By Carla Mortel Baricaua

On Sept. 16, the "Best of Anime: The Reunion" staged a fun-filled day complete with live performances, fan meetings, Lolita fashion and cosplay, singing and dancing competitions, and workshops, entertaining hundreds of fans of Japanese pop culture.

In their first Philippine appearance at an anime convention, the rock idol group, Chicken Blow the Idol, is known for their powerful performances and their school uniform costumes. Kazahana Assa, Touwa Mayoi, Akari Mikan, and Tsubomi Ruko showed on stage that Japanese girls can rock and introduced themselves to Filipino fans in a meeting session.

Visual Kei artist Miura Ayme also made his Philippine debut by performing several songs on stage. He is the former lead singer of Ecthelion from 2013 to 2015, and went solo in 2019. Miura is also a seiyuu (voice actor) and gave life to Asmodeus, one of the main characters in the otome video game and anime series Obey Me! and recently reprised his role in the latest installment of Obey Me! Nightbringer. As a member of the Obey Me! Boys, he sang the Obey Me! opening themes such as "Sinful Indulgence,” “Celestial Rey,” and “Loveless,” as well as the Nightbringer opening theme.

Pastel Mix, the Japanese cover idol group, came all the way from Davao City and graced the event for the first time as its opening act. In 2008, the all-girl Filipino performers started as a cover group for Buono!, the popular Japanese girl group. They continued to perform at different events in Mindanao and from then on, grew steadily in popularity.

Filipino cosplayer and drafter AC Hernandez also took the stage as he showed off his new costumes and conducted a workshop for cosplay enthusiasts.

Also returning to the local convention scene is international cosplayer Reika. The Tokyo-based cosplayer is consistently on the list of the world’s best in perfecting her craft and this time, she dressed up as Tartaglia, also known as Childe, a playable Hydro character in Genshin Impact 4.0.

Fans warmly welcomed the return of Japanese fantasy idol group, Starmarie, as they performed on stage themes from the the popular “Cardfight!! Vanguard G” anime series and other tracks. During the event, members Nozomi, Shino, Monya, Hiroka, and Maya got in touch with their fans at their booth and fan meeting. Monya also treated the audience by dressing up for her cosplay performance.

One of the most anticipated comebacks was the electrifying sound and high-energy performances of the visual kei rock group, Uchusentai Noiz. Vocalist Angel Taka led the group, composed of Masato (rhythm guitar), Kyo (bass guitar), Kotaro (lead guitar), and Yamato (drummer), and performed their popular hits such as “World End Superstar,” “Flashback Flag,” and “Paradox in Ideology.” To the delight of the crowd, they covered Filipino songs such as “Narda,” “Liwanag sa Dilim,” and “Pinoy Ako.” They also added new tracks to their setlist, featuring “Blaze in Beat” and “So Lalala.” Convention-goers, especially local fans called Space Babies, highly enjoyed the stage performance of the Japanese rockers as they promised another appearance next year. Currently, the band is touring Japan in celebration of their 20th year in showbiz.

Held at the SMX Convention Center, this year’s event hosted the official launch of the Ani-One Philippines YouTube channel. The Ani-One’s newest sub-channel features anime with Filipino subtitles. Subscribers can look forward to watching Code Geass, So I’m a Spider, So What?, Miss Kuroitsu from the Monster Development Department, Millionaire Detective Balance Unlimited, Strongest Sage with the Weakest Crest, and isekai anime “The Fruit of Evolution and Harem" in the Labyrinth of Another World.