Lookback: Asia Cosplay Meet 2011

Friends, Otakus, and Countrymen! Lend me your booty! The Mistress is here once again at your service. Today, I’m serving up a full course meal on the previously-held Toycon and Asia Cosplay Meet 2011. Yeah, I know, I know… This hefty serving has been long overdue. So let’s just take this time to reminisce on this two-day special event.

The opinions, views and beliefs shared here by yours truly DOES NOT reflect the general consensus of Otakultura!™ and its members.

Last year, Otakultura was there when the first Asia Cosplay Meet was held in the Philippine Trade and Training Center. We saw firsthand how Jia Gold Bustamante bagged the gold in this competition, and how she emerged victorious in the Singapore leg of the competition. We were also the first in breaking the news of Jia Gold’s win in Singapore!

(Check out our 2010 Asia Cosplay Meet full coverage linked individually here)

This year, we decided to check out Asia Cosplay Meet once again. In all honesty, just like last year’s Asia Cosplay Meet, the date proved to be quite… surprising… so to speak. News of the event came around barely less than 2 months before the event date (correct me if I’m wrong though). I had doubts on the number of participants auditioning for the screening process, since the time to prepare was really slim compared to last year. Nothing like a bowl of procrastination to set things straight, right?

The next surprise that I realized was the event’s date overlapping with Day 1 of Toycon 2011. This will severely reduce the number of possible cosplayers and event-goers, considering the following reasons: Alodia was coming on Day 1 of Toycon 2011; Toycon is a bigger event with more attractions; and an Eastwood location for ACM is really not that much accessible compared to Megamall. Regardless, we were determined to witness who gets to represent the Philippines this year. Besides, the time for ACM was initially scheduled in the afternoon. There was a lot of time in the morning to explore Toycon (which proved to be futile due to the insanely long ticket line prior to gate opening). I was ready to get lost in Eastwood.

Lo and behold, the venue for Asia Cosplay Meet changed! This time, it was merged with Toycon’s Day 1 programme. I had this sinking feeling that ACM was relegated to a mere sidetrack or segment of Toycon’s first day. This feeling was actually confirmed when I found out on the day itself that ACM had overlapped with different stage segments from the Toycon side and also from the influx of celebrities coming and going. By then, I asked myself: “What happened to ACM?” “Where are the sponsors?” “Why is this happening all of a sudden?” And yes, ACM this year felt a lot more rushed than last year. However, adding ACM to the repertoire of featured segments of Toycon was a practical and commendable move. This allowed for a greater audience turnout. At the very least, ACM had their own section of the Megatrade Hall (alongside the shooting of Cosplay Nation).

There were 7 teams (of three members each) competing this year: Tri-Clementia, G.E.Burst, Duos Stratos, Mahou Shoujo, Come Backers, Tenshi No Maou, and Good Luck Mode. The contest rules have changed from individual to team-based skits. The winning team will participate in Singapore’s Cosfest 2011 on both Individual and Team categories. This requires each member of the winning team to prepare two different cosplays and skits, one for each category.

Given the short time, I was impressed at the cosplays presented on stage. The Tiger & Bunny was one of the cosplays I didn’t expect. The armors of these characters were intricate and complicated. Suffice to say, the cosplayers simplified the Tiger and Bunny costumes to a certain extent, but should still receive commendation for the effort. If you’re reading this, Tiger and Bunny cosplayers, here’s something you should’ve been aware of: the crotch area of the armor was sticking out rather than covering that area flat on the costume… Please glue or fasten it to the fabric next time. Anyway, I’m digressing. Moving on to the other cosplays, I also took a particular interest in the Gilgamesh (Final Fantasy) cosplayer. Not only did he pull off a detailed costume, but the cosplayer was in-character 99% of the time (1% spent on toilet breaks and fixing the costume and other stuff). Even after their skit was done, during the interview, during the announcement of the winners, this Gilgamesh stayed in character. You have my sincerest praises, Gilgamesh. You’ve got a fan in me.

The winning team was Tenshi no Maou, composed of Riyo Lendl Enriquez, Claudine De Jesus, Marianne Bella Topacio. Their BlazBlue skit was the most synchronized compared to the rest of the teams. Suffice to say, all teams had their skits done well. Most teams had a bit of dead air in-between scenes due to their pacing way ahead of the audio. The sounds sounded broken and blurry, which might not be the team’s fault, but of the stage speakers instead. Practice enough choreography in the skits to synchronize it with the audio, and the performance would definitely be better. As for the costumes, I’d say the winning team barely made it to the top, were it not for the acting appeal and light show. Riyo’s Ragna The Bloodedge cosplay could’ve been tied with Gilgamesh’s costume and dedicated in-character acting. Still, I am personally extending my sincerest congratulations to all the teams for a wonderful effort, and to Tenshi no Maou for bagging the chance to represent Philippines in Cosfest 2011!

Team Tenshi No Maou eventually went to Singapore in Cosfest 2011. Teams Singapore and Malaysia, however, took the coveted prize in this leg of the race, and went on to Nagoya, Japan for the World Cosplay Summit. If you were wondering, the three members of Tenshi no Maou had different (and unrelated) cosplays for the individual category too. Videos are shown below this article.

I’d say that the organizers for the Philippine leg of Asia Cosplay Meet 2011 barely made it. Everything feels rushed, from the pre-planning to execution. I just hope that next year, ACM would at least extend their timetable to fully prepare for the event, and to allow cosplayers enough time to practice and ready their cosplays.

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Gallery Links:
Asia Cosplay Meet 2011 (Philippine leg) PART 1
Asia Cosplay Meet 2011 (Philippine leg) PART 2

Videos

Team Philippines in Cosfest 2011

Riyo Lendl Enriquez’s Individual Performance in Cosfest 2011: Samurai Deeper Kyo

Marianne Topacio’s Individual Performance in Cosfest 2011: .hack//GU

Claudine De Jesus’s Individual Performance in Cosfest 2011: Touhou Project

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External Links
Asia Cosplay Meet 2011 (Philippine leg) PART 1
Asia Cosplay Meet 2011 (Philippine leg) PART 2
Cosfest X.1 Facebook Page
Singapore Cosplay Club Youtube Channel

Tags: Anime & Manga, Asia Cosplay Meet, cosplay, Event, events