Say cheese: Two girls in anime costumes strike a pose at the largest pop culture festival in the region.

From Budiman, the pink-lipped, cute rescue robot of an animastrip to Budiman Sudjatmiko, the concept creator of comic series Anak-anak Revolusi (Children of the Revolution), Indonesian creative talents strutted their stuff at Popcon Asia 2016.

The three-day pop culture festival at the Jakarta Convention Center in Senayan, Central Jakarta, which ended on Sunday, brought together creatives, clients and enthusiasts as home-grown talents showcased their comics, toys and games, animations and films as well as their web-powered derivatives.

Saturday saw the official launch of Ciayo, dubbed the world’s first virtual social media platform, which enables users to maintain a presence on the internet while keeping their real-life identity concealed.

“Many are reluctant to join in the conversation because of the negative content on social media,” said Victor, one of the cofounders. “We’re trying to put the social back in social media.”

Meanwhile, RUS Animation Studio presented animation feature film Pasoa, Si Pemberani (Pasoa, the Brave). The movie’s main character is inspired by the archer-wielding god of bravery in Javanese mythology.

The Studio is the animation program supported by the Djarum Foundation at vocational high school SMK Raden Umar Said in Kudus, East Java.

Green faces: One of the characters in the new animation series Budiman, the Rescue Robot.

Released for the first time at Popcon were the thrilling Rudi Soedjarwo’s Algojo: Perang Santet (Algojo: War of Black Magic); the reawakening of comedy saga Warkop DKI: Reborn, the supernatural adventure Firegate: Piramid Gunung Padang and the fun-filled adventures of comic character Si Juki in the movie created by Faza Meonk.

Some celebrities also participated at this year’s festival, such as a group of former child singers comprising Joshua Suherman, Dea Ananda, Amanda and others, who presented their #SaveLaguAnak, as well as singer Vidi Aldiano, who collaborated with illustrators from kreavi.com in launching his studio album Persona, and model/actress Raline Shah, who was in the middle of producing a comic book.

Numerous awards for best comic, best cosplaying event and best workshop as well as on-the-spot competitions serve as milestones for the festival’s growth from year to year, reflecting the increase in the number of participants.

Popcon, in its fourth year running, has come a long way, morphing from a humble effort to build an ecosystem for creative talents into a regional hotspot for the creative industry.

While in its first three years the talents came as fans, the festival this year had them as exhibitors with their own hordes of fans.

Scroll Down Comics, for example, which won the best booth this year for artist alley category, started as single artists who learned about comic industry from neighboring exhibitors and in a year came out as an established business.
The best booth for main exhibitor's category went to Bandung-based MassHive Media.

The team includes medical doctor Ababil Ashari, who goes by the pen name Wednesday Ash; Jaka Prawira or Ellinsworth and Karina Chandra or Asteriesling, a student majoring in spatial planning at the Bandung Institute of Technology.

“In the future, we expect this event will attract more talents, fresh blood for the industry, hence the new Portfolio Review program,” said event founder Grace Kusnadi, the CEO of event organizer Revata Cipta Kreasi, who has played an important role in the creative industry.

The organizer expressed concern about the welfare of the talents due to their lack of knowledge about their intellectual property rights.

“This year, we are raising their awareness about their rights. We are thankful to the Intellectual Property Rights Agency, which is not only handing out information but helping the exhibitors register their IP content during the event,” said organizing committee partner Dennis Adhiswara, the founder of video channel and IP management agency Layaria. Below are some of the highlights in the 2016 Popcon Asia:

— Photos by JP/Jerry Adiguna

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‘Budiman’, the rescue robot

A superhero of sorts: Budiman, a galactic rescue robot, is the main character in short animation Budiman, the Rescue Robot. (Courtesy of Budiman The Rescue Robot)

Concept artist Diandra was concerned about the violence in comics and cartoons dedicated to children.

Last year she worked together with animators Adit and Dira for a counter-measure by creating a galactic rescue robot, Budiman. The name, which in Indonesian means kind, good-hearted person, reflects the character’s main trait of fighting off evil with friendship and kindness.

“It is our goal to see the animation used as a campaign tool in schools and public institutions for child education,” said Diandra, now in the middle of a presentation campaign for schools in Yogyakarta and Bali.

Budiman was a part of Kratoon, a channel for Indonesian animation films on YouTube. Part of the Popcon organizing committee in the past few years and now an exhibitor for the first time, Diandra said the event had exposed her to the creative ecosystem.

“In the near future we will form a syndication, where school students can take part in the production.

“That will ensure the sustainability of the character while providing space for young creators.”

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Virtual social media platform Ciayo

Peek-a-boo: Ciayo, dubbed the world’s first virtual social media platform, which enables users to maintain a presence on the internet while keeping their real-life identity concealed, is also launched at the event.

The cofounders of virtual social media platform Ciayo, Victor, Borton, Vanessa and Alek, were concerned about the negative content roaming around the websphere.

“Indonesians are the largest population in social media, but ironically we don’t have our own platform,” said Borton.

“Besides, most of them are passive users who open their account to read what other people post.”

Victor said that social media had lost its social function and Ciayo was their effort to bring it back.

“It’s a platform for all ages; it’s fun and avoids the worries of posting something disturbing to others.”

They had worked on the platform for almost two years in collaboration with illustrators and were surprised about the degree of enthusiasm among their circle of friends and the wider public since Friday.

Launched in its beta version on Saturday last week, Ciayo allows users to create their own avatar to establish the Ciayo universe on the web.

“It’s no secret that average-looking users won’t survive on the web, hence the avatar. Those who have doubts about posting anything would find that Ciayo simplifies everything,” said Alek.

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Comic series ‘Anak-anak Revolusi’
(Children of the Revolution)

On guard: This year’s Popcon Asia hosted 225 booths, 150 of them in the Artist Alley.

Politician Budiman Sudjatmiko, a rebellious youth icon in the 1990s, transformed his autobiographic novel Anak-anak Revolusi into a comic trilogy.

Together with comic writer Yoga Adhitrisna and pencillor/colorist Hari Prast and Wastukancono Dp, they enriched the stories, adopting popular songs as titles.

Launched at Popcon on Sunday, the first comic, Talking About a Revolution, took the title from Tracy Chapman’s “Talkin’ ‘Bout A Revolution”.

The second would be titled Forever Young (Alphaville’s) and the last Darah Juang (Blood of Struggle), a song composed by John Tobing.

“The comics would not be based on my own story per se but also the young people at the frontline of change in this country,” said Budiman. The comic’s launch also marks the forming of the Anak Revolusi Movement, a forum of creative talents to accelerate the development of the creative economy.

Henky Christianto and Diki Satya from 360 Indonesia created the application Occulus Rift as a new way to read the special page Angkringan Revolusi (revolution gathering), in which readers can get a 360-degree view of the page filled with audio.

“Our next project will be to make a full comic with the application,” said Budiman.