At last the time has come for the third day! It’s my first time attending a convention for its entire duration and I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed it. Each day brought something new and I think the price of 52,000 won for all 3 days is very much worth it!
There was a significant decrease in the size of the crowd today. It was easy to get around and you could feel in the temperature that most people had gone on Friday or Saturday.
I will divide this post into two parts: a recap of the day, and then some final thoughts where I will rate several aspects of the con. Please remember that these are my very biased opinions, so they might differ from yours!
Day 3 Recap-
I made it just in time to see the panel “I Created Animation Platform because I am a big Fan“. Yes, that’s the name. The panel was an introduction to the streaming platform Laftel that I have mentioned in my previous posts about the con. Through the event this was definitely the booth and service I was most interested in, so I wanted to catch the panel. The creator of the app (I believe that’s who was presenting) gave a brief introduction to the service, which has anime streaming, webtoons, manga, and light novels! It’s all in Korean, but it’s a service worth checking out. Expect a post on Korean streaming services next week where I will delve deep into this and some other services!
You could tell he was very nervous and the presentation went rather quickly. I tried my best to understand well and he spoke about manga and animation as a subculture, and the potential he saw in it. Then he spoke about how the market is mostly overtaken by illegal streaming, so he was interested in making legal services more accessible.
Of most note was the fact that the service is starting to enter original production territory, like Netflix. They showed a brief clip of a project they are working on about Planet-sized dragons and their effect on a sort of post-apocalyptic planetary colony? It honestly looked very very cool and the art style reminded me of Aeon Flux a bit.
After that, Laftel was hosting a screening of Free! Starting Days, the movie released last year. I decided to check it out to take a break and see the screening area. I couldn’t take a good picture but they had these amazingly comfortable bean bags where you could lounge on. They also provided a cute little audio device which you could use so the sound of the other booths wouldn’t bother you. I watched the entire movie, which I loved, and I was very proud of myself because I understood all the Korean subtitles! It was a really nice break after the past 2 days of activity.
After that I revisited the Metal Brick booth, which for some reason I hadn’t taken the time to really explore. The person who I assume to be the boss approached me and gave me a really cute keychain of a character in Robot Taekwon V, a Korean movie that is kind of like Mazinger Z.
I bought my own small model. When I finish it I will post a picture in our instagram @hobby.kr.
Finally I attended the closing ceremony and the Korea Championships of Cosplay. First they had a DJ entertaining the crowd, and his set was pretty good! Seeing the cosplayers dance was a bit endearing, a bit cringe, but very fun!
All the people participating in the cosplay contest were INCREDIBLE. Aside from the marvel heroes I think everyone deserved a prize. First, Second, and Third place were selected by judges and there was a “Photogenic Award” for the best cosplayer selected by the audience. Voting was done through the Comic Con app.
The winners where as follows, feel free to look them up as they were amazing!
Photogenic Award: My Boo 마이부 (@myboo_cosplay on instagram)
Third Place: Kim Liho 김리호 (@liho_cos on instagram)
Second Place: Top 톱 (@chesheshesh on twitter)
First Place: My Boo 마이부 (@myboo_cosplay on instagram)
Final Thoughts:
Venue: 4/5
Super easy to navigate, well spaced out for traffic. Everyone had a good chance to be seen and take pictures. The only things I disliked were the small anime section and how hot it was on the first day.
Booths: 3/5
A lot of booths were good and overall most of them were well maintained and presented. However, many booths were not interactive and didn’t offer too much to do or see.
Merch: 3/5
Probably the most disappointing part for me. There were not many interesting or exclusive items, and most of the booths had stuff that you could buy in any store outside of the con. I would have liked to see more diversity in the Artist Alley as well.
Panels: 3/5
Although the guests and panels weree good, there weren’t many diverse or interesting topics. The translation work was very very questionable and a lot of the speakers seemed to lack a sense of direction. As it often happens in events like this it seems like a lot of things weren’t communicated to the exhibitors so it became a little bit awkward. In the future I would like to see more diverse subject matters and a little more organization.
Cosplay: 5/5
Everyone was super kind and and awesome! I didn’t see a single cosplayer have an attitude, reject anyone’s picture, or complain. I was so impressed by everyone’s ability and good disposition, it made for a really enjoyable 3 days! I’m even considering cosplaying next year because it honestly looked so fun.
Overall I had a great time and feel like my money was put to good use. I can’t wait to see what next year brings! Please let me know your thoughts in the comments below, I would love to know!
And now, time to rest. See you next week~!
