Con-Eventional Stories are event recaps more on the event itself than the experience.
Wonder what the event is like in the field? Check out A Con-Eventional Story: Asia Comic Con 2019
Credits to the Asia Comic Con (Source) for the featured image, and the various images and posts seen here.
I DO NOT own the rights to any of these photos, if mentioned.
ALL rights belong to Asia Comic Con, and other respective parties.
Introduction
There’s a Comic Con in Asia?
Is it because it’s Asian? *Das lacist*
The FAQ is this?
Asia Comic Con 2019 is an ACG event held on the weekend of October 26th to 27th, by the folks of Asia Comic Con Malaysia.
This is the company’s 2nd iteration of this Asia Comic Con gig, with the debut event some folks may remember being held at Sunway Pyramid.
Some clarification.
These are NOT the same people who hosted PopCon back in January 2019, as even though both organizations share the Comic Con name, there’s a difference.
Comic Con Malaysia, the organization behind PopCon, has the licensed rights from the actual Comic Con organization in the West, to use the Comic Con name for events here in Malaysia, or that’s the basic gist of it.
Asia Comic Con Malaysia, is a franchisee of the Thai based organization under the same name, that sell themselves as “Asia Comic Con” instead, thus why we have 2 separate Comic Con entities here in Malaysia.
…it’s needlessly confusing. @.@
Also Full Disclosure, we got our Day 1 tickets for free, from that giveaway done by The Pearl Hotel Kuala Lumpur, so…yeah.
That.
First Contact
Announced on 19th February 2019, Asia Comic Con’s Profile and Cover photo updates on the same day was enough of a giveaway to confirm the event coming over to Mid Valley Exhibition Centre come October 26th to 27th.
With…huh.
Apparently one can like, share, and hashtag the post to become get some early tickets for the event.
Take note readers, this will be a recurring good and bad thing. 🎟
Registration Open Season
Some interesting bits here for the registration booths.
With an initial July 13th announcement for Doujin/Cosplay booth registrations, this would later be followed up by a rehashed August 23rd announcement that separates both Doujin and Cosplay booths into their own specific categories.
- Credits to Asia Comic Con for the photos.
Compared to the initial post that sort of lumps both under the same category.
With booth prices that are rather…we’re no experts on this matter, so we’re gonna skip.
But it is a bit weird to see the prices for such booths published publicly, because isn’t this the sort of thing discussed behind closed doors, come the F on.
- Credits to Asia Comic Con for the photos.
Anyways, minor pickles aside, announced on July 15th comes the request of looking for Basic or Mini Booth vendors to fill up the exhibition space of the event.
Announced on…date that’s a bit too much to mention, comes a cosplay competition list of going for either the,
- Coswalk Contest on October 26th (Day 1)
- Skit Contest on October 27th (Day 2)
Which is kind of neat since the post covers both types of contests that cater to various cosplayers that attend events. 🤔
Lineup Starts Here
This is where the good stuff starts for Asia Comic Con 2019. 😮
Starring the most welcomed voice of Mr Jason Paige himself, the man behind the famous song that’s used to answer the question of,
“Do you want to be the very best?” (☞ﾟヮﾟ)☞
Joining Mr Jason on stage as part of Asia Comic Con’s lineup of performances, comes Mika Kobayashi!
The famous voice behind many vocal tracks from various anime over the last decade…too many for us to mention as this is what happens when one does not do their anime homework. D:
For all the prop-fessionals with standards out there, comes Mr Wirru of the WCS Team Australia, taking center stage as the event’s judge for the various cosplay related competitions taking place.
Wirru Wirru Rock you, if you will.
<Insert tossing brick at the screen/author’s irl face here>
Speaking of rock, suit up those dance shoes or head bobs for DJ Benkun’s arsenal of Anisong spins that’s enough to spin you right round.
- Credits to Asia Comic Con for the photos. Source.
Probably the most unique show to check out comes Kaori Kawabuchi, the Lady Samurai and her band KAO=S, that showcases the beauty of stage based singing performances.
With some Sword Dance flavor to go along with it. ⚔
- Credits to Asia Comic Con for the photos.
It’s not a Comic Con event unless there’s comic book artists themselves giving the event a whirl, featuring the Deadpool inspiring talents of Mr Scott Koblish, and a returning guest from before, Mr Ario Anindito from Indonesia!
The many international guests gracing Asia Comic Con is one thing, but don’t count out the local talents yet. 🤔
- Credits to Asia Comic Con for the photos. Source.
Starring, MinRi and her Higashi Kitty Band that returns to action here at Asia Comic Con, from distant lands they hail.
Release the cats. 🐈🐈🐈
The PHNX boys also come by for action, although they’re more suited to the name BRIGHTBURN moving forward.
Like a PHNX, some Spotify crap won’t stop this band’s BRIGHTBURN will to continue. ;D
- Credits to Asia Comic Con for the photos. Source.
