The country’s premiere university and collegiate anime fair pulls out all the stops for this year’s UPAME 1UP: The 2013 UP Anime and Manga Enthusiasts Fair. Held at Pasay City’s Word Trade Center Tent, the event is the biggest ever for the University of the Philippines Diliman campus’ anime and manga organization.

UPAME 1UP featured massive gaming booths from renowned titles such as League of Legends and Dragon Nest, an extensive merchants and hobbyists merch section, top level contests and competitions, plus a special appearance by Japanese cosplay icon 麗華 REIKA!

      

Unlike other local events don’t live up to their event names, UP AME delivers the goods on the gaming front. There was not one but at least three different gaming tourneys running simultaneously. Both PC and console gamers were well-represented, plus a smattering of mobile gaming mini-events for good measure.

Added to the mix were UP AME’s traditional booths and activities, done up in gaming-themed guises. The cafe was converted into a tavern (full HP and MP restore with each meal!), the package counter was named Kafra Corp — after Ragnarok Online’s infamous NPCs, and many others.

      

The six month delay for this year’s con has done the event a world of good. We’d like to commend the fair’s organizing committee for taking a risk and putting the event off instead of pushing for a November 2012 event date. We also hope the mishaps (the power outage, the delay in ticketing, etc.) don’t shake the organizers’ confidence; they have a good thing going here and we hope they improve further with time.

Honestly, “professional” organizers should take a leaf out of UP AME’s book. The only thing these college kids have in plenty is determination — funding and resources are always in short supply. If the “pros” work just as hard, as well as put their extensive financial muscle to good use, then a good outcome is a given. We have seen way too many local cons failing to deliver because the organizers did not have enough time to get their shit together.