Again, I mainly went for the Yugioh event and Pokemon event. They were pretty good this year but the Yugioh event was quite a bit smaller with only single duels available, and no extra prize from winning 3 times like last year. The Pokemon stage was pretty fun with regular shows where a member of the audience battled it out with a star on stage with commentary. You could also queue up for pokemon battles behind the stage.
Overall, fun times. I do think that the even seems to be getting smaller. It definitely felt like there were less booths, or at least merchandise ones. There were quite a lot of stage events though so if you're into that, it's always good. I was a bit disappointed that there wasn't really any hype for anything really... Last year it was all Nisekoi every where. I suppose this year it was One Piece (yet again) and Kuroko and maaaybe Gintama, with a splash of Dragonball and Naruto.
Anyway, photos below and also a video of Yugioh booster openings with some footage of Jump Fest in general at the end.
So you want to go to Jump Festa?
I recommend you check out the Jump Festa website to check the original goods as well as vendor goods. This will help you decide when you need to get there.- Casual - you only want to go for the experience and are not fussed about any merchandise.
Go at around lunch time or later on in the afternoon. Not only will the queue be shorter/non-existant, it will be warmer too so you can just wear normal clothes. - Hardcore - there's merchandise you want to get or there's an event you want to participate in or there are games you want to try.
Go early in the morning, enough to arrive maybe an hour or two before. The original goods queue has always been on the left for the past 4 years while the general convention queue is on the right. Bring: some warm clothes or pocket warmer as you will cool down while standing still in the queue, food and drink. - Extreme Hardcore - you must absolutely get the merchandise you're after and you're ready to make sacrifices for it.
Get to the venue the night before, forgo sleep and just wait there until they let you queue. Alternatively, book a hotel nearby far in advance and head over at 2pm. Bring: warm clothes, a foldable seat, something to keep you entertained for hours, a metric tonne of caffeine.
And now, it's time for good looooong nap for me :)