Chess in action

The picture’s not that great because I couldn’t get a better one. It was pretty popular with the spectators 😀 I think White won, but don’t quote me on it XD It actually looked pretty fun. Oh, and you see that box? That was a player hoping for a little protection. It actual had the cutest vampire under it…….. I was going to get a photo of her but once the game ended I couldn’t find her ._. So next was the Cosplay Competition, held on the Main Stage (H):

Main Stage - Cosplay Competition

You had to remember it was on and when it was on to get a seat or get close to it XD No hope for those who forgot about it. Some of the outfits were rather good from what I could see (… I didn’t stand around for too long …) and some got loud applause which could be heard everywhere. By this time I was hungry so went to the Food Area (E) to get a bite to eat. Ended up getting noodles and a chicken-on-a-stick, rather tasty but way too much for me to eat…….. I have the stomach the size of a pea XD Bought some Japanese Lemonade (… the ones with the marble in it 😀 …) and I now want to know where they got it because it’s the nicest lemonade I’ve tasted in ages ^_^ Next I went and watched some of Baccano! at the Screening Theatre (M), then back to the Stallholders Area to finish emptying my wallet XD I stopped at Transreality Simulation (#23) and picked up a “Your Eyes Only”, a Chobits Art Book:

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Just ignore the disembodied fingers in the pictures XD Chobits is suck a quirky, odd and cute as hell manga series and I saw this. The images inside, as I’ve tried to show 🙂 are really cute and well done. There was other things I could have bought….. wanted to buy XD….. but I knew I was going to be getting this next:

Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya: 1/7 Haruhi Suzumiya Swimsuit

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I wasn’t surprised to see her sitting on the shelf of PININ (#24) stall, but I was excited as anything~! Actually, I saw the same guitar wielding Haruhi figurine that MB got, but even discounted it was more than I had with me at the time XD I’m quite happy with what I got in any case :3 I’m not sure if I’ll get her out of the box as at the moment she’s easier to display in the box. Also just have to say that the guy that served me was just a tiny bit cocky for my taste. I also picked up three Animania Pins:

I also picked up a Master Grade Gundam model:

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I also picked up these superb prints of Mio, from K-ON! (She’s soooo CUTE! :3 Also a little hot XD) and the other I’m not sure of (I have seen her before, just can’t find her name in my head 😦 ):

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Well, that pretty much wraps up my experience at Animania. I didn’t go to any of the Talks held in Panel Rooms 1 & 2 (J & K) I was going to go back in on the Sunday, but I didn’t get in to it, so I am a little disappointed with myself about that because they had some interesting looking things happening in the Panel Rooms. There was also a mini-games area (I) where at the start they had a large game of twister, Judo (… I think …) demonstrations and many more little things throughout the day. There was also a Karaoke area (G) where there were some good and not so good renditions of Anime themes, J-Music etc… but it was all pretty fun looking and they looked to have enjoyed themselves 😀 And no, I didn’t have a go 😛 I suppose that just leaves the rest of the photos I took. Here they are:

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If you want to see a LOT better photo’s than the ones I took, then click here. They’re damn good 😀 There was also a little girl dressed as Amulet Heart from Shugo Chara. She was so cute. The previous link has a few shots of her 😀 Maybe next year I’ll plan my trip better than I did this year and get some better pics, as well as not be as socially awkward as I am (… which I am and is really annoying because it makes making friends really hard as well as just participating in normal social things …) ._. and have some more fun 🙂 Oh, and the following video isn’t mine, again, but has some good photo’s from the event 😀 Ja ne~