Fans can’t get enough as the biggest pop culture event in Asia surges into its second straight day as AsiaPOP Comicon Manila 2018 welcomed thousands of attendees from all over the world with huge and amazing attractions, the scale of which never before seen in the country .
arkadymac.com is glad to be APCC’s online media partner for the fourth straight year, and we had our Editor-in-Chief Jillian and Correspondent Candy bringing in the action from this huge pop culture extravaganza. For our Coverage of APCC 2018 Day 1, please click here.
Spanning the entire SMX Convention Center at the Mall of Asia Complex, the scale that APCC 2018 was on was mind-blowing, and on its fourth straight year it had an impressive lineup of guests and unique attractions from around the world for attendees to enjoy, bringing the latest and hottest trends, activities, and attractions pop culture had to offer.
Filipinos have always been been big fans of pop culture, being forever in love with movies, comics, cartoons, music, books, TV, and other media, which was most probably why they eagerly to get inside the event even before the SMX’s doors opened, anticipating all the excitement that AsiaPop had promised waiting for them on opening day and APCC was ready for them.
On the entire ground floor of the SMX convention center, a bewildering array of booths and exhibits were there to amuse, entertain and amaze the attendees. People could browse through amazing toys and figure displays and collections, take part in demos, special sales, and mini games most exhibitors had to offer. They got to go home with nice freebies and giveaways from those too.
Artists from around the globe also graced APCC. They had their own booths so they could display their work to their fans, and the artists were happy to tell us that it was a great experience meeting their Filipino fans as they appreciate their work so much and go to talk to them as they did autographs as well, whcih included comic book veterans Whilce Portacio, Brian Mur, Stanley Artgerm Lau, Simone Legno, Alex Sinclaire, Lan Medina, Mike McKone, , and Phil Noto along with up-and-coming artists Amanda Visell and Michelle Valigura .
APCC 2016 had been the talk of the town as they delivered on their promise to bring big Hollywood stars to Manila. Celebrity guests include Finn Jones, the star of Netflix’s Iron Fist, Tye Sheridan, the lead star of Ready Player One as well as having played Cyclops in X-Men: Apocalypse, and Osric Chau who played who portrayed Kevin Tran on the hit series Supernatural, were the big names that had their Filipino fans scrambling all over to get the chance to meet them in person. On Day 2 there was the autograph signing and meet and greet of the cast of Netfix’s exclusive show Luke Cage: Mike Colter as Luke Cage, Cheo Hodaki Coker (Season 2 showrunner), and Mustafa Shakir as Bushmaster. Lucky fans got to have a photo with them on stage plus signed posters of the stars.
We also had the opportunity to interview the voices of our childhood, featuring the dubbers/voice actors of our favorite TV shows: Apollo Abraham, voice of Masterm Pogi of Dragon Ball and Prince Zardoz of Voltes V, Jeff Utanes voice of Son Goku of Dragonball, Bernie Malejana voice for Doraemon, and Benjie Dorango voice of Dao Ming Si of Meteor Garden. They were very insightful as they shared their long and colorful experiences in the industry.
We have always given our full support to APCC because they have never forgotten the local cosplay community, and they have always brought the brightest and most talented cosplayers from all over the planet to visit and meet Filipino cosplayers. This year’s roster of extraordinary Cosplay guests included Yugana Senshi Uon, Vera Chimera, Leon Chiro and Canvas Cosplay. They had their own booths at the venue where attendees can see and meet them at no extra cost as well as had the chance to offer their merch and prints for their fans to purchase and take home. Particularly popular among the attendees was Leon Chiro, who was genuinely enamored with his Filipino fans and took all opportunities to bond with them.
They also had an enlightening panel about cosplay that was well-attended and fully supported by so many cosplayers and attendees.
One of the highlights of AsiaPop Comicon Manila was The Cosplay Authority Global Challenge, or The CAGE, which had become the most epic cosplay competition the Philippines has ever seen, boasting of the biggest prizes only dreamed of in the cosplay scene . Participants had to go through a rigorous process just so the best of the best could compete. The second day of APCC featured the adult category with special guest cosplayers Yugana Senshi Uon, Vera Chimera, Leon Chiro and Canvas Cosplay, along with MMA Champion Brandon Vera as the board of judges.
The performances the contestants put on certainly gave justice to their characters and made for a great show in front of an appreciative audience. Everyone then had to eagerly wait till the next day for the announcement of winners.
APCC was nothing short of amazing and exciting, with people going home happy with tons of pop culture merchandise and pictures with their favorite actors, actresses, artists, and cosplayers, but this was only Day 2 of this three-day affair, so catch you again soon as we have our coverage of Day 3. For our Coverage of APCC 2018 Day 1, please click here.
Thanks also to arkadymac.com’s Photographers Kami and Mitchelle for helping us cover the event.
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