SMASH! Con 2022 Recap

After two years of cancellations due to COVID-19, SMASH! Sydney Manga and Anime Show was finally held once again this past July – just in time for its 15th anniversary!

SMASH! is a non-profit, volunteer-run endeavor, and after my first time attending in 2019 after moving to Sydney, I am continually impressed by the quality of the con.

This year, despite not having government-mandated capacity restrictions, the SMASH! team opted to cap attendee numbers in order to avoid overcrowding, which resulted in the whole weekend being sold out. While unfortunate for those who wanted to attend but weren’t able, Saturday at the con was crowded enough to make me feel that they made the right call to reduce attendee numbers.

Having reverted to nearly full hermit over the past two years, I figured I would only have enough energy to attend one day of the con, so I opted to go on Saturday. SMASH! 2022 took place at ICC Sydney, a convention center located in Darling Harbour, a vibrant, albeit slightly touristy area of Sydney.

To pick up my media badge, I arrived well before the convention opened at 10am, though my media pass allowed me to enter the convention early. After grabbing a coffee at a nearby Japanese-style coffee shop, I made my way in about 15 minutes before opening to join the other members of the media and staff to see the first fans entering the con at 10am. You could feel the energy and excitement in the air, and it was really lovely to have the opportunity to view the start of the con from the other side of the doors!

For me, a big highlight of any convention is seeing all of the fans in cosplay and getting inspired in the artist alley. Of course, a major draw for many are the guests, and I would’ve loved to see some Japanese talent at SMASH! 2022, particularly voice actors. Unfortunately, there weren’t any this year (I imagine likely due to COVID-19), and the guest list skewed heavily to VTubers and YouTube personalities. The most exciting guest on the lineup for me was Kevin Penkin, a Melbourne-based composer who has contributed to anime and games such as Made in Abyss and Florence!

Aside from guests, there were plenty of events to keep fans busy throughout the weekend, including the World Cosplay Summit Preliminaries and an exclusive screening of Fruits Basket -Prelude-.

Honestly, I kept myself plenty busy without attending any of the special events! I made my way through the main convention hall from the start of the con at 10am until about 4pm when I finally had to call it a day (with a break for lunch, of course). Aside from stores selling everything from imported merchandise to cosplay accessories, there was also a large Bandai booth where attendees could go to gunpla workshops, and even a gaming area with a wide array of games – including my personal favorite, Pop’n Music! I was also pleasantly surprised to stumble into a humble Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers 2 booth where they were giving out free pins to promote the upcoming game.

SPY X FAMILY was all the rage at the con, and Crunchyroll came prepared with a booth modeled after the Forger’s home for attendees to take photos in (see my silly attempt to join the family above).

Speaking of cosplay, the amazing duo pictured above were the Best in Show winners at the Cosplay Masquerade on Saturday! Cinohrui (left) is dressed in a fan witch Sailor Mercury design, and Cryptidcorvo (right) is a fan witch Sailor Neptune design, both by Kutty Sark. I’ve been watching Cinohrui’s cosplay come to life over the past few weeks on Instagram, and it was even more amazing to see in person!

As a huge Monster Hunter fan, I was very excited to see these two cosplayers! The cosplayer on the left sported a hilarious costume from Monster Hunter Rise, but unfortunately I didn’t get their name. On the right is Chris Tucker, aka roxas_wind_cosplay, dressed in a handmade (and glowing!) Zinogre armor set. Only after asking for a photo did I realize that I interrupted him on his way to the Cosplay Masquerade… Sorry, Chris!

I also wanted to highlight the cosplayer artvinsky (left), who not only sported an awesome punk Zagreus (Hades) cosplay they designed, but when I asked if I could take a photo, they offered me a free woodblock print inspired by the game! It was such a sweet gesture and one of my best memories of the day…

…Followed closely by the Nagito (Danganronpa 2) cosplayer on the right, aka cactuskhee, an artist who was doing a Nagito keychain gacha that had you pulling a keychain out of Nagito’s noggin. It was hilarious and extra-exciting for me as a huge Nagito fan!

Of course, it wouldn’t be a con recap without a haul! As expected, I did most of my shopping in the artist alley, and I picked up a whole pile of business cards for artists I want to purchase from in the future. From top left to right going clockwise, the item details are as follows:

Aussie animal wizard stickers by Jess Rose – Hades print by artvinsky – washi tape x2 and notepad by Jess the Chen, Monster Hunter stickers by alis_kun – Nagito keychain by cactuskhee – flower girl pin by Lana Jay – sad doge pin by HideawayMelon – Alice washi tape by Cherry Rabbit – free FFXIV Viera comic by saintamand_

After not having been to such a large public event in so long, I was apprehensive of how SMASH! 2022 would go. Not only that, but COVID-19 is still very much a presence in our lives. While I was hopeful that the convention would be run in a safe manner, I was still concerned about COVID precautions and how courteous attendees would be of others.

