CharaExpo 2015 ( Event photo & Coverage)

CharaExpo had it’s virgin run at the Singapore Expo this year .  Organised by the Japanese Collectible Card Games and Trading Cards giant; Bushiroad. CharaExpo boast an extremely impressive list guests which includes Japanese Creators, Singers, Voice Actors, Cosplayers and guess what? Pro Wrestler! Yes, you heard that right. Professional wrestling !

 

I had a lot of fun at the event yesterday going around all the different booths and hearing The Last Naruto Movie playing in the distance background. Yes, Naruto fans, there was a free screening of the Movie along with the movie “Arpeggio of Blue Steel - Ars Nova” . I paid $13 to watch it in the theatre but here they were broadcasting it in the Movie Area for free and I really wanted to rewatch it again >.<! Alas lazy Kaika only arrived at Expo around 4pm and couldn’t find time for it.

 

Anyway, check out the photos I took!

 

 

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Obligatory shot of the entrance.

 

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Doraemons! There was an even bigger one displaying on the other side which I failed to take a photo of because… it was too popular. 

 

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The Crayon Shin family was there too xDDD I was tempted to steal Shin-Chan away but restrained myself haha.

 

 

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He looks so bad it’s good XD

 

 

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Naruto! Erm, I mean Boruto xD Yes, I don’t like Sasuke.

 

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Heard a lot of OOhhss and AAhhhs going around further up so I went to check it out too.

 

 

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It’s the Pro Wrestling ring!! I was flabbergasted when I saw Wrestlers in the line up of guests and I was like, “Is this really gonna work O_o?”

 

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But you know what? Based on the cheers and excitement, I think the organisers made the right choice. Not only is wrestling entertaining, it is easy entertainment for most age group and gender. It helps introduce adrenaline rush into the event, gets the audience pumped up as they cheer and boo for the wrestlers on stage. Makes for a nice attendee participation doesn’t it?  I think it also gave CharaExpo an edge over it’s competitors as they showed them how diverse an Animanga event can be.

 

 

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Being a Trading and Gaming card manufacturer you didn’t think they’d leave that out in their event would you?

 

 

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Nope of course not! They set aside a huge portion of the event hall for Card Gaming.

 

 

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Love Live merchandises in the Bushiroad booth. This is like, 1/16 of the stuffs they have there.

 

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Lucky Draw for fans who spend over a certain amount.

 

 

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And then the NitroPLus booth xD  And needless to say, everyone loved the full sized murals of Mikazuki Munechika and Kogitsunemaru

 

 

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But while most people were happy to just pose with these two bishou *cough* I mean swords, my friends decided to do this….

 

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#ForeverAlone

 

BRB, LOLing Forever 8D

 

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Also bumped into Zephyus who was cosplaying as . . . someone from Touken Ranbu. Please tell me who this character is!

 

 

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This is really embarrassing but the only photo I have of the impressive Shingeki no Kyojin Movie booth is this T^T

 

 

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But it’s okay, I have a Hot Hanji here ;D

 

 

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And booth babes! Erm, I mean Booth Eren Cosplayer (Shinji)!

 

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Mikasa was there too !

 

 

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Saw many people with Japanese Yoyo (Water Balloon) going around the hall and found it all came from here. Pity it was done for the day by the time I reached! Next time, prepare more stock laaaa!

 

 

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Gintama Cosplayers on stage! All their costumes were from COSPA.

 

 

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AKB48 booths were amongst the booths around. Maybe some of the girls will be a guest for the event next year?

 

 

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Artist Mel Kishida was having an Autograph session when I was there!

 

 

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One of the most impressive booth (IMHO) was the booth promoting GARO the Animation.

 

Garo: The Animation, known in Japan as Garo -Honō no Kokuin- (Japanese:牙狼〈GARO〉-炎の刻印- Hepburn: lit. Garo: The Carved Seal of Flames?), is a Japanese anime series based on the Garo tokusatsu drama series.”

source: Wikipedia

 

 

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They had a very impressive Garo suit there to take photographs with attendees the entire time I was at the event. The guy must have been dead tired!  Initially, I thought it might be a cosplayer, but given how shiny and professional the entire suit looks , I deduced it was probably borrowed straight from the Drama. And we later found out that the guy inside the suit is the actual stunt man from the drama! No wonder the guy was so swift and professional !

 

 

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It must have been suffocating inside a suit but for the 2 hours I was there, he never seemed to stop posing and entertaining all the attendee’s requests! I should know, because my friend requested for him to pose like he was protecting her!! TALK ABOUT FANGIRLING YO!!! AHHAHAHAAA

 

 

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they were also giving away Garo folders ^w^ I like useful and high quality freebies. Only available in Japan or from Japanese companies ahhaha

 

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Awesomely intricate figurines of the characters and their Sentai Suits from the Drama was also on display. I don’t think they were for sale.

 

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Opposite the Garo Booth was Power Ranger figurines on display.

 

 

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The plethora of colourful and vibrant Anime Merchandises! I was told that all the limited edition merchandises were mostly sold out by 10am.

 

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Baby Metal stage costumes on display at the Amuse Booth.

 

 

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And Anime wasn’t the only one with merchandises as the Wrestlers also had their own line of Manly T-shirts!

 

 

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Speaking of T-Shirts, can I just saw I love the pink T-shirt the staffs had on? Kudos to the organisers for selecting such a vibrant and pleasant colour. I’m not exactly a fan of Pink but it makes everyone of them look so jolly and helpful just by wearing that T-shirt haha.

 

 

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After much roaming, I finally found the Artist booths! I was told that a lot of stuffs couldn’t be sold by the Doujin Artists due to some copyright clashes with the official booths and sponsors.

 

 

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Other than Pro Wrestling, Movie screenings, Anime Merchandise booths and Card Gaming, CharaExpo also have an Entertainment Stage. This is the stage where all the Voice Actors and Singers perform ^w^ . No photography is allowed inside so here’s a picture of the entrance for those of you who missed it.

 

 

 

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EGOIST is coming to Singapore this 12th September !

 

 

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An entire booth space was set aside to promote Magical Suite Prism Nana.

 

 

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Nendroid of the Magical Suite Prism Nana girls!

 

 

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And then I found Shana!!

 

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And Kirito!

 

 

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And then I found Cosplayers !

 

Much thanks to all the Cosplayers for posing for my camera ^_^. If you know any of them, please help me tag them (by telling them their photograph’s here). Click to view the larger version of the pictures!

 

 

 

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Overall, as an event, I’d say CharaExpo had been great but has room to grow. Maybe due to the lack of publicity, the event halls felt a little empty and many of the official booths were a little underwhelming. However I really like the peaceful and joyful vibe throughout the entire event. Maybe it’s the lack of pushy crowds or maybe it’s the abundance of Japanese staff who were always on their feet and earnestly looking to see if you needed any help that built this joyful vibe. The entrance ticket was reasonably price at just SGD$8 / day and $6 for early birds.

 

I’d also like to playfully point out how CharaExpo 2015 gave off the vibe of a trial event with Japanese man decked out in full black suit and pants intensively eyeballing all the attendees and doing their market research haha.

 

I really hope CharaExpo will be back again next year with even more amazing programme and guest line up! Man, I already feel like next year, I should allocate more time to this event instead of the mere 2 and a half hours I shelled out.

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