Over at the literal Cosplay Alley (See way below for context), comes local guest cosplayers Kaori Lalachan and Sally Dorasnow for their fans to meet up at.
- Credits to Asia Comic Con for the photos. Source.
But joining them comes the team behind the Lolita Fashion Walk, a segment brought to you by the folks of Asia Comic Con, from what can be deduced to be their interest in highlighting the idea behind Lolita Fashion.
Rest assured, one will not get arrested even though it has the term ‘loli’ in it
…yet.
- Credits to Asia Comic Con for the photos.
Patrol around the event to spot the folks of the 501st Legion around the event, in their noble quest of gathering for charity and stuff.
Or check out the Macross Malaysia booth for all the unanswered questions behind…how does the idol thing work and make sense for Macross? 🤔
- Credits to Asia Comic Con for the photos.
Get a look see at the many Hasbro backed products, with the most notable being stuff from the Transformers franchise that’s more than meets the eye.
Especially that Transformers card game, which is surprisingly easy to pickup and play, by quite a large chunk of folks.
Side note, artist booths are also aplenty at the event, with a Banana Clover that offers up a charming brand of Final Fantasy based keychains.
- Credits to Asia Comic Con for the photo. Source.
Schedule suit up for content to always kick off by 10 am Malaysian Time (Basically 10:05 ish if we’re talking the doors opening).
And eyes open for the rather straightforward layout that’s not joking around with how spacious the event is.
Jeezus, they could’ve had a luggage storage place for Fs sake.
The Good Goods
The Good Goods brings you ALL the best bits an event has to offer!
Please keep in mind this is only for the current iteration of this event, which may or may not repeat for future events.
-
Comic Con Comeback
I don’t know about you readers, but the Comic Con name if you think about it, is a VERY strong brand name in terms of ACG events.
…in the West anyways, such that its presence in the East just seems kind of, not as booming compared to the many local organizer run events.
However, it’s worth noting that the Asia Comic Con Malaysia folks do know how to handle a show that strikes a fine balance between both western and eastern content.
Lots of booths and activities that involve Western branded stuff like Hasbro, that Transformers card game and a sheet ton of card games that’s primarily led by Magic The Gathering, backed by a whole lot of stage activities that showcase the best of what the East has to offer.
I’m willing to admit that the balance could use some fine tuning, such as maybe considering inviting some Cos Dreaming folks who may have the wrong impressions of a Comic Con event being not anime related.
Which is some BS considering if that were the case a whole lot of stuff wouldn’t even be at the event, like that Bakugan booth for example.
Yes, it’s 2019 and Bakugan is a thing again, kind of.
In short, pretty good stuff that can use more fine tuned balancing.
-
Once Again
This one is a duh, but still worth the mention.
A post that declares all permits are granted for the international guests is always a good thing, regardless of how big or small an event is.
It generates goodwill, and even though I can sort of see this practice sort of dying out in the coming years, it’s never a bad thing to sell an event on.
Also, if all the permits are already in place, making an announcement like this is all one needs to ensure that any rouge immigration F-sticks trying to cause a scene would be subject to getting reprimanded should they try something funny. (☞ﾟヮﾟ)☞
In short, good stuff.
-
Space On Your Foot
Jeezus this event is spacious as F.
Such that it’s absurd that there’s so much open space to roam around, let alone opened spaces for folks to stash their cosplay equipment or luggage at, ie armor parts etc.
One way to utilize all this space is to well, maybe consider a paid luggage storage area for attendees.
Especially with that empty hall the event did not utilize, which would make the most sense as a glorified luggage warehouse.
It’d help with making some side gig revenue for the event, which is never a bad thing if you think about it.
Also, if a storage lot did exist at the event, it could use some better indication that it’s a storage booth, because I genuinely did not see anything of the sorts during that weekend.
-
Chocolate Campaign
I was genuinely confused when one of the folks who ran the Maybank Mae booth thing handed us a box of Chocolates to, in their words, “Oh hey, take it, and go distribute it around.”
This comes with occasional sessions of me having to drop by the booth again to reload, until Day 2 when that stuff ceased since they ran low on stocks. 🤔
It’s surprisingly the most fun I’ve had at an event for awhile, being handed this gig of delivering chocolates around.
Would do it again, 10/10.
-
Guest Based Fun
It’s a rare sight to see event guests mingle around the event, especially outside their booths, as seen by the likes of Mr Jason Paige’s famous balloon swallowing routine near the end of the Day 2 performances.
Basically, this pic, check out more of this at the other story.
I always found it weird that guests would often be, to some degree, restricted from how much they can roam around the event to mingle with people.
The main reason of safety is understandable, especially for certain high profile folks, which justifies the security detail.
Yet in those rare instances of guests just chilling and getting in on the same kind of shenanigans as regular attendees, it’s a great sight to see.
Thus why that “Wirru Wirru Rock You” pun exists.
