Over the past few years here in Sydney Australia, we have seen Supanova, Animania, and Mini-Animania. The year is now 2007 and we have now seen the birth of a 4th convention here in Sydney, SMASH (Sydney Manga and Anime Show). Today was the launch of the new convention and being the event reporter for conventions here in Sydney, I headed down to check it out. WARNING: Picture intensive post.
Just like Animania, SMASH is founded by a bunch of anime fans for the fans, and to kick start an event it was held at where Animania was last held before the move to Town Hall, the University of NSW, Sydney. Now I have only been there once, and that was a long time ago, at least 3-4 years I think. Anyway, after arriving at the scene with my dear friend Roobar, we were somewhat surprised to see the line already.
Yeah, by the time we arrived, the line was practically a few metres from the entrance of the university. Waiting around for a few minutes, a few more friends joined and the total time that we waited in line was probably 30 minutes at most, as the line was moving rather fast. Now the venue that SMASH was held at was The Roundhouse, and personally I have never been here. Upon entering, the place was really spacious. Just as the name of the venue, the entire hall was round, with the main stage set on one end, with stalls circling the outside, and convention attendees can sit in the middle.
Headed up to the second floor to check out some of the artist tables set there and to also get a clearer shot of the venue. As you can see, there is quite a number of people inside, and the venue is quite spacious. However the convention also expanded to outside where there were a few stores selling the usual snacks that we see at other conventions, like takoyaki, pancakes, fried soba etc. Of course I didn’t buy any food here as food is expensive, plus I was going to have lunch with friends later on.
Other areas included a lounge room where a host club and maid cafe were held, however I didn’t get to take some photos, which I’ll explain later. There was a room near the back of the main stage which was the cosplay room, but what was held here was Cosplay Chess.
Something different and that i haven’t seen at conventions before, but it kept my interest for a whole 2 minutes before I left. I was more hoping the cosplay room was going to be a place for people to take photos of cosplayers. not to mention this room had the best lighting for such a thing.
Now one thing I enjoy at all conventions is karaoke, whether it just be a small thing, or a proper competition. Though I think I would’ve have missed karaoke if mekky from the AnimeSydney forums, didn’t mention it to me. This time around, I also brought a long a video camera, but since I was armed with my shiny camera, I gave mekky the honors of using the video camera. But of course, the files are somewhat VERY large so I won’t be posting the link for them here. These photos are of the karaoke singers, except the guy with the hat as he was an organiser.
Now with SMASH being organised with the help of the Anime Clubs from the universities (I think, lol), what kind of convention would it be if they weren’t present? So Anime@UTS, AnimeMQ, AnimeUNSW, and SUAnime all had a stall there selling their goods. Unfortunately members of JAUWS couldn’t make it, but perhaps next year!
And just for laughs, the picture below is of my friend Blox. The scumbag was actually going to hold his own stall selling his artwork, but didn’t finish in time and didn’t pay the table fee. So he sat and minded someone else’s table.
Impressions
With this being SMASH’s first event, I had mid-level expectations of how it would turn out. I thought I would only be staying till 4p.m, but I ended up staying back longer for the cosplay competition. The one major thing that surprised me greatly was the amount of people that attended. For those who have experienced Animania when it was last held at UNSW, the place was crowded. Just moving around was a pain and the layout of each section wasn’t done well. However the organisers of SMASH have thought things out and utilised The Roundhouse well.
The number of stores present isn’t that great, but to me at this point it doesn’t really matter. The whole point of SMASH was mainly focused on the artists who were sitting upstairs and how they got a decent amount of coverage. Seems that in a lot of conventions, artists don’t get that much coverage due to the location of their tables, but I’m not sure if that is true or not, so don’t quote me on that. All the panels and events i can’t really comment as I don’t really attend any of those.
