Mindscape Art Tournament – SMASH! 2013!

At this years SMASH! Sydney Manga and Anime Show! Mindscape were holding a competition for fan-art of the conventions mascots. The artwork was submitted by fans to Mindscape and then put on display at the convention to eventually be judged and have a winner chosen. What made this competition interesting is that it was themed after a Zombie Apocolypse and was also open to entrants that may not be a...

Madman Cosplay Competition – SMASH! 2013

With SMASH! 2013 coming to a close it was time for one last performance. Only this time, it wasn’t guests or panelists taking to the stage, it was the cosplayers. The fans who go the extra mile and create costumes that make you wonder how they did it. For the Madman Cosplay Competition, costumed attendees gathered from across the convention hall in order to win the grand prize: a return flig...

Armour Making Panel – SMASH! 2013

At the SMASH! Sydney Manga and Anime Show this year there was a panel on armour making held upstairs in the Siren Visual panel room. The panel was presented by a Matthew Klimenko, who is an expert in the armour making process. The panel was a discussion on the armour making process and also included a live demonstration of a cold casting session. Cold Casting is the process of making plastic feel ...

Hidenori Matsubara Q&A Panel – SMASH! 2013

  Hidenori Matsubara was one of the few headline guests at SMASH! 2013 and I was lucky enough to nab a seat and to be there for the entirety of his Q and A Panel as well as his Live Drawing in the Art Room yesterday at the convention. It was quite a small affair, it was held on the main stage of the Art Room, but that’s not to say that the place didn’t fill to the brim with eager ...

Masakazu Morita Panel – SMASH! 2013

The main stage. SMASH! 2013. Masakazu Morita enters the room. People applauded, girls cheered. Once the sound subsided, it was time for the panel to begin with a Q and A, exploring the life of one of Japan’s most popular voice actors. Having been involved in the Final Fantasy franchise “since the eighth series”, Morita was asked about his experiences from both his role as a voice...

Rurouni Kenshin Panel – SMASH! 2013

Amongst the many panels of SMASH! 2013 was Rurouni Kenshin: Where the Spirits of the Past and the Future Meet. Headed by Dr Mio Bryce, Head of Japanese Studies at Macquarie University, Amy Plumb and Terence “Tel” Porter, students within the same program, the panel focused on the complex themes of Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story as well as their relevance and impact on c...

Improve Your Drawing Workshop – SMASH! 2013

Cecilia Jin is a teacher, a storyboard illustrator, a concept artist and she works a great deal in magazines, not to mention that she’s an all around incredible artist and Anime/Manga-lover so it’s only natural that she had her own, seemingly little, workshop on the Main Stage of the Art Room at SMASH! 2013. Cecilia sat on stage, on her own and, despite a few technical difficulties, ro...

Cosplay Life Drawing and Art Room Events – SMASH! 2013

Anime/Manga fanatics and artists seem to go hand-in-hand and you definitely saw that this year at SMASH! 2013 in the “Art Room” which was a dedicated, let’s say, sanctuary for all us artists out there, a place where we could come in, sit down and bust out some awesome Anime and Manga style drawings. Let’s just say that I was lucky to have been able to spend most of my day i...

How To Produce Manga Panel – SMASH! 2013

Homegrown Manga artists Kelly Green and Ngoc Han Nguyen ran the “How To produce Manga” panel at SMASH! 2013 this year and what a great job they did at it! You know a day is going to be fantastic when it, more or less, begins with a panel on how to produce Manga and when it’s a panel as good as this one you know that what follows in the day will be just as good. Both Kelly and Ngo...

The countdown to SMASH 2013 has begun!

In a month’s time, Sydney’s Darling Harbour will once again become host to the wild world of manga and anime culture as it invades the Sydney Convention Centre when the Sydney Manga and Anime Show takes place on August 10th, 2013. This year may just very well be the biggest year in SMASH! convention history, with a plethora of major anime guests heading down under for the show. Attende...

Matsubara Hidenori Attending SMASH! 2013

SMASH! has just confirmed that director Matsubara Hidenori will be attending the convention this year, joining Japanese voice-actors Masakazu Morita and Haruka Momoi on August 10. Hidenori-san is also a famous character designer and illustrator for well-known classics like Neon Genesis Evangelion, Ah! My Goddess and Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo. It will be his first time visiting Australi...

Masakazu Morita Coming to SMASH! 2013

Sydney anime convention SMASH! has just announced that Masakazu Morita will be attending as a guest this year, thanks to the Japan Foundation Sydney. Masakazu Morita is known for voicing characters such as Ichigo Kurosaki (Bleach), Marco (One Piece), Barnaby Brooks Jr. (Tiger & Bunny) and Tidus from Final Fantasy X. His performance of Ichigo Kurosaki earned him the title of Best Rookie Actor f...