Mr Wirru, if you’re reading this, you’re welcomed to punch us for that bad joke next time.
The Bad Blehs
The Bad Blehs brings up some…bad stuff, about events, which need to be talked about since no event is without issues that can’t be fixed for the future.
Future Organizers and/or spies from other event organizers, you can learn a thing or two of what not to do at your event here. (As a guide, so that you’re not too busy repeating history.)
Please keep in mind these are only for the current iteration of this event, which may or may not repeat for future events.
-
Ticket Pose Pickle
You likely knew this was coming, so let’s get this biggest “Well duh” issue with Asia Comic Con out first, which involves how the tickets were handled.
For those unaware, cosplayers attendees were allowed to enter the event for Free for 1 day, which came with its own set of undisclosed Terms and Conditions.
We managed to dig up the organizer’s claim about them having a “Quota” of sorts, with regards to how many cosplaying attendees were allowed to enter for free.
A Quota that was strangely ignored anyways on Day 2, given that they still allowed some cosplaying attendees to enter the event for free anyways.
…making the whole claim of a quota kind of…pointless to begin with.
In short, the organizers are not wrong to enforce their terms and conditions, but it is a dick move to not mention anything about a quota.
That is the biggest shortcoming here because it does come across as well, one could say, misleading advertising.
While it’s unlikely that a lawsuit would come out from this, it’s not a good thing to make up on the spot Terms & Conditions that weren’t made public at all.
If there’s a quota for this free entry gig, just put it out there!
This isn’t some CIA Level Classified Need To Know Basis Begone Peasants kind of information, especially if the free entry thing was planned to have a quota to begin with.
Anyways, if there was a plan to give cosplayer attendees benefits for attending the event, why not try an alternative that won’t rely on a quota instead?
Like say, cheaper tickets for cosplaying, something like 50% off as an example.
If the point is to bring in cosplayer attendees to attend the event, making it more accessible and consistent benefits more than some half-assed Free Entry thing that’s only 50% followed through.
As though 50% is the quota or something. 🤔
-
Literal Dead Space
Not the great game from the late 2000s by the way, rather the uh…this.
Really not sure what’s with the absurdly large spacing that’s…I guess meant to balance out the look of the hall?
But isn’t that kind of pointless when you leave out so much space that’s a wee bit too opened.
It’s one of those rare instances of an event being way too spacious than it needs too, considering that you can move these covered booths closer to those metal plate positions and resolve the unnecessary jam caused at that one alley where these booths reside at.
Also, kind of unrelated but.
This is a bit of a hazard, and in the very hall that’s got all the space to attract attendees to walk around, allowing the risk of people tripping on this is a bit of a pickle.
Just, remove it or put something super distinct to warn people of danger or something.
A “Caution Wet Floor” sign will do, just swap the wet floor for loose plug, and we’re good.
-
They Type English in What?
…really diving into nitpick territory here, but a minor checking on your event’s posts before publishing them would be nice.
I’m not expecting perfect grammar, but some words that get misspelled does sell the wrong idea about any organizer. ._.
Not sure if “dripby” was intentional, but paying some attention and taking your time to put together a well done post, beats a rushed job any day.
-
Missing Hall
What, you guys didn’t want PopCon’s sloppy seconds?
Basically, for those who went to the event you may have noticed that hallway between the Food Junction food court and Exhibition Centre exit being unopened.
Which seems, kind of unusual, since that extra exit would help serve as another exit for any event that takes place at Mid Valley.
Something to look into using for the next one, assuming the organizers are up for returning to Mid Valley for the next Asia Comic Con.
The Sequel?
Big 50/50 here, yet there aren’t a lot of organizers, especially ones that are newly established like Asia Comic Con Malaysia, who have the ability to bring in iconic named people from both the Western and the Eastern scenes.
Such that, it’s a strong chance to see ACC 2020 come back, it’s just a matter of seeing what they can do to put together that year’s content.
The Verdict
Comic Con is a very big name in ACG Culture, especially in the West, so it’s a bit concerning to see how it would fare in countries where Western stuff plays second fiddle to content from the Eastern front.
But Asia Comic Con strikes a fine balance between the two, such that it’s definitely a good event to check out regardless of whether or not you’re into Western or Eastern ACG content.
The organizers do have to fix up their issues, making announcements and mentions of their conditions like quotas for free entries would be a good start.
Asia Comic Con has set its foot down, now to see what steps it takes.
*END*
Author’s Note:
Thank you so much for reading!
If possible, I’d love to hear your feedback on what can we do better.
Be it the bad writing, horrible pictures, or just the fact I need more water, I’d love to hear about it.
Also,
Check out more stories over at S.I.R House, of Content 2019.
That said, siteinrelief has a Facebook page now!
Page us anytime, anywhere, Amway offers will be shot on sight, no questions asked.
S.I.R We Read Stuff Here 
2 thoughts on “An UnCon-Eventional Story: Asia Comic Con 2019”