Thomas Tan
Thousands of ACG enthusiasts jam-packed Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (KLCC) over the weekend Dec 21-22 for Comic Fiesta 2019 – Malaysia’s largest and longest-running animation, comics and games (ACG) convention.
In years past, the convention has attracted over 60,000 attendees and this year was no different. It is a must-go event for illustrators, comic artists, cosplayers and fans within Southeast Asia.
The two-day annual event has made it spooky this year with dozens of creepy creatures sighted stalking visitors at the convention.
With long black hair partially covered their eerie pale faces and darken soulless eyes, and clad in white dresses, these female ghosts roamed inside and outside the convention halls terrorizing on the living.
However no one was screaming their heads off as it was all for cosplay fun.
The ghosts were cosplayers who dressed up in costumes to have fun at the convention. Apart from these ghostly characters, there were also those superheroes, superheroines and supervillains characters from anime, comics, film and video games.
Cosplaying was one of the main attractions at the two-day event as visitors got to see cosplayers bringing their favourite comic books, anime, video games, manga and animations characters to life, and to meet and take photos with them.
Speaking at this year’s content for Comic Fiesta, Comic Fiesta event director Hew Shih Chien said, “Our focus this year is to create a unique ACG culture that blends Malaysian culture with pop culture, be it Japanese or Western. Through Comic Fiesta, we hope to instill a culture of fun that can provide a positive impact to our lives.”
MSU graphic design graduate Lin Darwin, 21, has been in the cosplay scene for about nine years.
“My first plunge into cosplaying was in year 2011. I was only 13 then and that was my first experience of doing cosplay in public. I cosplay because it’s really cool to be someone else for a day simply for fun,” she said.
Lin said cosplaying as fictional characters has given her more confidence. She discovered her special skills and talent besides meeting new people who shared her interests.
She dressed up as Ishtar, the Sumerian goddess of love, from Fate/Grand Order which is a Japanese fantasy anime.
“Ishtar is cute and she is easily swayed by jewels. Just like Ishtar, I love gems,” she said.
Among other highlights at the convention were the cosplay competition, stage performance, special guests and cosplay guests from overseas, numerous art booths and cosplay booths, exhibitors booth and a variety of other activities.
Many fans seek out autographs from their favorite stars such as manga artists Rino Mizuho and Kaoru Mori, voice actress Mariko Honda and musician Hige Driver.
Rino Mizuho who is known for her works Shokara no Mahou manga (known as ‘Magis Manis Coklat’ among Malaysian readers) and is also knowb for Takoyaki Princess manga hosted an exclusive panel session, while Kaoru Mori is an award-winning manga artist behind Shirley, Emma and A Bride’s Story and she presented a live-drawing session on the intricacies of her line art and design.
For the art scene, Nixon Siow, Ernest Ng and Fishball hosted a special panel on The Art Of Monetizing Web Comics.
There was also an exclusive special stage performance and panel exclusive of Kana Ueda – best known for her voice as voices of Rin Tohsaka in Fate/stay night, Hayate Yagami in the Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha series, Rachel Alucard in BlazBlue and most recently Ishtar and Ereshkigal in Fate/Grand Order anime.
Mariko Honda, the voice behind Yuuko Aioi of Nichijou, Lion of Kemono Friends and Uzume Tennouboshi (Orange Heart) from the game Megadimension Neptunia VII made an appearance on stage, in collaboration with Metronomik’s No Straight Roads game.
Comic Fiesta 2019 also hosted a wide range of activities such as butler and maid café by Le Petit Fox, video game competitions such as Super Smash Bros Ultimate Finals and Pokemon, and e-sports tournaments such as Mobile Legends Bang Bang and Garena Free Fire.
The convention concluded with a high note by local performers and DJs of Exit Tunes – Ryu, kors k and D-YAMA with a special performance by Hige Driver.
Malaysia’s mobile service provider Digi was the platinum sponsor for Comic Fiesta 2019. Other gold sponsors were Claz’room College, MiHoYo, UOW Malaysia, Cubinet interactive and Mobile Legends: Bang Bang. Armaggeddon was the official gaming peripheral while Genysis and The Gaming Company were the gaming partners.
Here are some of the eye-catching cosplayers at Comic Fiesta 2019.
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