Sunday, 28 December 2008

F.A.C.T.S. 2008 : the inside story and pictures . All will be revealed !


FACTS is an event held every year in October in Ghent (Belgium) where ALL real fans meet to get overdosed on 7000 square meters of Fantasy, Anime , Comics, Toys , Space , famous guests, food, beer ( hey, it's in Belgium ;).
Thousands of visitors come each year to this genuine mekka where shops from Belgium and abroad display and sell their wares. Despite it's success , large distributors and companies are requested not to attend.

This is Jean , an acquaintance of mine, who runs the popular shop "De Stripkever" in Mechelen , that sells comics, strips, manga , anime and figurines.
It also has a counter and tables out front where you can sit down and drink coffee, tea, eat pancakes ( or have a beer ).

The cosplay competition isn't limited to Anime and Manga characters. This place is unique : only here will you find so many characters from Stargate , Star Wars and other movies shoulder to shoulder with the likes of Naruto and Inuyasha.
Picture above : R2D2 (the robot) from Star Wars driving down the ramp while on the left two soldiers from Stargate let him pass.

Do I even need to introduce this pretty character ? Isn't she just totally kawaii ? かわいい ね?

( For those of you who've been living in a galaxy far , far away (pun intended) these past 10 years and have only just now arrived on planet Earth, this is Haruno Sakura , the female lead and ninja from the very popular Naruto anime and manga )
( I've watched an episode of the anime and , frankly , 'our' Sakura is definitely prettier ! )
(click on pictures for larger version)















The three lovely ladies in the picture below are from left to right Yuko Ichihara (xxHolic) and two characters from Vampire Knight ( someone from the night class whose name I can't remember ( read : failed to find on Google ) and Shizuka Hiou ).







Here's a cute character that showed up in the corner of one of my pictures ( I didn't notice till I started editing them.) I'd really love to know which character she is : anybody any ideas ?

See you next year at FACTS 2009 !