Sydney’s Annual “SMASH!’ is one of few anime conventions held here in Australia. After selling out in after moving to a bigger venue last year, this year, SMASH! moved again, this time to the Sydney Convention Centre in Darling Harbour.
Here’s my quick write up and some photos from my SMASH!-ing experience.
For additional photos, (especially of the cosplayers) check my Flickr Album here.
Long queue is long.
A little disorganised at first, but was handled well once the line began streaming it’s way down the stairs of the entrance and into the harbour. =P
After a good hour in line, MERCHANDISE!!!
Lots of figures, plushes, prints, dvds and manga to buy! All non boot-leg (unlike Animania) due to Madman’s strict no-bootleg policy. (Probably why they’re all so expensive and make people broke by the end of the day eh? =D)
GUNDAMZ!
The Bandai World Cup entries of the Gundam variety were on display at SMASH! With some impressive modeling!
Annoyed that I didn’t immediately recognise that the two on the above left were cosplaying two of the Siestas from Umineko no naku koro ni… (Although I haven’t played it, I know the series has/had a lot of potential, shame the anime was screwed up so much…)
Meanwhile, it appears that Pedobear strikes again!
I remember when SMASH was held at “The Roundhouse” at UNSW years ago, and recently moved to Town Hall last year… Moving again to the Convention Centre was a great idea in my opinion. Plenty of room, good audio and visuals, much larger capacity.
International guests included and not limited to Shinichi “Nabeshin” Watanabe, who directed “Excel Saga” and “Puni Puni Poemi”. Quite a character; love his hair. =P
Also there, Martin Billany, better known as “Little Kuriboh” and the creation of the “Yu-Gi-Oh! Abridged Series”. Really talented guy, amazing voices… Also quite the character(s).
Just a sampling of the AMAZING cosplayers that participated in the cosplay competition. My personal favourite was a Vocaloid skit where Miku lost her voice. I should get into doing some cosplay next year…
Anyway, so that was pretty much my day at SMASH 2011. As always, I had an amazing time (albeit, rather tiring) and in my opinion, is much better and more organised than Animania is. The team this year has done another amazing job, and I look forward to going again next year! (Maybe volunteering too…)
Again, for additional photos, check my Flickr Album here.
For additional photos, checkout any of the following: (All who know how to photo better than me XD)
Pixels on Pireze by icie
And keep an eye out at Muki.Dorifuto.com and follow SMASH’s official Facebook or Twitter accounts for aftermath info, and be sure to visit their Twitter or on the forums. =D
[…] Upon entering, It was no doubt an amazing venue; spacious, multi-level complex with a wonderful auditorium. For more, plus photos, head on over to Roger’s blog! http://www.gochisou-deshita.net/anime/smash-anime-and-manga-convention-2011/ […]