Day 2 at AFA X started late for us since we were still recovering from Day 1 — but we did make it to the con in time for the start of the 2010 Regional Cosplay Championships. Just like last year, five pairs from Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand competed for a grand prize of a return trip for two to Tokyo, plus the honour of being the Grand Champion for 2010.

This year’s competition was judged by an all-star cast of international cosplayers, including Japanese cosplay heart throb Kaname, Japanese cosplay sweetheart Aira, Filipina cosplayer and Animax Animate Alodia, and Singaporean mecha cosplay icon and 2009 AFA Regional Cosplay Championships winner Clive, plus a representative from Canon who was sponsoring this year’s competition.

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This year’s competition features five teams tackling a diverse range of titles — from video games to anime and from manga to tokusatsu. Some of the highlights were the trap-tastic performance by Team Malaysia, the hard-hitting action sequence by Team Philippines, and the painstakingly self-animated video sequences of Team Singapore.

However, the big winner of the afternoon was Team Thailand, who delivered a performance that featured not just two but three separate costumes worn by the two team-members; Team Thailand took home the grand prize as Champion of the Regional Cosplay Championships.

Also a big winner was Team Indonesia with a pair of intricate, awe-inspiring costumes from metal hero favorite Garo; Team Indonesia is this year’s runner-up to the Regional Cosplay Championships. The third podium spot went to Team Singapore.

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After the excitement of the Championships, we were off to enjoy the rest of the con. We decided to brave the long queue and have a go at Atelier Royale — AFA X’s very own butler cafe. Having experienced real maid cafes in Japan as well as organized special event cafes in Manila, the gang and I wanted to experience the Singapore way of doing things.

Upon entering Atelier Royale, a maitre d’ cafe will greet you at the door and take down your orders. The menu is limited to three sets — two cake sets and one pasta set, and ala carte drinks, to facilitate service and clean-up. Once payment has been made, a randomly-assigned butler will escort you to your table. Tables are limited to seats of two or four, and groups larger than four persons are split into two groups.

The cake sets we ordered were delivered promptly and with very nice presentation. My compliments to the professional catering service affiliated with the AFA X cafes (I assume that Moe Moe Kyun is also using the same caterer) — the cakes were delicious and had generous portions. At SGD 18 a pop the cake sets were not exactly cheap, but they were not unreasonable either since cafes in local malls and entertainment districts serve comparable fare at similar prices.

We had a nice and relaxing time at the well-appointed cafe, eating our cakes at leisure and chatting up the very attentive butlers who came by at five-minute intervals to ask if everything was to our satisfaction. Perhaps the only complaints I had with the cafe’s ambience was its proximity to the very, very noisy Akiba Mini Stage, and the tea stains left on my side of the table which were not wiped down prior to our 45-minute set.

One other regret was that guests were not allowed to take photos inside the cafe — although that is perfectly understandable since that is the way event cafes are run not just in Singapore, but in Tokyo and Manila as well. But on the overall, I enjoyed my Atelier Royale experience, and will not hesitate visiting again if the cafe opens up in the next AFA.

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While were at the cafe, Aira and Kaname hosted a cosplay talk for fans and fellow cosplayers. They held a demo on do’s and don’ts when posing for cameras — with special emphasis on proper cosplay characterization. It’s funny to note that even while there were “out of character” both Aira and Kaname drew cheers and catcalls from their adoring fans 🙂

AFA X was concluded by Side B of the I Love Anisong concert series featuring angela, SCANDAL, and MAY’N. The concert hall has been filled to near capacity, mostly by SCANDAL fans who were excited to see the four pop-punk princesses take to the stage. After a spirited set by angela (which merited one encore performance), SCANDAL exploded to to the stage with a non-stop 90-minute set that covered all the tracks on their first album.

Just as the excitement was dying down, the crowd was fired up anew by the return to Singapore of the one and only Galaxy Fairy MAY’N — Japanese pop sensation and singing voice of Macross Frontier’s Sheryl Nome. Starting with an emotional performance of Diamond Crevasse, MAY’N put on a show with songs from both her solo album Styles and her Sheryl Nome tracks.

AFA X has proven to be bigger and brighter then previous AFA events, and although I personally had a great time, there are always things that can be improved to make the event even bigger and brighter in the coming years. First and foremost would be to improve the ticketing system, another would be to refine the venue lay-out to afford cosplaying guests room to breath.

I would like to see more merchandise booths with a bigger array of items on sale, as many of the merchants at the con sold the same merchandise at similar prices. I would also love to see a much, much larger artists alley — with representatives from doujinshi circles and artist groups not just from Singapore but also from around South East Asia.

These are just suggestions, since overall I like how the con is run and I always have a great time whenever I am in town. Congratulations to everyone at AFA X, Dentsu, SOZO, and Asia PR Werkz for a job well done. See you all at AFA 2011!

Thanks to everyone at AFA X, SOZO, and Asia PR Werkz for the media passes to the event. Thank you also to Jimmy of Golgolak’s Den for additional pictures for this report.