Shizen Orchestra is an anime and manga convention devoted to Japanese Pop and Rock Music.  The event was held last Saturday, April 25, 2009 at the SMX Convention Center at the SM Mall of Asia.  The convention was organized by the anime organization, Touhou no Yuujin, of Ateneo De Manila University.  Some of the highlights of the convention were the J-Pop and Rock bands, the Fashion Show and Design contests and the DokiDoki Kissaten maid and butler cafe.

We arrived at around 11:30 PM.  Security at SMX Convention Center is strict and they don't allow prop weapons that contain metal parts, especially bladed type of weapons.  This information should have been cascaded before the event to prevent problems especially cosplayers whose costumes include weapons.  The convention itself was on the top floor in Function Room 4.  As expected there was already a line outside for the tickets.  Tickets were at PhP100.00 but those that reserved got it at PhP80.00.

OZINE FEST '09 was held last April 3-5 at SM Megamall Megatrade Hall 2. I was fortunate enough to be there for the last 2 days. The event featured cosplay, toys and collectibles, game demos, art contests, a maid and host cafe and much more. This year Ozine also featured the National Cosplay Summit following the World Cosplay Summit standards.

Entrance to the convention area was PhP100.00. We were there early enough and there was a huge crowd gathering already. I wasn't at the last Ozine so I really can't compare but from the way it looks they did make sure to try organizing this event properly. According to Magnetic-Rose, the event was a vast improvement from last year. Personally, I am just glad that they used a bigger event space than Megatrade Hall 3. A map of the convention space was available for viewing at the entrance which made it easier to navigate. I suggest they give out maps as well to all the participants.

Me and Sese Maxwell did some costripping on Day 2 at the convention as ninjas   (and if you are asking, no, not as Naruto). It was fun and we were able to go around and see the different booths and exhibitors. The floor plan of the event made also sure that they cleared an area in front of the stage area to make sure there was room for the audience. Unfortunately, it wasn't big enough.

Last April 2, Thursday, Net 25 and Convergence held a summer tech event in partnership with Convergence new show Homepage.  The event was held at SM City North Edsa food court.  The program featured some of the newest gadgets and technologies available in the market.  Cosplayers were also featured in the event from different animes and games like FINAL FANTASY, D. GRAY-MAN, KUROSHITSUJI and many more.  Perhaps the biggest and most awaited part was the performance of RIVERMAYA.

A friend of mine invited me to come to the event for moral support so I decided to go despite it being on a weekday.  I did come late expecting the events to have already started but there were delays.  From what I understood, the delay was due to the fact that Rivermaya wasn't able to setup right away and their new vocalist took some time before he actually arrived.  This caused the program to start about half an hour late.  I just want to comment that for someone as new as this vocalist was in the band scene, you're not even a celebrity yet so don't act like a primadonna by being late.  Being late, regardless of who you are, is always frowned upon.

AniCon '08 was held in SM Megamall at Megatrade Hall 3 last October 05, 2008. This was to be an Anime, Console, & Online Gaming Event. You can see the details of the con from the Otakuzine website at http://www.otakuzine-mag.com/.

I later found out that this con used to be the original GX-con which was revamped and renamed to Anicon. In my opinion a good move as the previously mentioned con did carry some, or in my case a lot, of bad blood. As a critique, I believed that it was my duty to re-evaluate the convention.

They held the convention in the same space they held it last year, which is by far the smallest convention area of the three Megatrade Halls. As you can imagine, it was cramped. From what I hear, the convention organizers got the Trade Hall at half price because no one had booked the location. The management of SM saw it fit to lease the hall at reduced price instead of leaving it unused on Sundays. This kind of caused last minute preparations for the convention. One of the exhibitors, whom I personally know, was given like a week for them to prepare for the convention. Talk about cramming.

I went with a friend to the convention. We paid PHP100.00 each for the entrance. This year they had freebies, not that it's important, but it's definitely welcome. I don't mind not getting freebies if I feel that it was worth my time and money to come. Though I wondered why they changed the freebies they were planning to give out last minute. Not a big deal for me, really.

I never imagined a convention could do worse than GX-Con 2007 until Animania Con 2008.

As of this writing I was in the office, so excuse me if the article is not neatly done.

I heard of this Animania Con around Tuesday of last week, September 09. A friend of mine had informed me about this con. She linked me to the website (http://wowenkho.com/animania/) and I was stunned. I said to myself that this had the makings of failure. Apparently, the con was scheduled on the 13th and we're only hearing about this now. No advertising whatsoever, and It heavily relied on the website for promotion and word of mouth.

Word of mouth is good only if you plan the con months ahead. It gives time for the details to spread to the various communities, that when you officially launch the con a few weeks prior to the event, you will get the hype that you need. Sadly though, it wasn't the case here.

The website, I might point out, was badly designed. The title name, "ANIMANIA", had a really poor logo designed which looked like a hodgepodge of colors reminiscent of the 60's. I need to mention the BOOT. We still haven't figured out why a boot though. Then there was the vector art. I wonder why they picked out Cloud Strife, Suzumiya Haruhi, Rei Ayanami and Pikachu as their mascots. It's so totally random and the art style wasn't something I could appreciate really. I didn't understand what they were wearing and why Pikachu was wearing anything at all. It took me forever to realize that Cloud was actually holding a camera and not "Barret's Gun." Website looked like it was rushed when they uploaded it. The layout used was confusing. The terms they used were kinda weird as well (YEY TO PARAPHERNALIA!)