arkadymac.com got to cover Cosplay Mania ’14: Day 2 as its media affiliate over the weekend. Thousands upon thousands of people poured into the SMX to take part of this grand yearly spectacle, which is undoubtedly the biggest cosplay event of the year. And being the most anticipated cosplay event of the year, Cosplay Mania draws in more and more attendees each year, coming from not only all over the Philippines, but also from all over the world, filling the SMX Convention Center at the SM Mall of Asia to capacity during the entire length of this exciting two-day event.
In light of its successes in recent years, the Philippines’ premiere cosplay convention, Cosplay Mania, is taking another step forward to reach ‘world class’ status with Cosplay Mania Evolution! Cosplay Mania Evolution promises to deliver even more thrills for fans of cosplay, anisong, anime, manga, and gaming in the Philippines and the rest of South East Asia. Cosplay Mania Evolution has revitalized the Cosplay Tournament of Champions (TorCh), mixing in a new flavor that will certainly bring more depth and life to the competition! The TorCh Mentor system has been implemented, where each team will be assigned mentors to help them win the honor of representing the country in the Anime Festival Asia Regional Cosplay Championships, to be held in Singapore in December 2014. Nine very competitive teams battled it out for the right to be crowned champion, but in the end, Team Kanor Cubes from the SM Manila leg won the honor with an exciting BTX performance that had the international judges nothing short of impressed. Congratulations to the team of Louise and Brahms, and we wish them well preparing for the Anime Festival Asia Regional Cosplay Championships in Singapore.
The event also features Meet-and-Greets with world-class cosplayers such as the all-time favorite KANAME☆ and Reika, along with international cosplayers Orochi X, Pinky, Vic and Jesuke. Cosplay Mania Evolution has even increased its stellar roster to include Japanese authority on cosplay Tatsumi Inui, and American cosplay superstar Vampy Bit Me.
There were activities, games, and giveaways, the awesome music, stellar cosplay performances all throughout the day, so everyone was sure to be busy enjoying themselves. Prominent celebrity cosplayer Liui Aquino was there for autograph signings and appearances at the Cosmic Bytes Cosplay Shop booth and at the Otaku Asia booth for autograph signings, and the fans couldn’t get enough of him, with along line eagerly waiting for their turn to take a photo, a selfie, and share some words with their idol. Liui told us that he was really overwhelmed and very grateful to the people who turned up to support him.
An attraction I really liked was the Magic the Gathering Booth where attendees are invited to learn the game and play with their friends while being assisted by an experienced demo team. As a player since 1994, it has been the first time they held an event of this scale in the Philippines, complete with a photobooth, displays, and rows upon rows of gaming tables. I took part in it while in cosplay, and it was real fun seeing other cosplayers learn about it too. After a game with the demo decks provided, participants even get to have a deck of 30 cards of a color of their choice. I even got to chat with the demo team who said this event is truly one of a kind and I hope I get to see more of these in the future.
Other interesting things we saw were the Doraemon mascots, the giant Pikachu that was irresistibly cute even to the coldest of hearts, and Mogu Mogu with its mascot breaking it down with the crowd to the latest dance hits.
To end the event with a bang, Cosplay Mania Evolution featured the first ever JAM: Japanese Anime Music Concert in the Philippines, headlined by Aya Ikeda — the voice behind the theme songs of popular animes such as Heartcatch Precure!, Kindaichi Case Files and the online games “Finding Neverland Online” and “Harezora Monogatari.” She and other performers gave the attendees a night of amazing music to remember.
On the second day of our coverage, we wanted to focus more on the thousands of cosplayers who came to take part in this grand spectacle. The SMX was filled to capacity with cosplayers from all over the country, some taking the rare trip to Manila just to be part of Cosplay Mania. We of course had a grand time taking pictures of friends, old and new, since opening to closing late at night. After the JAM Concert, Cosplay Mania ’14 finally ended, leaving much fun and memories for all those who attended. They look forward to next year’s installment, one even bigger as it will cover Function Halls 1-5 on October 3-4, 2015.
Thank you for dropping by, and please visit us again for more cosplay features here at arkadymac.com.
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