Cosfest VIII - a look into foreign cosplay events

Okay, okay, this is late. I got busy and a tad bit lazy. As you may already know, we recently went to Singapore to attend and have Ice compete in Cosfest VIII A Very Happy Event. The event was held last July 11-12, 2009 at the Downtown East center in Pasir Ris. Entrance to the event was completely free so anyone can come and join the festivities. We were lucky because Sese's sister came with us so we wouldn't get lost. We were however still late on the first day. No biggie though as we really just wanted to see the layout of the event space and see some cosplayers.

Even before we reached the event area, we were already starting to see cosplayers outside. There were so many cosplayers and they were all just posing for pictures. I noticed that most cosplayers found a certain spot where they could showcase their costumes and pose for pictures and for the most part did not move from their spot and waited for the photographers to come to them.

The nice thing about the community there is that they know how to practice etiquette. When cosplayers are busy fixing their costume, eating or on the phone, photographers don't bother them. In fact, some photographers will sit and wait till you are ready and they won't even take pictures right away. They will ask first. Even Ice noticed that there were some photographers that would be hesitant to ask you for pictures. They would even wait for somebody else to ask so that they can join in taking photos.

Cosfest Event Area - D'Marquee tent

A huge tent called the D'Marquee is setup in the middle of Downtown East. They usually hold events there including Cosfest. At first, I kind of worried that it would be a small space, but after entering the tent, I was surprised at how huge the tent area was. What I appreciate the most is the space. It was so spacious I could practically run around the area. People did not have to force theirselves into the event area nor did they have to suffer not being able to move.

The booths inside the event were all anime/manga/cosplay related. They even had a booth of a company that sells wooden swords and other bladed weapon replicas. Here we have a penchant of having companies setup booths in an event even if it's totally unrelated to the theme of the convention. And we allow it as long as we can get their sponsorships. It's sad but true.

Cosfest List of Sponsors

Cosfest received a lot of support from various Japanese organizations including the Japanese Embassy. You'll notice that the two major airlines, JAL and ANA are some of their major sponsors. The Japan Creative Centre and the Japan National Tourism Organization are also sponsors of the event. I think the organizers had an effective marketing strategy for this event because it really looked like they made sure that they have lots of support from the Japanese government and Japanese organizations. They also had a lot of sponsors for the event. This probably would explain how the event was able to give away 42" LCD TVs and Return Trip Tickets to Japan. I can only dream that our events were able to give away those kinds of prices.

We weren't able to view the program on the second day as we were busy taking pictures of the cosplayers and the event space. I really liked that they had this huge stage in front where the contests and the cosplay performances were held. Some of the performances on the first day was from the game and anime The Idolmaster, and a dance performance of Gackt's song. The stage is big enough for concerts and from what I understand they held a Side A concert there, hehe.

Idolmaster Performance at Cosfest 2009 Day 1

Interesting to note here is that they barely had any marshals at the event. There were only people at the stage area to ensure that they are able to track the people coming in and out of the backstage and ensure a smooth flow of their scheduled programming. The event was so spacious and the booths were clearly visible that marshals on the general floor area was not necessary.

The second day of the event was reserved for the cosplay events. They had three categories, the singles cosplay, the team/group cosplay, and the pairs cosplay for the World Cosplay Summit. Cosplay competitions in Singapore are completely different than the ones we are used to doing here. When cosplayers present there, they go all out with the presentation. They make sure that they leave a lasting impression. Even individual cosplayers are allowed to have their own skit during the competition. I especially liked the Hatsune Miku cosplayer. She did something like a dance interpretation of the song Love is War, and it sent chills up my spine. It was really like watching a musical theater play.

Hatsune Miku cosplay - Love is War

Some of the best team/group cosplays included the Samurai Warriors cosplay, Paradise Kiss cosplay, XXXHolic cosplay and the Macross Frontier cosplay. In fact two of those cosplay groups had an onstage costume change that literally made my jaw drop. Needless to say, it's something I have not seen in cosplay performances here in the country. The winner of the Best Team Category went to the Samurai Warriors Cosplay done by a team from Jakarta, Indonesia. I think they really did a good performance. Their costumes were spot on and the weapons were actually made out of wood so I am impressed by the amount of detail that was put into making those props.

Now, for those of you who don't know Cosfest plays host to the regional qualifier for the World Cosplay Summit (WCS). The pair that wins the qualifier will then be sent to Japan, all expense paid, to represent Singapore and compete in the World Cosplay Championship. This years winner was the pair who played Ranka Lee and Sheryl Nome from Macross Frontier. Their stage performance included an adaptation of the final episodes of the anime. This also included an onstage costume change for the Sheryl Nome cosplayer. The high level of quality in their performance coupled with the creativity of the onstage costume change was simply magnificent. After all that, I couldn't help but be in awe of their ability. They really deserved to win.

Sheryl Nome & Ranka Lee - Macross Frontier

The experience in Singapore was simply amazing. The way they do things when it comes to organizing events to how cosplayers and photographers behave is very different to what we are used to here. The organizers themselves are very professional and it is obvious that they plan these events very carefully and months in advance. The cosplayers on the other hand are amazing. They pay attention to a lot of details in their costumes and spend a lot to get them looking exactly like the characters they are portraying. I think what sets them apart from us is that even if the materials they use are not as good as materials used here, they make up for it with attention to details that we Filipino cosplayers tend to let it slip. I guess it's the bahala na attitude of ours.

Cosplayers there make no distinction between registered contestants and those simply roaming the event grounds in their costumes. In fact there were more cosplayers outside the main event than there were registered cosplayers. The Singles category only had 13 contestants. I think it's only here in the country that we actually coined the term costrip (cosplay trip) to refer to cosplayers who don't compete. I believe there really shouldn't be a distinction at all as cosplayers should be counted as such regardless of whether they compete or not. The cosplayers were also very courteous and accomodating to spectators, photographers and foreign cosplayers.

Cosfest really addressed a lot of the issues that most conventions here don't do and continue to take for granted. I do hope one day that we can reach a point that our events are as well organized and that the community is as gracious as they are abroad. I guess we still have a long way to go but it's really nice to learn from what other foreign communities are doing well.

That's it for now. I leave you with the brain breaking YAOI Dance and some pictures from Cosfest 2009.