Back in March 2016, Australian anime publisher Madman Entertainment first unveiled their plans to host an anime convention in Melbourne, known as the Madman Anime Festival. Held at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre in early-September of that year, the inaugural festivities were kicked off with a number of international guests (Both from North America and Japan), a shopping hall, panels, cosplay opportunities and more. While a triple booked weekend meant I was not able to attend the festivities, there was clearly a strong enough reception from those in attendance for the publisher to branch out and hold events in three states this year: Western Australia, Queensland and Victoria. The Brisbane festival was last weekend.
Since there are no major anime-dedicated festivals of this scale currently active in Brisbane, I was eager to see if Madman Entertainment would impress. I had the misfortune of falling very unwell following the first day of the festival, and didn’t get to experience some of the Sunday-exclusive events. However, I do feel like I was able to experience a lot of what the festival had to offer during that one day.
Expo Hall
With no panels beginning until 11.00am on either day, those who arrived at the Madman Anime Festival as the festival began would likely find themselves wandering the aisles of the expo hall. Although using less space than Supanova: Pop Culture Expo which usually encompasses many halls at the BCEC, the floor space was more than enough to contain a lot of what the festival had to offer – shopping, autographs, exhibitions, presentations and more. I wouldn’t have called the area “squishy” to move through even during its peak times, although there were obvious queues for things such as signings.
Madman in the Expo Hall
Madman Entertainment were spread over two large stalls in the hall. The first is what you would traditionally find at any convention they attend – lots and lots of anime and manga. The second was a dedicated Ichiban Kuji / Collectibles booth, focusing on figures and other collectable goodies.
The Ichiban Kuji element was one of the more interesting elements of their booths, and not something Madman generally runs at conventions. Based on the ticket lotteries organised by Banpresto in Japan, those at the booth were able to purchase $15 lots at the booth, with each ticket listing a dedicated letter corresponding to a particular prize. While everyone is technically a winner, prizes ranged from smaller items like key chain’s to figures. Since prizes on offer were only refreshed once all lots were sold, and they did mark down remaining prizes for everyone to see, there was the risk of interest on a particular set of prizes waning if key prizes were already won. I ended up breaking a stalemate on the Sword Art Online Ichiban Kuji, enticed by the “Last One” lithograph on offer (above).
Further Shopping
As you would expect from an anime festival, a lot of the shopping opportunities had some relation to anime. Anime publisher Siren Visual had a small booth with some decent deals, while familiar stores such as OzAnimart, Zombster, Shin Tokyo, Tamarket and more also set up shop. There was also a small creators zone, which was also a pleasure to walk through and buy a few things from.
Exhibitions
The expo hall was also home to a number of artistic exhibitions based on well-known franchises licensed by Madman Entertainment, including Tokyo Ghoul, Attack on Titan, One-Punch Man and Sword Art Online. I think these exhibitions would come down to personal interest in a series, but I felt the quality of them did vary. While I loved the theming of the Attack on Titan exhibition (pictured above) which had a very enclosed and towering feel to its design, and loved the quantity and quality of artwork presented in the Tokyo Ghoul exhibition, those for Sword Art Online and One-Punch Man saw me only spend a few minutes in each. The Itasha Vehicle Display also could have used a little more attention.
Cosplay Photos and VIP Opportunities
Given the photography opportunities possible with cosplay, I think it was smart for Canon to become a sponsor of the Madman Anime Festival. As a non-cosplayer I didn’t get to experience this, but from 11am to 2pm on both days, attendees could have their photograph taken by Canon staff for free on one of several different anime-oriented sets. VIP Pass holders were also able to take advantage of the Canon VIP Lounge, allowing them to try their hands out on a Canon 80D and take some snaps in the event. It might not be so appealing for pro photographers who have better equipment, but I imagine was nevertheless a nice opportunity for those who had previously just been using their phone to take photographs.
Special Guests
Although having less anime industry related guests in attendance than their inaugural festival in Melbourne last year, Madman Entertainment did bring over quality with both English voice actor Cherami Leigh and Japanese voice actor Yuko Miyamura being in attendance. Both guests had their own panels each day, had set hour-long autograph sessions each day (which depending on your perspective may have been a good or inconvenient thing) and generally became part of the festival itself. Cherami Leigh in particular shone throughout the festival, being involved in kicking-off the Australian English dub premiere of Sword Art Online: Ordinal Scale, and holding a Facebook Live session the evening before where she casually toured the event while interacting with fans.
