This morning, I manage to interview Ms Kristine Bare, the secretary of the Ninjin events. They are the team behind this unique event called Otomonogatari, which as seen in the picture above, deals mostly about JPop and Japanese music in general. Which is very unique and gutsy move by the team. This is a product of pure enthusiasm and dedication toward bringing something new to the events scene. Something that is different, changing the central focus of what has become the social norm on conventions.

Ninjin Events Wants To Focus On Bands

The purpose of this event is to put the center focus to the band. As we had seen in most conventions, the bands tend to fall between the gaps of sponsor events and cosplay; the biggest crowd magnet and the staple of entertainment for everyone. This has come to the attention of these young individuals with passion toward music to hold this event -even if it’s a small one- to people who actually wanted to have. According to them, people cited interest, particularly to bands who wanted to have their spotlight. The event also features start-up bands, that wanted a stage to share their love for music. These bands will fall in the battle-of-the-bands contest and are pre-screened by the team to assure quality for the people watching. The famous bands, will be categorized as guest bands, as to give leeway for people participating in the contest. The contestants are given 20min to perform on stage. They can do anything they want, and use their imagination to woo the crowd. Guest participants will have set songs that they can perform. Of course, the team also mentioned that they want to avoid the duplication of songs during the contest. As well at they wanted to gravitate outside of the J-Rock scene as they could. As they want variety to put awareness toward other segments of the culture. Basically, the event is built upon learning and appreciating the culture of music of Japan through the skills of the people who love it. So by going here, you are basically learning through music.

Event Logistics And Cosplay

Another thing I want to discuss is Cosplay. In their letter to me, the event also include cosplay. To which I initially frown upon since it deviates away from the vision the event wanted to achieve. But this was clarified to me that the Cosplay aspect is only for the bands. Bands participating can also do their Cosplay while performing. They will be judged by undercover agents from the team and will be announced at the end of the event. In turn, the Cosplay segment is tied to the core vision. The involvement of cosplay is mainly to put recognition to the individuals’ creativity. In short, it can be compared to a special award in ilk of Ms Photogenic that is usually awarded in beauty pageants.

With regards to Events, they wanted to avoid using the traditional channels in gathering sponsors. This is due to the fact that, they believe that putting high-profile event sponsors hamper the creative freedom by the team and bands. This should be evident, particularly in ToyCon as sponsors dominated a lot in the event. Almost everything in it are sponsor driven. In turn, they wanted to keep things at minimum and organically gain notoriety instead.

With this, I asked them about the catering and food amenities, as the event is held on the 7th floor. They assured the people participating in the event, that there will be a service to those needs. In a way, people can enjoy and miss less on what the event is to offer. They wanted people to see the efforts and skill of the bands and they also wanted the people to be comfortable doing so. For me, that’s already a good indicator of a group going for the professional goal.

The last part I want to discuss on this part is the capacity. The event area is rated to accommodate 500 seated people. I asked them if they limit the selling of ticket to that amount. Their response to this is partly yes. Yes that they will limit the selling of ticket in the event. Partly because they are still determining the limit that they can do. This should be noted for people who are interested in coming, with the event coming, you should buy your tickets early.

The People Behind the Event

Aside from asking about the event. Ms Kristine also shared some interesting plans that they have in store. As well as they shared me their vision to provide an alternative option to people who wanted a change of perspective in the Japanese culture. Not just cosplay. They are open to any suggestion by the community and wanted the audience, bloggers and social media as well for feedback. For now the goal is to be able to present this event and have the people have a say on it. Interestingly, unlike big conventions, the event is heavily financed by the team. They are putting their own money to this, which shows gusto and just pure dedication not just toward them but to the people. To end this, I will admit that I support their momentous endeavor to get this event going. If you guys are living in this country, free this next Saturday and at Makati for some reason. I humbly encourage anyone to support the event, specially if you like J-Music. You can contact them by giving them a SMS on the numbers on the image posted above. This post also confirm my attendance to the event.

Images Used are under Fair Use.