Among the community and public, there has been many opinions regarding The EOY’09.   Many questions and comments where made  regarding different aspect  of the event. Following our report on The EOY 09, we have a very great pleasure to speak with Tim Wong, Chairman for The EOY 09  to understand more about the scenes running behind The EOY 09.

PZportal: Why do you want to pick up EOY after STAC let go of it?

Tim: I feel that EOY is an event that I personally like a lot; it’s one of the cosplay events I’ve gone to every year since ‘05. So among all the cosplay and J-rock events, I will always go to EOY, it’s something which I won’t miss.  Also I think this group of people (that attend EOY) is very talented. They like to perform and sing, and have a lot of different skills, and they’re very good at making costumes. It’s a group of people that have a lot of talent but are not given a proper platform to perform. So when I heard that STAC was going to close down it was rather disheartening. So I felt, why don’t we try at it again? If not, all the talent we see here will just disappear.

PZportal:We know that STAC is a cosplay club, but all we know about EOY’s committee last year was that it was led by you. Could you give us an introduction to the rest of your committee?

Tim: The team had six people last year, but we have 8 to 9 people now, so we’ve grown slightly this year. Generally I am the founder, chairman for the event. Zhong Hao (Vincent) is our designer. Yuan Le does all the programming and web design; the registration system and event flow on the website is done by him. He’s the expert in the area, as his main job is a full time programmer. We also have an art group from Republic Polytechnic helping us who are called Dayaku, led by Ophelia and Jiemin. So we have these two to help us in artwork and drawing, like the ones in the event booklets.  Ophelia is also in charge of the booth allocation. Makan and Shi Hai are my left and right hand people. They are the operation personnel; they help with tasks ranging from moving tables, doing milk runs and buying food, to giving cues to the performers, and making sure everything is well taken care of and in place. So basically it’s a small team but we work very closely together and we feel that it’s been very effective.

PZportal: How was the committee formed ? Did you seek for staff online, or did you ask your close friends?

Tim: Yuan Le and Vincent are both very close friends of mine, and they’re also EOY goers who like EOY a lot. They always go to EOY to take pictures, so that’s how I got those two. As for the RP group, they approached us during the production of EOY, and I thought, why not give them a chance? And it worked out quite well.

PZportal: Personally I have attended Yui Makino’s concert and it is pretty good, what made you to engage  Yui to perform at EOY?

Tim: I think she is a very talented artist. Plus, in EOY we have abundant local talent like bands, pianists, singers. Yui is a voice actress, pianist and singer, so she fits into this direction. For EOY09 we are very art centred as suppose to the previous EOY and we don’t want to be like other anime events where it’s more pop-centred and conventional. So we want to offer a different flavour for EOY ‘09. That why we got Yui; plus, I like Yui as well.

PZportal: You mentioned that you are a fan of Yui, so how was it like to work with one of your idols?

Tim: It’s like a dream come true. It’s quite interesting, ‘cause you not only get to see your idol, you actually get to plan a concert for her, sequence her song, assign an engineer and design the lighting for her so it’s a very nice experience.

PZportal: Do you get  stressed while working with her?

Tim: You know, all artistes are handled by label representatives and managers. Generally they are very nice people; it’s just that there’s a language barrier sometimes and different people have different requirements. For example, the managers would like their artist’s performance to go well, but we also have the whole event to run, so we have to manage our priorities. But at the end of the day, they are very nice people to talk to and work with.

PZportal: The main problem indicated by the feedback is about the congestion. One of the questions that have been asked around is: why did you choose the drama centre as location for EOY ‘09?

Tim: First of all, as you know, EOY has been held at the Expo for many years, and I felt that if we go back there it there won’t be much of a significant change for the event. As a trained sound engineer, I do stage and lighting, so I always have this liking for stage effects for performances. So I wanted to give people a place to perform where they can interact so that why we hunted for places with an emphasis on the arts, and went in this arts direction. So there is a different effect to the whole event. When you see SOY, you see COSFEST, you see AFA; they are good events, they are very big, and they got a huge stage but we don’t want to do it in a convention style, but an artiste-focused style. I think no one has really tried that before, so I wanted to go in a different direction. So we decided to go towards art, and that led us to pick the drama centre.

Also, we expected about 3000 people, so we took a venue that was slightly bigger by about 15 to 20%, in anticipation of bigger crowds, though the place was narrower so there was some contraction in certain areas. But we certainly didn’t expect such a turnout. It’s certainly a problem, and it means we’ll be looking for a much bigger space for this year.