The other special guests in attendance at Madman Anime Festival Brisbane were “Cosplay Stars” Ying Tze, Katsuska Moonfox, Orochi X and Pinky Lu Xun. Looking at their work it is clear they are great cosplayers, however as I am not really involved in the cosplay community, there isn’t much I can say about their attendance. They did however seem to receive regular chances to showcase their talent and engage with the community, through their daily appearances on the Expo Stage and in some of the other cosplay events.
Special Guests and Panels
Many of the main panels and film screenings were held in the AnimeLab Arena, a cordoned off section of the wider BCEC Great Hall (which is often used for performances such as theatrical productions, concerts and more). There was ample (tiered) seating which was comfortable, although I wouldn’t have objected to the guests straying from the stage a little bit, as there was more distance between attendees and who they had come to watch than I would have liked.
Yuko Miyamura held different panels on both days. On the Saturday she held a Voice Acting Workshop alongside a very enthusiastic MC from Madman Entertainment whose name unfortunately escapes my mind. This hour long course involved a lot of warm-up work and some practical demonstrations from Miyamura – including a live session to a snippet of anime. Personally I think this really needed more than an hour set aside for it to be of much value, but it was nevertheless a fun, practical session with a lot of audience participation.
Cherami Leigh’s panel followed the more traditional format of being a Q&A Panel. The first two-thirds of the panel focused more on her individual roles in key shows such as Asuna in Sword Art Online and Lucy in Fairy Tail. I though this section of the panel was enjoyable, although given the people they had in the audience, I didn’t think there was a need to screen so many snippets of her past work. Where she thrived in my opinion however was when the microphone was opened to the audience – providing insights, industry knowledge and having a few laughs with the audience. I wouldn’t have minded a lot more (or even all) of this session being open Q&A.
Although there is no indication of this being made available online as there was strictly no recording, you can read my own pre-festival Q&A with Cherami Leigh HERE.
Special Guest Autographs
Both the voice actor and cosplay guests in attendance at Madman Anime Festival were not confined to autograph booths for hour upon hour each day. Instead, voice actor guests had two hour-long signing sessions each day, while cosplay guests only had one hour. I like this approach, as it at least felt to me like guests were invited to be part of the full Madman Anime Festival experience rather than just signing autographs. However, it did mean that long queues formed before the signing session even began, and there was the possibility that some could miss out on an autograph if they only had one day to cram panels, shopping and other experiences in. That said, the line did progress relatively quickly, and if my sole experience with Cherami Leigh was anything to go by, she still took the time to chat with everyone she met.
I liked the fact that autographs were free if you had something you wished to have signed. There was no shortage of items you could purchase to have signed at the expo, whether this was prizes from the aforementioned Ichiban Kuji Madman Entertainment was running, DVD covers or anything else. I am not sure if this was universal with guests, but some did have prints to sign available at a cost – something which would have been nice to know about before reaching the front of the queue.
Screenings and Other Stuff
As arguably Australia’s largest publisher of anime, Madman Entertainment hold the rights to a number of new and upcoming animated films and TV anime. This is something they took advantage of during Madman Anime Festival. Saturday in particular hosted a number of screenings available to all attendees, including the English Dub Premiere of Dragon Ball Super and a special community screening of Love Live Sunshine!! Episode 1 (and a selection of special videos).
At a separate cost were arguably the most notable screenings which took place post-festival – the Australian Premiere of Sword Art Online: Ordinal Scale’s English Dub on Saturday and the Australian Premiere of Black Butler: Book of the Atlantic on Sunday. Due to the whole “suddenly being unwell” thing I was unable to attend either screening, but these were nice things to include in the festival line-up.
Once you factor in all the other cosplay events, the maid cafe experience, community performances and other events across the festival, there was a nice assortment of stuff to do whether you scheduled in just one day or the entire weekend.
Final Words on Madman Anime Festival Brisbane 2017
Madman Anime Festival is not as big as some of the broader-scale pop culture conventions in Australia, nor would I call it Australia’s equivalent to some of the major anime conventions abroad. However from my perspective, this event proved to be an enjoyable weekend (or rather, Saturday) out, offering a good number of things to see, do and buy. I liked that it also brought together the Queensland anime community, which in my opinion doesn’t have nearly enough opportunities to enjoy something on this scale enough. Here’s hoping that this is only the start to an annual Madman Anime Festival in Brisbane, and that they continue to expand their range of guest and panel opportunities.
Acknowledgements
A single-person weekend media pass was provided by Madman Entertainment for Madman Anime Festival Brisbane 2017.
