Summer’s biggest Japanese pop culture event reached its climax with Day 3 of Ozine Fest 2015, with thousands of cosplayers and enthusiasts trooping to Megatrade Halls 1-3 at the Fifth Floor of SM Megamall. Set to run 3 days from April 24-26, 2015, Ozine Fest featured a great lineup of special international guests and with lots of fun activities guaranteed to make it a summer event to remember. arkadymac.com is an official media partner, so we are happy to bring you the highlights from this much-anticipated event.
Our Cosplay Model Ai Chi cosplaying Ada Wong of Resident Evil: Retribution was there to help us out with the coverage as there were lots to see and experience at any given time inside the Megatrade Halls.
We then got to tour the venue where exhibitors, concessionaires and sponsor booths could be found offering a wide variety of merchandise and goodies that catered specifically to Japanese pop culture enthusiasts and avid collectors, like the displays by Team Onii-chan.
We also found the Artist Area where we saw talented groups and individuals showcasing their work to the public. They do commissions as well as demonstrations on how to draw manga. Independent artists presented their own artworks and merchandise to the public, and was one of the busiest sections at the venue. New and original works as well as pre-owned manga and artbooks were displayed and offered to the public.
The Ozine Maid Cafe was where you can sit back, relax and enjoy meals and drinks served by our cute and pretty meidos, and it has become quite popular at every event, with long lines as proof of its charm and appeal to attendees.
Other interesting attractions were the Horror Both where entrants get treated to some screams and thrills.
There was also a separate area for anime card games with tournament and demos for beginners and those who want to try and learn.
The main stage was where the program was held as they featured entertaining events like the Jeopardy-type anime trivia game where contestants (and the audience) get to test their knowledge and memory of anime.
Members of Team M.A.R.C.H. presented a workshop on crafting, giving the audience a deeper insight on cosplay and the creation of outstanding props.
There were also great performances for guest bands whose high-energy sets kept the crowd excited enough for them to be singing along.
The highlight of the day was the Individual Cosplay Competition where contestants battled it out for great prizes as they performed innovative and amusing skits that wowed and amused the crowd.
Winning the championship with his amazing performance was our friend Miko Enriquez as Razor the Lightning Revenant of DOTA 2, with Cho Cortazar winning Ozine Best Pick as Rylai, Crystal Maiden. Other winners included a very skillful Janine Reyes as Xiaoyu of Tekken winning the Best Female Category, Erika Dupet as Haruhi Suzumiya for Best in Kawaii Cosplay, Rene Javier as Shockwave of Transformers for Best Mecha, Joren Selda as Kamen Rider Gaim winning Best Male. The winners from the different categories got to take home some really nice prizes courtesy of the organizers and sponsors.
We got to see a lot of cosplayers at the event, and they were having fun with friends and having photos with the crowd and with each other, like our Cosplay Models Nicole and Irene.
We of course enjoyed doing short shoots with cosplayers, some familiar, some new, and we’d like to thank all of them for posing for us.
We at the website would like to share our arkadymac.com Favorite Cosplay of the Event. It’s just a small recognition to an individual whose cosplay we really appreciated during the event. We’d like to thank Yumiko for portraying
Mitsukuni “Honey” Haninozuka of Ouran High School Host Club. This time it was about nostalgia and, well, sweetness like the cakes Honey loves very much. Please accept a small token of our gratitude at the next event we meet in.
With a special clip from the organizers projected on the stage saying “You are free,” Ozine Fest 2015 came to a close. It was a flurry of excitement from one day to another and that kept the crowd coming back for more. There have been some setbacks and there have been changes and new rules put in place compared to past Ozine events, but it were meant to improve the event and make it more orderly, and hopefully the new system would, in future editions, make the event more organized, more appealing, and more enjoyable for everyone.
Many thanks to Sir Bryan and Sir Dennis and all the great Ozine organizers and staff and the many sponsors for making this all happen. Ozine Fest 2015 remains the biggest Japanese pop culture event this summer and people will still be talking about it for the weeks to come. Many thanks to our cosplayer friends who helped us during our coverage. Many thanks to the members of our media team for doing a great job despite the challenges.
Thank you for dropping by, and do visit us again soon for our continuing coverage of Ozine Fest 2015.
Please click on a link to view slideshow.
About The Author
