Celebrating its 10th anniversary, Animaga Expo, Melbourne’s reigning anime, manga and Asian culture convention took place at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC) on the 24th and 25th of August. Despite being in its tenth year, it was my first time attending the event.
My convention origins started at the community run Melbourne Anime Festival (Manifest) years ago where I first wore my cosplay and Lolita fashion outfits. This is a world I once frequented but admittedly hadn’t visited in a long time. So, I was grateful for the opportunity to attend Animaga Expo 2024.
Donning my Studio Ghibli Kiki’s Delivery Service cosplay, cosplaying for the first time in years, I attended on Saturday the 24th of August for a full day of anime-manga goodness and community fun. Arriving an hour after doors opened from 11, I collected my media pass and was amazed the moment I stepped onto the exhibition floor. In one corner of the hall there was a stage that had bands and local idols performing anime songs covers and dances. To hype up the vibes, some patrons even brought their own lightsticks which they supportively waved around while dancing themselves, passionately cheering aloud for every performance.
Behind this stage and sprawled throughout the convention floor was a massive Artist Alley section filled with independent artists selling their works. From art, keychains, oversized game cartridges, to berets, plushies and even pottery, if you love shopping and market stalls, then this section was a dream come true. There were over 400 artist alley stalls available and I found myself snaking through each aisle to make sure I looked upon them all and didn’t miss anything.
Some of my favourite Artist Alley stalls consisted of Wookiee Print who had 3D printed oversized Nintendo styled game cartridges that doubled as game cases, Maho’s Drawing stall which was filled with super cute space themed penguin art and accessories, there were pretty pastel berets from Parfait Parlour, and last but not least, Pottique Ceramics stood apart from the rest with its Studio Ghibli and anime inspired cute handmade pottery.
When not roaming the Artist Alley, I was browsing the Exhibitor stalls. There was manga, figurines and plushies available for purchase on the showroom floor. A standout of these was SoyToy Club; a new indie Australian clothing label that had anime inspired street wear. Noodle kings, Indomie also had their own booth and some activities where by scanning a QR code, doing a survey and playing some games, you could win freebies which including the obvious free instant noodles, Indomie flavoured potato chips, t-shirts, tiny replica keychains, and even a stylish tote bag. Although I was pleased that Indomie had a lot of freebies to give away, from memory, they were the only real place with freebies at the event.
I also managed to attend a panel for a topic that was very close to my heart, the Lolita panel. As I was one of the first few in Melbourne to start wearing Lolita fashion years ago, I wanted to see what the community was like now, as well as what the new Lolita fashion that fans were wearing. The panel consisted of a fashion showcase with Lolita donned patrons lined up and ready to strut their best stuff on stage, showing off their pretty outfits. Styles ranged from sweet Lolita, gothic Lolita and classic Lolita. Although I found this quite limited (I used to champion the wa Lolita style), as there are more Lolita styles than just these three, I was still quite pleased with the decent turn out in support of this unique fashion genre.
While attending Animaga, I never left the showroom floor. I was often admiring all the cosplay in the room and on stage at the Cosplay Parade or keenly glancing at the gaming section. Soon finding a corner, I did take a break to eat and was pleased to see food truck options of dumplings and bubble tea for patrons to choose from if one did not wish to eat food from the exhibitor hall kitchen. There was a decent amount of seating available for making a meal pit stop and after waiting and circling for a bit, it wasn’t long before I had a table to relax at for a moment while I inhaled food to reenergise.
To conclude my day at the event, I had pre-booked to take part in a free Gunpla (Gundam plastic model) building workshop. Admittedly, I am terrible at following written instructions or a guide, so I had help from my company instructing me to put my very first Gundam together and was very pleased with the result in the end.
Leaving the event, I could not resist heading outside MCEC to take photos beneath the bloomed cherry blossom trees with my cosplay attire. There, I befriended fellow cosplayers that were just happy to be there in the moment and in their best costume attire.
For the purpose of the review, I only had the capacity to attend on the Saturday. However, for my first time, I thoroughly loved Animaga 2024. I don’t know why it has taken me so long to attend, especially when I started my days loving all these wonderful things at Manifest. Animaga has reignited my love for cosplay, the community and I adore how they’ve had the biggest Artist Alley that we’ve seen in Melbourne thus far. The positive energy and community vibes that the event emitted felt like a warm wholesome homecoming for me. I even went home with my own little Artist Alley haul, complete with a knitted grey chicken plushie. While I believe the floor space of the event could be expanded further, I know I will definitely return come next year.
Congratulations Animaga for celebrating your 10th birthday and here’s to many more.
For more information, visit:
https://animaga.com.au
https://www.instagram.com/animagaexpo
Photography by Grant Alexander.
