This year’s edition of AniManGaki was the 10th, and the seventh to be held at Sunway Pyramid Convention Centre. Its theme was “role-playing games”, and the estimated turnout was around 20,000.
Throughout the two-day event, a variety of events were held. Among these events were a singing competition known as “AniManGaki Idol”, a cosplay competition titled “AniManGaki Cosplay XTH”, “Omatsuri”, which was a mini-fun fair based on those found in Japan, tournaments for the video games BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle, Dragon Ball FighterZ, and Tekken 7, several live musical performances, and broadcasts of concerts by animated bands Poppin’Party and Roselia.
Booths were also set up by artists and vendors eager to display and sell their ACG-related art and merchandise.
There were also appearances by prominent figures in both the local and international ACG community, and some of these special guests also held panels and workshops regarding the area of ACG they were most familiar with, whether art, cosplay, gaming, or others.
The variety of events and activities meant that the visitors to AniManGaki could have different reasons for attending, as well as different highlights of the convention.
Chong Chee Yong, who was attending AniManGaki for the second time, said that he most looked forward to the musical performances and buying merchandise from the booths.
However, he also acknowledged the fact that some of the merchandise could be fairly expensive, saying, “My wallet is going to be empty again.”
Some were more excited about the community aspect of the event.
Rai, another AniManGaki attendee, said his favourite part about going to AniManGaki was “being around people with the same interests”.
Rai added that he also enjoyed admiring the cosplay outfits and looking at the displays.
Some also came to AniManGaki to cosplay.
A cosplayer who went by “Seraphina”, who had been cosplaying since 2013, said that her favourite experience while cosplaying at AniManGaki was when she cosplayed as Kurisu Makise, a character from the anime series Steins;Gate.
She said that she could really “feel the character’s presence” while cosplaying the character.
According to the AniManGaki website, AniManGaki is a convention “formed by fans, for fans”, as it is not organised by any company or organisation, but by a group of ACG fans wanting to broaden ACG’s reach in Malaysia.