Years ago she set out to make cosplay more accepted, more active, and more recognizable in the Philippines. Since then she has achieved those, and people in the community looked up to her as quintessential, a role model as convincing as her portrayals and as imposing as her contributions. She may have since moved on to other endeavors but her name will always be etched alongside Philippine cosplay. We at arkadymac.com are proud to deliver this feature on Ms. Alodia Gosiengfiao in this week’s special edition.
We were fortunate to be part of Team Alodia for her appearance and participation at an event last weekend, and we were given the unique opportunity chance to get up close to know more about the world’s most prominent cosplayer. We were in for a pleasant surprise as the people’s response to her was nothing short of overwhelming. For all her fame and achievements, she was gracious and candid and a class act all throughout.
We first met her at ingress as an unassuming girl wearing dark-rimmed sunglasses. She was there at the event venue incognito to take a look-see at the booth she’ll be having for the weekend festivities. She smiled for us as we exchanged pleasantries. We were ecstatic to hear that she got to see our website and had a a few nice words for us. We shook hands as we were glad to be working officially for this endeavor. She was there to personally supervise her booth. Her family was there: her parents Ed and Mariglor and sister Ashley, lending their support.
When the day came, and she was ushered into the stage and give a special performance to an ecstatic crowd. She delighted the large audience as she sang the opening theme of Shingeki no Kyojin, “Guren no Yumiya,” in its original Japanese. Cosplaying Mikasa Ackerman, the heroine from the series, she won the admiration of the huge crowd gathered around the stage, everyone trying their best to get a good glimpse of her. She went on to addressed the audience and share her own experience of the event.
After being on stage, she proceeded to her booth where she had a meet-and-greet session with her adoring fans. They took photos with her, had their items signed, shook her hand and chat with her. It was an experience like no other as Alodia brought excitement and electricity to the event.
Granting us an interview after the event, we got to learn much about her. She told us about some of her favorite anime characters, like Akazukin Chacha. She says she keeps on cosplaying because she treats it as an art form, and that even though she has been doing it for a while, cosplay is still is fun because there are still a lot of characters out there to try and choose from. She says she gets easily excited when she finds a new character and has fun trying them out with trials and rehearsals. On cosplaying, she suggests that for those just starting out with cosplay to just try out simple characters first, to start step by step, and to ask for help from other cosplayers. She was also kind enough to humored us when we asked her to repeat some lines while in character, like, “You know nothing, Jon Snow.”
She was candid and friendly throughout the interview and it was a great opportunity for us. After having some photos taken with her fans, like our friends Chanelle and Sophia, she was whisked away for some much-needed rest.
With the long line at her booth and the horde of spectators trying their best to get a glimpse of her, there is not doubt that Alodia is well loved by people within the community as well as outside of it. In the short time we wee part of her entourage, we have always felt that she was passionate and professional with what she does and that she has always appreciated the support of the people around her.
In her parting words for the interview, she thanked everyone for supporting the community and hopes to see everyone again soon.
We would like to thank everyone who made this feature possible, notably to Miss Alodia for her time and for giving us this opportunity, to her family for being friendly and helpful, to the other members of Team Alodia for their support, the ToyCon staff and volunteers for their help, and to our arkadymac team of Brymac, Mao-chan, Stephanie, Jillian, Nicole, Yanna, and Kaloy for their invaluable support.
Thank you for dropping by, and please visit us again for more cosplay features here at arkadymac.com.
Please click on an image to view slideshow.
About The Author
