Anime Carnival, which The Magic Rain had the pleasure of attending, was held just recently at SetiaWalk – LiveLearnWorkPlay! in Puchong from the 20th to the 21st of May. The outdoor event was powered by Comic Fiesta and proved to be a huge hit as people flooded the premise with chatter and a variety of cosplays.
When we had arrived at the venue, maids and butlers from La Petite Fox were dancing enthusiastically on stage, charming the crowd with lines of cheer and fun. Booths lined walls and the speakers were blasting anisongs, both old and new.
Stage Events
As this is a supposed light event with fun activities, I found that the stage happenings outweighed most of the activities. There was dancing, singing, pose-offs and much more! It’s only natural for me to want to write about a selected bit of this exciting feature first.
Among the many guest performers that turned up for the event were the maids and butlers of La Petite Fox. They danced cheerfully to adorable music as the crowd cheered them on. As a spectator, I found it wonderful how the interaction between them and the crowd was so smooth sailing. They even had short skits in between their performances so it flowed nicely to their next act.
Another guest performer I want to talk about is definitely, undeniably, Bin Yun. As the emcee introduced her, she is well-known for her clear vocals and oh, that wasn’t an exaggeration. I personally enjoyed her performance very much as some random person watching in the crowd. Among the songs she sung were Futari Saison by Keyakizaka46, Utada Hikaru’s Prisoner of Love and Lapis Lazuri by Eir Aoi and in each of those songs, the crowd was extremely supportive, people waving, clapping and even jumping forward and lifting their arms towards Bin Yun as she sang.
There’s something unique to this particular event. Ya like jazz? Well, they got jazz. Nearing the end of the event, they had a band performance and light show featuring A Beautiful Soul and Betamobile. A refreshing change and a relaxing addition after a fun time at the event.
Singing Competition
The singing competition was filled with promising contestants. The guest judges were Bin Yun, yes the very same Bin Yun mentioned before, and Zawashimai of Harmonia ACG, who also performed at the event. It was held on Day 1 of the event with some contestants cosplaying, getting all dressed up and what not. They sung various songs ranging from games to anime and that includes english songs too! It was a great experience to watch as the contestants sung their heart out on stage, minds clearly set on winning. One of the contestants who sung the Koe no Katachi theme song even introduced herself in sign language!
Cosplay Skit Competition
The competition went by smoothly with the cosplayers acting out their skits, some with seriousness plastered on their faces, others just doing what they do best for fun. Ayase, Rikka Blurhound and Shine植木姐姐 parked themselves at the judge’s table.
Among the cosplayers that really caught my eye were Ikan Bakar, which the judges commended for participating solo in the competition. Other than her was hijabi Sakura from Street Fighter and the chicken guy from the Chicken Attack video. The Ultra Brothers was a very nostalgic watch no doubt with their costumes and props. However, I believe Sirens and Silence stole the show with their amusing and humorous skit filled to the brim with various references. They gave tidbits to the judges too, I’d call that a plus point!
Congratulations to the winners of the Cosplay Skit Competition! The results were Ikan Bakar for Second Runner-Up, First Runner-Up being Ultra Brothers, the Snowfalke award was given to KFC and last but not least, First Place went to Sirens and Silence.
Booths
The booths were selling the usual stuff like figurines, badges, card sleeves and other stuff with the addition of fidget spinners. I think one booth that’s really worth noting was the Guest Cosplayer Signing Session booth. We watched as the line-up went crazy long on Day 2 and it was amazing how excited the people were to meet the guest cosplayers, Baobao, Rikka Blurhound and Misa Chiang.
Overall
In conclusion to the outdoor event, I have a few things to note. The event gathered a large amount of attendees and the anime related activities ended at about 5.30 pm. The emcee lead the stage events well but I think a mistake the emcee made was reading out personal information like the address of the owner from a lost wallet on stage. All in all, the event was good, the event being outdoors offered good lighting for photographers and the activities were definitely fun. I can’t wait to see what else ACG event organizers have in store for the community!
