It’s my fourth time to go to the festival. I couldn’t afford to buy any item so had no choice but to settle for stage events.
Venue: KOBE FASHION MART in Hyogo Prefecture
It took place in Kobe Fashion Mart, where it did last time. Believe or not, Cipher Festival is one of the unusual conventions held outside the Kanto Region, including the Capital, Tokyo.
Aside from that, though, there were long lines formed before I arrived at past nine because they were going to the merchandise area, which was a common sight.
As for me, I proceeded in first due to my low budget, but later on, it turned out such a mistake.
The building seemed quite vacant greatly affected by the people waiting in line for the merchandise area. I’d never seen anything like this before!
Thunder’s fist comes off
So this convention also had an exhibition for FE5, which was held at Fire Emblem Expo this May.
I spent only a short time enjoying the illustrations back then and was having a look at them to kill time until the opening ceremony; here’s an incident.
When I was in front of an artwork, all of a sudden, it fell straight with the sound of getting unstuck.
Oh my, its frame was partly broken.
So guess who it was?
It’s Reinhardt, Thunder’s fist! God chose this guy of all people.
Someone told a nearby staff about it before I could. The guy was mending it with packaging tape.
But don’t get me wrong. It’s not me who made it fall. Just in case.
Opening Ceremony
The big screen above the stage was playing the OPs and demos from FE1 to FE16: Fire Emblem Three houses.
The opening ceremony began at ten as scheduled. Producer Kawade and Mr.Young appeared, introduced many different attractions, and then three illustrators participating in the autograph event.
Geso Umiu, Yugo Okuma, and Sakura Miwabe, all of whom had drawn pictures not only for Cipher but for Fire Emblem Heroes1.
Another illustrator Rika Suzuki was absent from the ceremony as she said she would be “too embarrassed to be there.”
Her real artwork got onto the stage on her behalf.
Concert
A musical unit “Social Knights2” performs this year too. The three tunes performed as follows: FE1, FE13, and FE16.
A small talk
I walked out of the building for lunch during the event so am not quite sure what’s going on.
The most impressive scene was when a spectator who she said was a fan of Ike helped Hagi put on the cape.
Being late for the talk show put me far away from the stage, where I saw him change clothes; slightly felt jealous of her.
Conventions allow us to do something unusual, which also makes us feel glad to come there. So don’t feel embarrassed and come to see the festival if you will!
Producer’s Battle
This is a battle of Hagi and Cipher Producer Kawade. Mr.Young introduced the two like a ring announcer. Hagi disguised himself as Ike, and Kawade as Marth.
Hagi had a sticker that said:
In this venue only, you can use Tenkuu anytime. *This pic is not an actual one.
After both exchanged a fierce attack, Kawade won the battle. He defeated Hagi again.
There was such a disappointment for the audience.
“When I play with Hagi, I always feel out of place,” Kawade said.
Closing Ceremony
After some greetings, we had a Janken3competition. In this competition, Winners will get something special, a Cipher festival poster this time.
I lost in the second round. I used to be eliminated in the first round, so to say the least, made a little progress indeed.
One day I’m going to make it to the final, then getting my hands on a prize.
Bonus for participants
From the upcoming “Three Houses,” here comes three heroes into the Cipher. They are illustrated by Senri Kita4, Kotaro Yamada, and Rika Suzuki respectively.
And finally…
Almost all goods had sold out by twelve because of poster-distributing events5.
For foreigners interested in this con
This festival takes place in Japan only, so I know it would be difficult for you guys to participate. However, many foreigners are present there, too.
If you happen to come or to be in Japan, you should drop in, say, just for merchandise booth.
Don’t forget
wherever you’re from, we are no doubt all fire emblem fans!!!
TCG ファイアーエムブレム0(サイファ) ブースターパック 「英雄総進軍」 BOX (1BOX16パック入り)
- No actual photos available because of “No recording.” [↩]
- a musical unit of Intelligent systems’ employee that consists of Morishita and Kanazaki. They wear a red and a green tie. [↩]
- Janken is a popular hand game that is a favored method to make a decision or choice. [↩]
- She is the main illustration staff for Radiant Dawn. [↩]
- If you beat a mini-game, you can have a poster. [↩]