It’s that time of year again for the fangirls to gather in Ikebukuro and be part of the craziness that is AGF 2023.
For this year, I had been lucky enough to secure tickets that allowed me [relatively] early entry to the site, with the system allocating Gen Ad Batch 1 entry on Day 1 while I managed to get a Fast Ticket on Day 2.
If there’s one thing that this event reminded me of, it’s that attendees need to be physically fit. There are accommodations made for wheelchair users, but the whole event itself is taxing and very much a marathon.
This year’s AGF was not strict as they did not require ID checks when I had to show my ticket, so it was pretty much straightforward.
Afterwards, I made my way to the lines, and since my ticket number for that day was 177, I had to walk further.
Entry time for my ticket was at 10:00, a full hour after the Fast Ticket Holders, so I managed to enter the Green Area by 10:05.
Due to my nerves, lack of sleep from the night before, and the badly-made map in the venue, I did not manage to locate the dramatic create/HuneX booth immediately. When I got there, I missed out on the Arcana Famiglia tarot cards set.
After getting the remaining available merch from dramatic create / HuneX’s booth, I headed off to Voltage Inc’s booth to get my Anastasia and Lucien items. It took a bit of time for me to get my stuff as the credit card terminals that they have could not process the purchase of the two ladies before me.
At that point, I patted myself on the back for bringing cash as I made a decision to pay with cash instead of using credit card to limit my spending.
Lucien Neuschburn
Bonus chibi Tyril on the left
Once I was done with purchasing my items at the Green Area, I made my way to the White Area, where FaNeMa and Otomate had merch booths setup.
By this point is where I made all the wrong decisions in terms of prioritizing which merch to get and the amount of time I wasted.
I decided to buy FaNeMa merch first, thinking that everyone was planning to buy their Otomate-designed skincare set. FaNeMa had their own designated holding area, which gave me the impression that the lines would be long, and it would take time.
Contrary to my expectations, I was done in 10 minutes, and by the time I went to get a numbered ticket at Otomate’s booth, I was way too far down the line. However, I was lucky enough to have avoided the crowd that came in after 11:00, because exactly after I got a numbered ticket, the crowd came in to get theirs.
Because I had no idea how fast/slow the queue is at the Otomate booth and I did not want to get sold out on the items that I wanted, I decided to stay put in the White Area, especially since I was unfamiliar with how long it took to move among the five areas (Green, Yellow, White, Red, Blue). The crowds were bad that people actually have to queue when they had to move to the other areas!
It took time, so immediately after I bought the merch from Otomate, I decided to go to Broccoli’s booth in the Yellow Area to buy whatever merch was left for Utakata no Uchronia.
I made it in time to be able to purchase the very last Hinagiku can badge, as well a Hinagiku and Awayuki stickers.
After I got my merch, I ended up taking a photo of the standees.
I like Awayuki’s design as he looks similar to Dante, so here’s to hoping that he actually ends up being my oshi when the game gets released.
Afterwards, I took some time to stroll around the venue, eventually making my way to the Red Area, which ended with me going to the Magatsunote booth.
I personally have not delved in too deep in the lore of the series, but I was drawn to it because Sengoku Period samurai in a post-apocalyptic world, and with Kazuki Yone being the artist for the series, it gave me some bittersweeting feelings since her art has improved so much between now and when she was still the original artist for Hakuoki.
On the other hand, if she did not end up being freelance, then Magatsunote would not have been possible.
So with that, I ended up queuing at the Magatsunote Booth to buy merch, as the art is pretty and this is [currently] the only way I could support the series.
After all the buying, I met up shortly with my friend T who ended up being disappointed with her visit as everything she wanted got sold out while she was on her way in, so she and I decided to go home early as she got a Gen Ad Batch 1 ticket for Day 2, which also meant she needed to be up early as she lives away from Tokyo. I was exhausted from all the back and forth and figured that I needed to rest properly as Day 2 would be more brutal and more busy.
As I had anticipated, Day 2 was more crazy than Day 1.
I was numbered 241 for Day 2, and I ended up being in front of the line for my queue.
I arrived quite early so while I was in the queue, I looked over at my list to determine my route for today, especially since I was very much keen on getting the Arcana Famiglia tarot cards (spoiler alert: I managed to purchase one before it got sold out).
At exactly 9AM, the queue started moving along.
As soon as we entered, I immediately headed for the dramatic create/HuneX booth to secure my Arcana Famiglia tarot cards, then made my way to the PlusMate booth, as I found out yesterday that my favorite voice actor Kuroi Isamu is voicing a character there.
How naive I was to think that no one would be queuing for an obscure series.
To my shock, there was already a line at PlusMate, and each and every attendee was buying a lot of acrylic stands and can badges.
ﾟ(● ´ ε ｀。●)))。
After securing an acrylic stand, a clear file, and a single can badge, I headed to the Nu:Carnival booth as I thought of getting the AGF 2023 tote bag. It’s been awhile since I played the game but I knew I should support the series in some way, as Kuroi Isamu is also part of the cast as Garu/Karu.
I then rushed to the Otomate booth in the White Area, where I lined up like everyone else to get a numbered ticket for the merch buying.
Since I figured that it would take awhile for me to purchase Otomate merch, I moved to the Yellow Area to purchase more Utakata no Uchronia merch. I managed to make it in time for an Awayuki can badge and a sticker each for Hinagiku and Awayuki, but the acrylic stands were sold out. 😦
I then rushed to the Red Area to queue for more Magatsunote merch, and to my shock, hardly anyone was queuing for merch. Took this chance to buy an Ieyasu acrylic stand, and to draw more from the kuji. To my shock and surprise, I got Prize A… but for a character that I really wasn’t drawn to. I’ve yet to see if I end up liking him as I have not yet gone far into the series.