Though there was not a mask requirement for attendees (which is currently standard procedure in Australia), I would say at least half of the people I saw were wearing masks, and those that weren’t were still respectful of social distancing and others’ choice to wear a mask.

Aside from not having any guests I was particularly excited to see, I was very happy with the SMASH! 2022 experience overall. It’s hard to come back after COVID-19 setbacks, and I’m sure even more so for a non-profit fan-run event, but the team should be proud of what they accomplished for this year’s convention. I will definitely be looking forward to SMASH! 2023!

First Impressions: Eternal Hope – Prologue

7 / 14 / 207 / 14 / 20

When I heard the upcoming platformer Eternal Hope by Brazilian developer Doublehit Games was inspired in part by the works of Studio Ghibli, it immediately caught my interest. The game is scheduled to launch on PC on August 6 and Xbox One later this year, and was voted “Best Brazilian Game” by IGN at Brazil Game Show 2019, and it’s not hard to see why – the visuals are striking, and it looks like it will be perfect for those who like puzzle platfomers.

Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony First Impressions

9 / 26 / 179 / 26 / 17

The rest of 2017 is a whirlwind of game releases and I’m already behind on reviews, so it’s time to bring back first impressions! If you haven’t seen a first impressions post on Chic Pixel before, they’re basically a way for me to share my initial thoughts with a game before (or sometimes in lieu of) a full review. In the case of Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony, one of my most anticipated games of the year, I just have to let you know what I think so far! If you’re a fan of Danganronpa and on the fence about whether you can jump into the series here, here are my spoiler-free first impressions!

Kyoukai no Shirayuki: Yori Zenno Route Impressions

10 / 14 / 1610 / 14 / 16

I’ve finally completed my second route in Kyoukai no Shirayuki! After posting my general impressions along with my thoughts of the first route I completed (Saji Kakeya), I decided the best way to share my thoughts going forward would be to do a writeup of each route as I complete them. It may be a while before I finish all of them, but this way I can be as thorough as possible!

I was really glad @Westraid suggested the hot policeman, Yori Zenno, for my second character, because he turned out to be just as great as he looks. I had to make sure to get my impressions of his route up for his birthday today, too!

First Impressions: Monster Hunter X

12 / 17 / 15

Things have been very busy over the past few weeks here at Manor de Chic Pixel, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t found time to sink some time into the Japanese version of Monster Hunter X! 24, to be exact. While that might be more than enough time to do a full review for any other game, I still have a long ways to go before I see all the content Monster Hunter X has to offer. But that doesn’t mean I don’t have some first impressions to share with you today!

Tenso Forwarding Service: Yay or Nay?

8 / 2 / 158 / 19 / 16

Too often I’ve gone on a search for a rare piece of anime merchandise or a niche Japanese video game only to find that it’s not available anywhere that ships outside of Japan. Most fans of Japanese products that live anywhere but Japan itself eventually run into this problem – there are so many items that simply can’t be procured without a Japanese postal address. That’s where forwarding services like Tenso come in; for a fee, they provide eager shoppers with the Japanese address they crave and then forward any purchases to their final destinations overseas.

I’ve heard great things about Tenso from friends who’ve used the service for years, but despite the amount of Japanese products I import, I’ve never actually used a forwarding service myself. I’ve been blessed with having more than a few friends who’ve been willing to be middle men and women for my packages, but to be honest, I feel bad asking for so many favors! So, after many years of relying on friends in Japan to ship my purchases out for me, I’ve finally decided to give Tenso a go. Since I’ve received more than a few inquiries wondering if it’s worth the effort, I’ve decided to write up my complete experience purchasing a PlayStation Vita 2000 from Amazon Japan and forwarding it with Tenso vs. purchasing it outright from various importers.

Nier Diary no. 2: Desert Doldrums

7 / 29 / 15

Were you starting to get worried that I’d never continue my Nier Diary journey? Never fear, I’ve been busy playing the game, and I’m happy to report that I have indeed made it past the “point of no return”! In Diary no. 1 I played about 7 hours, and since then I’ve managed to double that time, clocking in at just around 14 hours. Read all my updated impressions after the jump, but be warned – while I’ll be very careful not to reveal any of Nier‘s major twists or story points, if you plan on playing the game and wish to know absolutely nothing past the first few hours, please proceed with caution!