STGCC 2011 @ Singapore: Short Report

This is a backlog, too. The event took place in Aug 2011 .

In Singapore I've been to both AFA-X and Cosfest-X, but never to STGCC. This was my first visit to STGCC (The Singapore Toys, Games & Comics Convention) and this is a short report of my experience.

Please see STGCC official website for venues, schedules and other details.

(日本語版は、こちらへ。The Japanese version is available here.)

[Overall Impressions]
I visited STGCC on 20 Aug only.

STGCC was very similar to AFA. Both had Otaku contents expo and was held at Suntec Convention Centre. But compared to AFA, it's quite different in the following ways:

*The event organizer (AFA by sozo.sg, STGCC is by Reed group)

*The season (AFA is usually in Nov.)

*The contents (AFA is for Japanese and Asian content. STGCC is based on American comics) For me, I felt that STGCC was very much influenced by American comics and its associated cultures.

This is good and bad when compared to AFA.

<Good>
*Visitor management was much better than that of AFA. They had set-up a ticketing booth on 3F to avoid crowding at the main entrance on 4F. (*1)
(This is because Reed is a professional event organizer.)

<Bad>
*On the opening day, it lacked excitement.(*2)

(1F of Suntec.)

(Ticketing booth on 3F.)

(Entrance gate on 4F.)

The convention had more merchandise retailers rather than exhibition showcases.

(Otaku House, a local Otaku shop)

(Kotobukiya from japan)

(Nintendo has its own 3DS booth)

[Persons to see]
1: Miyake Wong-san.

She was promoting an online game, not a meido-san(^^; in STGCC.

2: Kipi-san, an official Japanese guest cosplayer

Her photo session had a very long queue. There was a man who brought along her photo-posters to get her autograph.

Kipi-san has some stage/talking-session.

[Cosplay]
(On local cosplay culture, I wrote quite a detailed report on my AFA-X coverage. Please refer to that article on Singapore's cosplay culture)

There was no official cosplay square. But the 3F on Suntec was the makeshift/de-facto cosplay square like AFA.

OK, let's go over to cosplay square.
All these photos were taken on DAY-1, sequenced in chronological order
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DAY-1 #1
     CN: Hotaru
  From : China
Referenced Work: Vocaloid derivative
comment: This was taken near the entrance on 4F

DAY-1 #2
     CN: Xiao Mo
  From : China
Referenced Work: (Original creation)
Comment: "Chinese cosplay" is rather hard to find at any Japanese cos-event. Her looks is very good.

DAY-1 #3
     CN: Eli
  From : China
Referenced Work: (Original creation)
Comment: Nice posing, thanks.

DAY-1 #4
    CN: Pudding
From : China
Referenced Work: K-ON! (>Akiyama Mio)
comment: She was from the same group in #1 and #2.

DAY-1 #5
     CN: Iljimae/一枝梅(Cure: 119383, D/A)
Referenced Work: Black Butler(> Grell Sutcliffe)
comment: Black Butler character was rare during in this event.

DAY-1 #6
     CN: 三春/Miharu[facebook, D/A, Cure: 269525] 
Referenced Work: HATSUNE Miku
comment: I've seen her at Cosfest-X. She remembered me, too. Thanks so much for nice posing.

DAY-1 #7
     CN: Yumiki[D/A]
Referenced Work: HATSUNE Miku
comment: She was yet another HATSUNE Miku cosplayer. Thanks.

DAY-1 #8
     CN: Arielle
Referenced Work: Vocaloid derivative
comment: This photo was taken near the ticketing booth.

DAY-1 #9
     CN: shin_momiji
Referenced Work: (Original creation)
comment: This photo was taken later.

DAY-1 #10
     CN: Weiling
Referenced Work: HATSUNE Miku
comment: Nice posing, thanks.

DAY-1 #11  Team-The-Aria
Referenced Work: ARIA

     CN: Xrystal[D/A, cure: 17914] as Akari

     CN: Sakana[D/A, cure:7798] as Aika

     CN: 元元/[website, Cure:18650] as Alice

comment: This is 3rd time (AFA-X, and Cosfest-X) seeing their cosplay team. This time, they were cosplaying ARIA. Large props attract many viewers.
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[Note]
*1) I'd like to expect that Sozo (the organizer of AFA) to learn from the good practice for the upcoming AFA-11.

*2) In 20/Aug/2011, a Japanese school had its own public event "Natsu Matsuri(summer festival)". A local cosplayer told me that many Japanese-fans/Otakus might have gone to Natsu Matsuri instead of STGCC. This might partly explain why  STGCC-DAY-1 was not so crowded.
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