Cosplay to express, not to impress.

I was cosplaying to promote our booth during our college mini-olympics when a dear friend came and said that she is not cosplaying anymore for that day for fear that people will judge her. Tears fell from her eyes and I was comforting her. Looking at her, I remember when I was ashamed to go to the seamstress and have my costume made for fear of being laughed at.

What gave me confidence in cosplaying my favourite characters? I read. I read forum posts on how to cosplay well; I read journal entries on costumes, wigs and even poses and how to act in-character. I ask my friends and parents for opinions on my cosplay to improve it. And, as much as possible, I ignore those people who laugh at my hobby.

Why do people laugh at cosplayers? Yes we dress up as our anime characters and walk around town. Yes, we spend our money to buy wigs and to pay tailors to make our costumes. Yes we watch anime and read manga to act out the characters we cosplay perfectly. BUT WHY DO SOME PEOPLE LOOK DOWN ON COSPLAYERS?

We don’t hurt anybody when we cosplay. We don’t cause wars in the world well except for people who takes the competition SERIOUSLY enough to create an all-out war to other cosplayers who I think – are not real cosplayers or they just cosplay to compete and get the prize money instead of having fun.

Why can’t people appreciate our effort in bringing our favourite characters to life? We cosplayers dress-up to express what is inside us. We show our true self by acting out the characters we portray.

To those people doing this anywhere in the world, READ THIS QUOTE:

"If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all"

If you want to comment on a cosplay, do it CONSTRUCTIVELY. Say it in a way that next time, that certain cosplayer will improve his/her portrayal of a character. NOT to discourage him/her from cosplaying.

To those cosplayers who receives harsh comments from people… IGNORE IT! If they are telling you that you are a bad cosplayer, don’t listen to their opinions. Listen to whom you trust. IMPROVE your portrayal of other characters so that next time, those who throw hurtful comments to you will just watch you with awe, for you nailed that character well.


I LOVE COSPLAYING. I do not ask everybody to love it. Just RESPECT us and our hobby as cosplayers.

MCTV's AWESOME OTAKUFEST 2011

Hello there, dear readers. This entry is all about my first cosplay convention. I did not win anything, but I had a lot of fun. :)

MCTV'S AWESOME OTAKU FEST 2011

The event was held on the 11th of June, 2011 at the Astoria Hotel Celebrity Hall. The event started at 2PM. The hall was packed! Cosplayers and enthusiast were already taking photos of each other and showing off poses and smiles when we arrived. It made me feel that we arrived a litte late even though it was abour ten minutes before two o'clock.

I was the gothic version of Haruhi Suzumiya.

My cousin was Mio Akiyama from the ending song "Don't Say Lazy".

My classmate Azumi as Misa Amane of Death Note.

Just after claiming our IDs, we were spotted by my college buddies and took these photos:

Ritsu was just behind us. And the guy in the blue shirt looked like he is faster than a speeding bullet. :D

Mikee with Misaki of Maid Sama!

They just met that day and it looks like Mikee and Azumi are already friends. :D

Me: Mikee, give me a Mio Akiyama pose.

Mikee: *posed

Yep. I think these two are meant to be good friends. :)

Now it's my turn. And we totally covered that Inuyasha tarpauline. Good thing the ANIMAX logo was is still visible.

Oh look, it's Aisaka Taiga!

I think the number of con-goers were just right. Not too few, not too crowded. We can still move around the hall and take photos of the event.

This is a good stolen shot. :)

Photo from MCTV

Posing for a shot with a couple of con-goers. But not the signature pose of the Gothic Haruhi. Too bad. :( I was a scatter brain that day. This was my first cosplay event.

Playing with the camera while waiting for the JPOP karaoke to start. Those collections were awesome!

These yummy cakes from TSOKOLATE were the prizes for the cosplay competition.

More collections...

...and more poses! :)

Then I decided to take more shots of the venue and event:

The stage looked wonderful! It made me nervous on what I was going to do later on...

Azumi with Misaki. Azumi looked good in pink. :D

Azumi now posing with Ritsu.

Now I feel more like Haruhi Suzumiya with this pose!! :)

Looks like everyone is having fun. :D

Multiple shots of Azumi. (Without her knowing ;))

Lining up for our numbers!

Photos from MCTV

That's a lot of cosplayers.

Kon-sama enjoying the event! Best seat in town: the MC's pocket.

Lala cosplay of To Love Ru. I was particularly admiring her wig. :)

Photo from MCTV

Posing with another Haruhi Suzumiya cosplayer.

We were waiting for the cosplay competition. To kill time, we played with the camera. :D

Yui is soo adorable!

While looking for something to do, we spotted the photobooth and had our pictures taken as a freebie from the organizers for the first 150 registrants:

Took some shots of each other:

ZANEC members! Looks like they're having fun too. :)

Mikee, what's with same pose on every photo? :p

Somebody looks tired. :D

MCTV caught me taking stolen shots of the two. :D

Photo from MCTV

Practising my photography "skills". :D

The artworks were fantastic! :)

Mikee looks interested in drawing. :)

It's girl version of Ryoma! She looks absolutely stunning!

While we were...

...taking silly photos..

...Azumi gave up and sat on the floor.

There were no chairs to sit on and our shoes are killing us!

So...

...Mikee gave up too! She sat on the floor hiding behind the balloon decor.

And so, after a few minutes, the cosplay event started!

Each of us did great on the catwalk...

Misa Amane by Azumi

Mio Akiyama by Mikee

And of course, Haruhi Suzumiya dancing the Hare Hare Yukai by yours truly.

The cosplayers! :)

 

Photos from MCTV

Before going home...

The Otaku Fest was a tremendous success. People went home with smiles on their faces and memories to treasure. I hope the OTAKU FEST will be an annual event. Thank you to Chinz, Mindanao Cable TV and all of the sponsors for bringing us the first otaku event in Zamboanga City.