PZportal: So I understand that  it’s less about the cosplay and more about the arts?

Tim:Not exactly. You see, we are trying to put across the angle that cosplay is like an art. It may not be like conventional art, but more like pop art. So the cosplay, costume making, singing performances and competitions, it’s all pop art.

PZportal: There are people saying that in last year’s EOY, they think that it’s centred on Yui Makino instead of cosplay itself, contrary to previous EOY’s.

Tim: Actually, we got the venue way before we got Makino Yui in. So in the original plan we did not have an artiste to plan around. We started asking about her in June; the venue was booked as early as February. Also, it’s the first time that EOY has specially invited an artiste, so naturally we’d want to give her a bit more recognition and exposure. Artistes cannot be left to sing to empty crowds, so we have to push for it a bit. Also it’s not the only thing we have; we have the cosplay segment, the performance segment, the artist segment…so we try to balance it out.

PZportal: Two years ago, AFA were the first to bring artistes in. Is your decision to do the same for EOY a response to that?

Tim: Actually, we try not to be like AFA, as they are very pop culture and anime centred, while EOY is more focused on the arts and cosplay. We think that distinction is important. Also, because they are so big, there is no point in us going in the same direction, since they’ll probably just cannibalise us. We’d rather focus on a different market. That’s the reason we didn’t specifically look for a pop-oriented artist but an arts-oriented one. So people may feel that we’re probably like AFA but I can say for sure that it’s not. We have no intention to compete against AFA.

We do, however, have good relations with the AFA people. We help them with their events and they help us with ours, so there’s a mutual understanding. It makes no sense for us to go in AFA’s direction. They’re well-funded, they have a lot of big sponsors, and honestly, they’re a commercial organisation while we’re run by fans. We want to maintain that, ‘cause otherwise the purpose of EOY would be defeated.

PZportal: I read from some forum posts that you haven’t confirmed whether you want to have EOY ’10. Have you come to a decision?

Tim: Officially, we haven’t announced anything, but the current consensus is that we’re going to do it. In fact, we’re already scouting for venues and we’re in early planning stages.

PZportal: We’re still in the start of the year so it might be early to ask this, but can you give us some hints about what to expect from this year’s EOY?

Tim: We haven’t had anything concrete yet, but the space will definitely be bigger. We will probably have a lot more performances as well. We realised that we could actually have a lot more performances with the schedule we had last year. As for the artistes, we haven’t confirmed who we’re bringing in.

Three weeks after ‘The EOY09′ has ended its magnificent show of it EOY revival, what future holds in this entity whose very existence is once again a big question mark.

For EOY to go pass this year, it will need to see either radical new change which can answer the overcrowding problem or revert back to the original formula which kept EOY going since the beginning.

The dissolving of Shiro Tsubasa Animation Club (STAC) after ‘STAC EOY08′ was major news to local Japanese anime community as it meant on of the longest running cosplay event has come to its end. It was then revive by a whole new committee with a new direction for EOY, but how do the community react to the change?

This years The EOY'09 had showcased many talented local performer

In a statement made in online forum sgcafe.com, Tim Wong, Chairperson of ‘The EOY09′ committee mentioned a shift I focus into “more on musical and instrumental performance”. From what we see in ‘The EOY09′, this shift is definitely a success from overwhelming response to the performance of local artist and to have an overseas artist performing defiantly sealed it. Yet the overall post-event responses coming from the community was ironically not very welcoming.

Topping the list from the attendees was the issue with space. Overcrowding in the event space at one point worsen till a stage where moving around in casual wear was an issue much less in a costume. Many slammed the organisers for even thinking of hosting the event at NLB Drama Centre and questioned the decision of moving out of Singapore Expo where STAC EOY had been held at for many years.

One has to understand that the choice of Drama Centre is neither illogical nor stupid. In the past, issue with the quality of the audio system had been raised and clarification was made stating that the area used by STAC EOY was no meant for performance. With that being said, to hold a concert with that existing infrastructure would be suicidal.

You may argue that EOY is still primarily a cosplay event and changes should not by any means compromise that value.  Indeed, the choice of Drama Centre can be seen as evidence that ‘The EOY09′ was planned with Yui Makino’s concert as its core instead of cosplay.

But don’t get me wrong, the organiser of ‘The EOY09′ definitely tried their best effort to balance the new changes with the old values. What finally gave ‘The EOY09′ the critical blow was the ‘The EOY09′ committee under estimating the overcrowding problem of its predecessor.

The growth of both cosplayer and non-cosplaying fan had an explosive growth inline with the increasing popularity of Japanese anime. This growth is edging towards the point of saturation and for EOY08 had actually exceeded their capacity.