Because I purchased enough to qualify for mini meet and greet with the voice actors from the series (them handing out freebie fans as promotional material), I ended up getting a ticket for the earliest timeslot as I didn’t really want to linger on for too long at AGF (I was dead tired at this point).
After that, I got back to the White Area to purchase Otomate merch, which didn’t really go well as I only managed to secure an R card (holographic) at most; I guess this just means Otomate and I do not get along. Either that, or I used up all my luck in getting the Prize A Hideyoshi…
I left the White Area to go and meet with friends, T and Y. T was pretty much frustrated and disappointed that despite being a Gen Ad Batch 1 ticket holder (entry time at 10:00), she still could not secure the merch that she was eyeing as it got sold out as soon as she got inside. It boggled the mind as to why Cybird didn’t prepare enough stock for the day as they already knew at this point how crowded and how intense the merch buying can be for AGF, so T was not happy at the situation and already wanted to go home. Both Y and I told her to not go home yet, as T did still buy merch, and was qualified to get a signed art of the artist of Ikemen Sengoku and Ikemen Vampire, Yamada Shiro. T relented and said that if she did not win, then she would go home after; afterwards, she excused herself to get lunch while Y decided to start queuing as it was time for her to go while I had my Magatsunote meet and greet.
At the meet and greet, I was pretty much direct in saying that I just got into the series and that I was looking forward to getting into it because, let’s be real, it’s better to set people’s expectations at the get-go lmfao. Thankfully, the voice actors were pretty nice and understanding that I am a noob.
After the meet and greet, I ended up wandering around the Green Area as Y was planning to buy Tears of Themis merch as soon as she got in; at that time, the official AGF account tweeted the numbers of the people who won the signed art, which I forwarded to T. T was shocked at getting picked, which means that she would have more reason to stay back for a bit.
During the time T was waiting for Yamada Shiro to arrive, both Y and I ended up going to a small cafe to have something to drink (I have not yet eaten lunch at that point), and we talked about how this year’s AGF was.
- Communication signals were so awful in the halls that it caused people to not be able to message one another; it’s like Comiket but on a smaller scale
- Because the signal was so awful, attendees could not pay using credit cards. Several booths tweeted about requesting attendees to pay using cash instead.
- Booths understocking merch; dramatic create/HuneX is notorious for this because by 9:20AM on Day 2, they were sold out on Steam Prison Set A and Arcana Famiglia tarot card merch. Not sure if deliberate or they underestimated the demand, and I understand not wanting to ship the stock back, but this is just ridiculous.
- The venue is getting too small for the attendees; while Y disagrees with me on this, I think that the current location for AGF needs to be changed to a bigger and more suitable location. I read somewhere that the event will reach its 15th anniversary next year, and I hope it will be a better venue. It was so warm both inside and outside the venue that I was sweating so much despite wearing short-sleeved shirts for both days.
- Too many things happening all at the same time; it sucks if you’re a fan of multiple series because the time it takes to move from one area to another is no joke and every minute counts, especially if you’re on a hunt for merch.
- Every person for themselves; all of us did our own thing to secure our merch and while I was happy to help out, my friends did not request me to get their stuff, even though I would be able to do so. In hindsight, I guess that was the better option as I was also busy trying to get the items that I wanted.
When T was done, we all decided to go home as there was no point in us hanging out further (we were all exhausted at this point), so we all ended up saying goodbye and left the venue. By that time, it was already 4:30PM (last entry to the event was at 4:30PM), so there was no point in going back to look at the booths.
I took the time to ponder if AGF was still worth going to while I was on my way home and while having dinner, and while I do think that it is worth going to (I’m an otaku and have gotten used to the way Japan conducts their events), I would say that it is not for the faint of heart. I saw someone post about their AGF experience and was not happy with it overall, which I totally agree with; the whole thing can be awful, especially if you end up being disappointed for various reasons (unable to secure merch because it got sold out too quickly being one of them).
However, if anyone is thinking of going, I guess I would have the following pointers to share:
- Look up the booths that will be joining the event either through the official site or through their official Twitter accounts; that should be enough to make you decide whether or not you’d like to attend.
- If you do decide to attend because the series you follow will be having a booth, decide right then and there if you do want to make the effort of attending in-person.
- If you do decide to attend, start planning which booths you will be going to; advance planning and preparations is key so that you won’t flounder about on the day of the event.
- Prepare your heart in the event that you are unable to secure the merch that you have been eyeing.
- In relation to number 4, check which items are AGF exclusive and which ones are simply pre-sold before the official selling date. Better to prioritize the AGF exclusive merch.
- Bring cash as backup; while Japan is a relatively safe country, be smart enough to make sure that the cash you bring to the venue is secured in a safe location. Body bags or any item that you can put close to your person should be prepared in advance.
- Wear comfortable shoes; you’ll be doing a lot of walking, and that’s an understatement.
- If possible, train to have enough stamina. Walking up and down the stairs is part and parcel of joining AGF.
- Eat breakfast beforehand; doesn’t matter what you eat as long as you are full and with enough energy to last you for the next few hours.
- If you have done everything possible to attend and to prepare, but you still were unable to secure the merch you wanted, it may be better to get it from Mercari.
- Lastly, relax and get some rest after the event. You deserve it after all the planning.
I’m not sure how it will go again for next year, and if any of the booths I visited will still join in 2024, but in any case, there’s a huge chance that I might join again, and here’s to hoping that I will be lucky enough to get an early entry ticket so that I can secure the merch that I want.
Day 1 photos:
Day 2 photos:
Wanderlust 