Anime Festival 2024 in pictures: Highlights of Singapore's biggest anime convention
Another year, another AFA. Here's a look at what was going on at the convention floor.
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By Glenn Chua -
Anime Festival Asia (AFA) is back again at Suntec Convention Centre. The convention is a staple of Southeast Asian anime culture, so we took a look at some of what this year's AFA had to offer for convention goers.
A mainstay of the convention is Asian anime distributor MUSE. One of the booths near the entrance, the merch featured came from some big franchises its brought over to Asia such as Sword Art Online, Spy x Family and Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, as well as newcomer Dandadan, which is currently one of the highest viewed anime on Netflix.
Next to the MUSE booth was the Crunchyroll booth, specifically its Solo Leveling immersive exhibition which we've covered previously. A testament to the booth's popularity is the line; even as evening approached on Friday there were still people lining up to get it.
Another mainstay at AFA is Good Smile Company, the merchant behind the chibi nendoroid figurines. Some of their latest collections were on display.
A more calmer part of AFA is typically the art exhibition booths, which feature original or reproduced artwork from the production of different series. This year at the Manga Plus booth, where these artworks are hosted, artwork from One Piece, Chainsaw Man, Jujutsu Kaisen, Kaiju No.8, My Hero Academia, Spy x Family, Oshi no Ko and Dandadan were being exhibited.
Another classic part of AFA present again this year was Food Street, located at the northern-most part of the convention centre. Nissin's Cup Noodles has been a longstanding merchant here, but there were also other Japanese foods to quell your appetite.
Towards the top right corner of the convention centre is the Creators Hub, where independent artists can share their wares. Creators Hub also tends to be one of the more crowded areas of the convention floor due to the narrow corridors and high density of people.
It's also at the Creators Hub that there were quite a few booths also selling some unique works. Jacktus (IG: jacktus.my) at booth CH97, for example, makes art that stylises some familar sights around Singapore and Malaysia. There were many other booths with diverse works and styles at the Creators Hub as well, and it's always cool to see what independent artists are putting out there at conventions like these.
Just below the Creators Hub was the Cosplay Hub, a similarly-themed centre where fans got to meet cosplayers (like XIAOYUKIKO here, IG: xiaoyukiko) and take a look at their merchandise.
At the right-most end of the convention centre is Akiba Stage, the free performance platform for a diverse range of acts. It's this stage that often sets the ambience for the whole convention, as acts lasted from morning till evening.
Of course, though, one of the biggest highlights of AFA is always the festive atmosphere. Whether you were cosplaying a character or going as yourself, and whether you headed there alone or with friends, we hope you take some time to bask in it, because while there are many AFA-spinoff events, the big convention itself only happens once a year.
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