Event Images for Anime Festival Indonesia 2012
I am summarily blown away by the sheer amount of attendees packed in these images from Danny Choo of the Anime Festival Indonesia (AFAID) which happened in Jakarta exactly on the same dates as the Singapore Toy Games & Comic Con in Singapore!
Without a doubt, a lot of apprehension about our Indonesian-friends and potential "customers" not attending STGCC in lieu of AFAID, seems to be founded, with these images of crowds thronging the convention floors a stark reminder of said "fear".
Danny Choo blogged: "Everybody in the industry was sceptical but some companies did decide to invest in checking out the waters - only to be completely blown away! Most who did venture into Indonesia did so conservatively. I, just like the rest of the anime industry, under estimated the power of Indonesian Otaku - not only by their numbers but also by their spending power too!"
More images of AFAID on Dannychoo.com.
And while I've only been in both Jakarta and Bandung for a short while a few years back, one aspect which proved a strong resonance - was vintage anime - in the form of classic Kamen Riders, Ultraman etc, being a strong draw for folks of an earlier generation who had grown up with these properties, and perhaps the new generation of anime/manga perusers buffers the mix. Would that be the similar case in Singapore? Or perhaps older gen Singaporeans are distracted by other media properties, like movie and comicbook characters as well.
But this is all speculation and observation on my end, of course. Seems the art toy and anime crowd might mix, but the markets are different. Personally, ever since my experience with AFA last year (where I helmed my own booth), I am looking forward to seeing what AFA SG holds for this year!
[ I know who I'll be looking forward to buy at AFA 2012! ]
