A FAVORITE subject among photographers, Alodia Gosiengfiao has lived her teenage years in the limelight of an obscure world called “cosplay.”
The term “cosplay” is a portmanteau of words, “costume” and “roleplay,” originally from a Japanese subculture centered on dressing as characters from anime, sci-fi movies and video games.
Today, cosplay is not as strange as it used to be and as one of the initial icons of this pricey hobby, Gosiengfiao reveals that there is more to her than her seemingly extravagant method of looking like a character; it is a higher form of tribute.
“It changed my life in terms of fashion and the way I act. How you see characters, sometimes you tend to copy them, so it changed my personality a bit.” Gosiengfiao says. [Read the rest of this entry »]
MANILA, Philippines — Having been a costume player for six years, Ricah Baltazar admitted that costume play or popularly known as “cosplay” has influenced the way she dresses today.
Baltazar, 21 years old, considered her black punk outfit during the interview as an everyday wear. Being an anime fan influenced her to join cosplays.
“From anime, na-introduce ang cosplay. Then, from cosplay, na-open up ang iba’t ibang klase ng fashion sense [Cosplay was introduced through anime characters. Then, cosplay opened opportunities for other fashion],” said Baltazar.
One of the fashion styles that influenced Baltazar was Gothic Lolita. Japanese Lifestyle defined Gothic Lolita as a Victorian style fashion sense among Japanese adolescents and noted that the style is a subculture that began in 1997 and was later turned into a clothing genre in 2001 as it became available in major department stores.
At 15, Baltazar began joining cosplays. She remembers saving up P3,000 for a costume. But now that she is working, she spends P6,000 for a tailor-made costume.
“Kung maraming details, mas mahal. I am a very detailed cosplayer kasi kaya as perfect as close to the character as possible. [If the costume has a lot of details on it, it’s more expensive. Since I’m conscious with the details of the costume, I want it to be close to perfect to the character as possible],” explained Baltazar.
Dressed up like an anime character or wearing a gothic Lolita outfit with red hair — which she dyed a number of times for 4 years — Baltazar said she still gets mixed reactions from people she meets.
“Minsan unkind yung mga comments like stereotypes, emo, fantaserye. Some of them are friendly. Depende na rin un sa kung alam kasi ng tao ‘yung ginagawa namin. The more exposure, the more that they know, the more that they will understand. [Sometimes, I receive unkind comments like I am being stereotyped as an emo or a character in a fantasy series. Some are friendly. It depends whether the person know what we’re doing. The more exposure that costume players get, the more people will be informed. Hence, they will understand.],” said Baltazar.
For six years since Baltazar started joining cosplays, she has collected 11 costumes, two gothic Lolita outfits and six wigs.
Cosplay is about having fun and making the characters come to life, added Baltazar.
“We just want to have fun. We enjoy cosplay, copying characters. Just a hobby really,” stressed Baltazar.
The creators of the comic series Aporia as well as Kraust and Ninja Girl Ko! all share one thing: passion for comics.
Comics, as a medium, convey stories with fewer words and instead, make the best use of panels, lines and drawings to convey stories. These features contribute to the uniqueness of comics as artwork. A comic lover myself, I see comics as the mother of animation (and increasingly of live action titles as well).
For Mangaholix, comics provide an avenue for their interpretation of art. The roots of the Mangaholix team can be traced from BlitzWorx, a high school comic club that later formed Mangaholix, under Groundbreakers Inc. In the local comic industry, pricing is a big factor so to be sustainable the then high school enthusiasts tied up with a corporate house and the rest is history, according to Emmanuel Javier one of the founders of BlitzWorx and now senior VP and editor-in-chief of Mangaholix.
MAKATI CITY – Philippine theme park operator Enchanted Kingdom (EK) is holding a day-long event that hopes to entice anime fans, cosplayers (costume players), toy enthusiasts and gamers.
This is the first time EK will be holding an anime-themed event with the help of Azrael Coladilla who has been coordinating several anime, comics, and toy conventions in the country.
In an interview, Coladilla said EK will be preparing dozens of activities, such as live band performances, toy and anime exhibits, and video, trivia and singing competitions.
To attract cosplayers, Coladilla said the EK anime festival will grant them free entrance if they register in the event website.
Meanwhile, Enchanted Kingdom Assistant Vice President for Marketing Richard Burgos said the festival aims to double the fun for cosplayers. “Here, they can play as their favorite anime character while enjoying the rides we have offered,” Burgos said.
Burgos said that EK might make this festival a regular activity.
The day-long festival, dubbed OtakonEK 2008, is scheduled on September 28.
HERE are two videos taken by INQUIRER.net community evangelist Alex Villafania of popular Filipina gamer and cosplayer Alodia Gosiengfiao at the Mangaholix Manga Mania 2008 convention held Saturday at SM Mall of Asia.
Fans lined up to meet Alodia, buy her merchandise and get her autograph.
And check out how many bodyguards accompanied her when she went there.
A FAVORITE subject among photographers, Alodia Gosiengfiao has lived her teenage years in the limelight of an obscure world called “cosplay.”
