C3 Anime Festival Asia (AFA) Singapore 2019 kicked off to a great opening, with its first day gathering a sizeable crowd of anime, cosplay, and gaming enthusiasts. As expected, the second day saw Suntec Convention Centre packed to the brim, as throngs of attendees squeezed through the Creators Hub to hunt for delightful, gorgeous fan art, or waited in line for celebrity meet-and-greet sessions and buy merchandise from officially-licensed stores.
And while the overwhelming human traffic diminished the shine off an otherwise pleasantly geeky experience, the variety of cosplay certainly didn’t disappoint. Be it as a group, or a brave solo-er, there were many cosplayers that paraded around in their outfits, some more elaborate than others.
The Legend of Zelda series is a long-standing favourite of the community, so it’s always nice to see the hero of Hyrule take to the event space. Enter Link, who impressed many with his replication of the hero’s iconic green garb, Master Sword, pointy ears, and blonde hair. Now, it’d have been even cooler if the Hylian Shield was present.
With the recent release of Pokémon Sword and Shield, it was no surprise that game-inspired cosplay made an appearance. What was different and extremely amusing, however, was that the protagonist didn’t become the star – rather, it was game phenomenon Ball Guy who took centre stage. Yes, that’s really his name, and yes, that’s also a true blue Pokéball on his head.
This Yu-Gi-Oh! cosplay, meanwhile, made for the perfect blast to the past. Back when trading cards were the craze, the series shot to fame with its unique way of placing cards into a d-d-d-duel, alongside the foldable Duel Disks. Protagonist Yugi Mutoh, in particular, made an impression with his signature yellow-and-red streaked hair, and the Millennium Puzzle – all of which were put on display together here.
The remaining cosplay selection features elaborately-armoured outfits, finely-crafted weapons, and familiar faces like League of Legends‘ Akali. Check out all of them below:
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Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
Natalie