Why then did it seem that ‘The EOY09′ had such big issues with space?

1. Since ‘STAC EOY08′, the community still underwent growth at rate where the increased space could not match up
2. The structure of the area limits the effective cosplay space

What really contrasted the problem is the lack of open space outside of the event area acting as a buffer for over capacity.

If the new committee is serious of running EOY for many years to come, there are two paths in which they can tackle the problem. First if they decide to continue to inject new elements into EOY, they will have to consider the need to segregate an area especially for cosplay photo taking.

Groups who stops and take photos near traffic flow effectively congest the area

For most part, there are two roadblocks to cosplay related congestion.

1. On one hand, there are group of people taking photographs
2. on the other are cosplayers who are resting

By designating a specific area, hopefully they can reduce the amount of blockage in other areas. However the cost of doing just  that would be expensive. Thus in addition, planning of programs to channel traffic flow around different zone will be vital in aide to ease the congestion and reduce the load on space.

Second way is to focus back on cosplay, delegating more space to cosplay and concentrate on planning on managing issue of cosplayers. For unlike anime event like AFA, EOY is still primary  a Cosplay event to the community and no matter what they bring in to EOY would only be taken as a value add.

How far would EOY go?

The answer to that would depend on how well the community will accept the changes which The EOY will defiantly undergo and how long they can keep up with the growth rate.

Yui Makino, well known for her voice acting role of Sakura in Tsubasa Chronicle, held performances during the recently concluded EOY 09. She made similar appearances around the world since July 2009, performing in France and USA before arriving in Singapore. A mini concert open to public was held in the afternoon, followed by her main concert later in the evening at the Drama Center in National Library.

The following are several questions that we posted to Yui Makino during the short interview session:

PZportal: You debuted as a seiyuu in 2005 as Sakura from Tsubasa Chronicle, what got you started as a seiyuu?

Yui Makino: I know a friend who knows the seiyuu auditions and she told me an audition is coming up. I thought that it’s very interesting to be a seiyuu and I went to the audition for Sakura’s role.

PZportal: How did you prepare yourself for the role of Sakura and if you where to describe Sakura, what kind of person would she be?

Yui Makino: It was my first seiyuu role. I don’t really know what to expect, to train or how to prepare myself for. In the end I don’t really prepare myself for the role. Sakura lost her fathers and search for herself during the journey. As Sakura grows I feel that I grow with Sakura as well

PZportal: In most of the anime productions you where casted in, you have performed for its character song as well. Does being involved in the character acting aided in your expression of the songs?

Yui Makino: It’s tough to do (character song) but I still try my best to do it

PZportal: What is the most memorable scene out of all the (anime) productions you have been casted in?

Yuo Makino: (Thinking for a long time)(Laughs) There is too many that I have done so it’s hard for me to come out with just one scene.

PZportal: You have worked with many famous music producers and music professionals. How has this affect both your study and approach to music?

Yui Makino: Everybody does different kind and genere of music. Whatever I know and whatever they come with me with new songs is very different. Working with so many different people I’ve expanded my world of music and how much I can do with music and it has been very inspirational to learn new things along the way.

PZportal: Lastly what would you like to say to your fans in Singapore?

Yui Makino: I want to thank all my fans for supporting me for so long. it’s basically you guys that have been able to come so far to do all of these. Thank you for listening to all my song all this time, not only my old songs but also my new songs that are coming out. I really wish that you can enjoy all my new songs

The short interview was held just before any of her performance begin. We appreciate the time Yui Makino and her managers gave to us out of their tight schedule (They were yet to have their meals when we conducted the interview). We would like to thank the EOY committee for granting us this opportunity, and a very big thank you as well to Ferlyn, who is the acting translator during the interview.

Yui Makino performed her theme songs in Tsubasa Chronicle and Aria, along with some of her yet-to-debut new songs including Fuwa Fuwa. A live recording of her new song performed in concert can be found here.

Yui Makino has a message for people who attending her concert in Singapore!

If you still do not know about it yet, Yui Makino will be heading down to Singapore for a concert. It will be held at Drama Center, National Library on 26 December, right after EOY 09. Tickets are on sale right now, and having the tickets to her concert grants you entrance to EOY09 itself as well!

The future of the largest fan-based costume play event in Singapore is put in doubt since the recently ended EOY 08

Good day to everyone.

We come with some serious news. STAC is dissolving. This means the end of Kouhaku in June, and our EOY convention in December. This will take effect immediately.

