Otakus, rejoice as the Best of Anime convention reveals its line-up of performers on Sept. 19 and 20, at SMX Convention Center, SM Mall of Asia Complex, Pasay City.
Topbilling this annual anime event is Japanese pop singer EirAoi, popular for her debut single “Memoria,” the ending theme to the anime series Fate/Zero; “Aurora,” used in Mobile Suit Gundam AGE; “Innocence” used in Sword Art Online; and “Sirius,” the opening theme to the smash hit fightathon series Kill la Kill. A music lover from a young age, Eir formed her own band in high school, debuted in 2011 and has gone on to release nine singles and two albums. With an impressive international fan base, Eirhas held 20 concerts across Asia, Europe,and South America.
Singer-songwriter Joe Inoue returns to BoA this year to delight fans with his humor and popsongs. Born in California, Inoue rose to fame as the singer of “Closer,” one of the opening songs for the popular anime Naruto: Shippuden. His single “Kaze no Gotoku” was used as the second theme song of the anime “Gintama.” He is currently signed to Sony Music Entertainment Japan, under the Sony Music Artist Inc..Also returning to BOA this year is the indie V-kei band UCHUSENTAI:NOIZ. The band previously made waves across the country after releasing covers of various Filipino songs like Kamikaze’s“Narda,”Rivermaya’s“LiwanagsaDilim,” Rocksteddy’s“Superhero,” and Orange &Lemons’ “PinoyAko.” The band became even more of a fan favorite with its humanitarian acts for Typhoon Yolanda. UCHUSENTAI:NOIZ was among the first international celebrities to come to the victims’ aid by holding a fundraising concert in Japan. The band also visited shelters in the typhoon-ravaged areas.
The final addition to this year’s line-up is the all-female group STARMARIE. Composed of Nonchan (Nozomi Kinoshita), Shino (Shino Takamori), Hi-chan (Hiroka Matsuzaki), Monya (Motoko Nakane), and Kae-chan (Kanade Watanabe), the girls will grace the event with their lively and sweet beats. Something the con-goers should watch out for is STARMARIE member Monya cosplaying on the event.
The 6th Best of Anime is two-days of otaku fellowship and learning more about the culture of Japan. Activities include art competitions like the Quickdraw Competition which gathers young and talented artists; the BoA Superstar where contestants take the stage and perform their own renditions of beloved Japanese songs; and the Battle of the Bands where aspiring rockstars get to perform covers of Japanese songs. Cosplay highlights include: All-Star Cosplay Competition, where cosplayers compete with their costumes and skits; the BoAInter-School Cosplay Competition Finals, where winners from different schools battle it out; and the World Cosplay Summit (WCS), where winners will fly to Japan to represent the Philippines.
The Best of Anime is co-located at the biggest book fair in the country, The Manila International Book Fair, slated on September 16 to 20. Also co-located at the MIBF is DigiTech Manila, the largest gathering of digital technology leaders, experts, and practitioners in education. DigiTech is slated on September 17 to 18.
For details, call 896-0661 or 896-0682, or e-mail [email protected].