So what was the point of me attending this convention if I didn’t bother going to most of the events, let alone buy anything? Quite simple. To meet up with all my friends that I haven’t seen in a long time, and even the friends that I only get to see during convention time. Now you may also notice that some of the photos didn’t turn out well. That’s because I kind of did a half-assed job of taking photos, though I am surprised how they turned out. I spent most of my time catching up with the many people that I know, and the people that know me somehow yet I don’t remember them. And really, that’s what turning up to convention is about for me now.
Overall I think SMASH was an enjoyable day, and compared to Animania, it was a hell of a lot cheaper to get in. Only $12 AUD as opposed to Animania’s $30-$40 AUD. Now if SMASH is going to continue on for the next few years, I can see this growing, but not only that, most of SMASH’s volunteers/organisers etc have had experience with Animania, and I can see that SMASH could be a rival convention for Animania in the next few years. So now, the 2nd Sydney convention is over, the first was Mini-Animania which I didn’t attend, it is now roughly 5-6 weeks till Animania Sydney, which I look forward to this year.
Also to note, I happened to see one of Animania’s organisers at SMASH today and talked with him a bit. He’s asked if I wanted to become a photographer for Animania next month. Well I’m thinking about it at this point, but I’m hoping to have better equipment before Animania. Oh and I also hope to have some other stuff done like business cards with the site’s address so I can hand to people if they want to see photos, plus hopefully have a t-shirt made with Moe Moe Rabu’s address on it so I can wear out. So it looks like I’ll be having a busy 5-6 weeks.
Cosplay photos will be posted in the next post to come, and if you want any high-res versions of the photos I have, please email me at adunATmoemoerabu.net
Check out other coverages of SMASH:
- Official SMASH! 2007 Photos Thread
- Event Report: SMASH Anime Convention (UNSW) by Hunting the Elusive
Ugghhh I felt sick when I saw the cosplay chess, not the game itself but the guy cosplaying as Misa Misa from Death Note, unless it was a girl then ummm…quite big for a girl. Last year at my local convention there was a guy that dressed up as Princess Peach from Mario and just to let you know he didn’t exactly “look the part”, felt a bit sick too after looking at him.
WHat I’ve noticed is that the anime conventions over in Sydney seems to be held over at locations like as University. Probably their size or something, which is both good and bad. Anime conventions held here are mostly in convention halls which it’s probably easier to navigate and stuff when everything’s on the same level… but that means harder to grab some photo shots. Really loved how to sniped from the second floor.
Cosplay chess doesn’t really seem to be a relatively nice idea, probably because I’ve seen it back in Manifest 2006. But then again, we don’t have it here back in Singapore.
Oh! Really like The Roundhouse’s architecture!
Animania started in 2002 at the University of Sydney. You’re talking about the 2003 Animania.
AS: Some crossplayers are just wrong, but some do turn out okish. Funny that I’ve had a bunch of people wanting me to crossplay just for laughs.
Windbell: So far this is the only convention that is being held at a university. Events like Animania and Supanova are held at larger venues as they grew in exponential rates over the years. Though the benefit of it being held at a university, cheaper ticket price, and that’s what a lot of people would want first. Shooting from the second floor is good, but I did also wish I could get photos from the ground floor near the front. But still, not many people have the equipment to actually take photos from above.
Plexy: Thanks, at least you remember it all. All fixed.
I’m kinda glad that nobody took photos of me because I’m not a photogenic person at all.
Funny hat kun:I hear you were selling scum products again, lol.
‘Allo,
I’m here to defend the honour of Blox.
He originally had his own table, but because of illness couldn’t produce any art to sell so pulled out… But he DID pay for his own table (and couldn’t get a refund because he cancelled a day or two before the con). :S
He very helpfully minded Insanity’s table while Aya was doing her art panel, and I was downstairs minding the Pre-registration entrance. From everyone at Insanity… THANKS BLOX, YOU’RE AWESOME.
Hey! I have you know that they are official goods I brought when I was overseas!
Cabbage: Honour of Blox? LOL. Well all in good fun. He better have a stall at Animania though. I demand it!
Funny hat kun: As long as you don’t try to flog them to me at Animania.