For those who wonder about their membership cards, don’t. The $2 you paid, along with the amount we collected this year from the event, just barely managed to cover paying for the entire EOY event in 2008. In short, we just barely broke even.

As some have surmised, STAC has been struggling to find new talent to helm the team when the current committee became too old to carry on. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find anyone who wasn’t equally as busy as us. Considering STAC has always been a volunteer club, people here juggle school, work, and other committments while preparing the events.

As some have also heard, it’s become increasingly tough for STAC to maintain (let’s not even talk about expand) the events. Financing has also become a problem – especially when we want to avoid commercialism. Because we’re a group that wants to cater to fans directly – be they doujin circles, aspiring dollfie owners or others.

Because of these, and other reasons which we prefer not to go into, we’ve had to come to the sad decision to pull the plug.

That’s really it. We hope others can come in to fill the void we’ll inevitably leave behind, and we wish everyone in the scene the best of luck.

Merry Christmas.

Chairperson
Shiro Tsubasa Animation Club

Above is the original announcement, re-posted from SGCafe. With this announcement, it marks the end of Shiro Tsubasa Animation Club, and 10 years of EOY organized by them. Most in the cosplay community were caught by surprise, as this news is announced only 3 days after EOY 08 took place. Rumour have been floating around that STAC is running into financial diffculties since the last few EOY events, but that did not stop them from organising their last successful cosplay event for the benefit of everyone interested.

The “EOY” brand is made available to any interested parties, and late last night a new committee has shown interest in taking over the job from STAC. Quoting the message posted on SGCafe by the new event coordinator:

Hi all,
STAC has recently disbanded, and thus EOY2008 will be their last EOY convention that is held by STAC.

It is indeed extremely sad to see STAC go, and personally, I think it’s really a pity. It is the an event (EOY) that I look forward annually, as it not only displays the creative artistic talents of many individuals, but also is a great bonding time where people of like-minded interest can interact with one another.

I have spoken with Kheldar Blackmane, and he has given his agreement that we will be taking over the organization of EOY 2009.

As such, EOY 2009 will still go on, and it’ll continue to be an event where people can display their talents in various areas, including (but not limited to) cosplay, artwork, photography, dolls, punk, gothic and lolita.

Some of you may recognize me as the boss of Black Alice, but I’ll be organizing another group of people to handle EOY, which will be known as a separate entity to prevent any confusion.

EOY is an event that I have been attending since 2005, and I used to watch lots of anime during that period (army days). Those were the days where I met many friends, many whom I still see around today, and also partially the reason why I got involved in the Loli fashion industry.

I do not claim to know everything, but my heart’s desire is to keep the love for Japanese culture alive, especially in the anime/cosplay community. I really don’t want EOY to just dissipate and only remain a past memory.

But rather, I sincerely hope that every individually will always continually be able to exhibit their creative talents in cosplay, drawing, dolls, punk, loli fashion, and to continue to build and maintain strong relationships with one another.

I know this is going to be a tough road of rebuilding ahead, but I will do my utmost best to make EOY09 an extremely enjoyable event, and for many EOY(s) to come. However, that will not be possible without the help of everyone, so please do support the event by continuing to cosplay and contributing your talents.

I pray that the cosplay dream of every cosplayer will never die, and that each one will continue to feel appreciated, loved and accepted for what they believe. After all, cosplay is something that is so very often misunderstood. Let’s work together for that change in the future.

Perhaps, “keeping every person’s dream and creativity alive” might be the best way to summarize everything that I really want to say. It may seem a little exaggerated, but those are my heartfelt words.

I really hope EOY09 will be a big success, and I hope everyone will give us their support for the future EOY committee. We are not perfect people, but we try our best to be as good as we can.

More details, website, etc will be posted and updated along the way in this thread. If you have any suggestions for us, please do feel free to list them here. For those that would like to help, you’re more than welcomed, so please let me know. I am always just an email/phone call/PM away.

Lastly, I want to thank everyone for reading this lengthy entry, and also a tribute to STAC, for making such a fantastic annual event that we look forward to every year.

Let’s continue to keep this dream alive, and together, let’s make EOY09 a great one.

Regards,
Tim Wong
Event Coordinator, EOY2009

With EOY switching organizers next year, I believe we could hope for lots of changes. Perhaps the official feedback thread for EOY 08 could be used as a starting point. Suggestions listed inside the thread includes a bigger venue for the ever-growing community, complete with sound system of a certain quality for performances.

It will be quite some time before we know if EOY is going to stay for sure. Do check back here for releated updates.