magnetic-rose.net: Japanese Pop Culture for Filipino Fans

Asia Cosplay Meet is a newly-minted event which aims to bring together cosplayers from Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea, and The Philippines in an all-out battle for cosplay supremacy. The Philippines semis were held today, the 27th of June at the Philippine Trade and at the Philippine Trade Training Center, Roxas Boulevard corner Gil Puyat Avenue in Pasay City.

Winners of the today’s contest will have the chance to fly to Singapore as the Philippine representatives to the ACM Grand Finals. To narrow down the field, over 35 pre-selected entrants from dozens of e-mailed applications were invited to perform at the Philippine semis. Dance numbers, comedy skits, and character monologues were the order of the day as the contestants showed their skills not just in costume construction but role-play as well.

Today’s event was very casual and laid-back compared to the hectic pace of the previous week’s convention. There were very few booths of interest so a lot of the people’s attention was focused on the onstage performances. If you were the sort of person who likes massive dealer halls and towering toy displays, your ticket money would’ve better spent elsewhere. But, if you were there to support one of the competing cosplayers, then that’s enough reason to shell out for a ticket.

Two of our favorite onstage performances from the day’s contestants was a fantastic dance number by Bust-a-Groove’s/Bust-a-Move Kitty N (pictured on the left below), and a spectacular action sequence by Edge Maverick of Star Ocean synced to the game’s FMV audio. Definitely not your usual shuffle-pose-shuffle from ordinary cosplayers unaware of the basics of stage presence, the two-minute performances by the cosplay competitors gave the audience a whole lot more to appreciate than just a pretty face.

We didn’t stay long enough to find out who won so as of this post, so we only know two of the three winners of Asia Cosplay Meet Philippines. One is Lyron Aquino (pictured on the right above), cosplaying as Edge Maverick from Star Ocean; the other is Riyo Lendl Enriquez cosplaying as Sol Badguy from the Guilty Gear game series. Lyron, Lendl, and one other winner will fly to Singapore to represent the Philippines in the Asia Cosplay Meet Grand Finals on 4th July 2010.

I will be in Singapore on a post-operative holiday on these same dates, and luckily will be able to cover the event for magnetic-rose.net. If you’re a local and would like to meet up at the venue for a chat, please do not hesitate to comment here or e-mail via the Contact Page — that would be just fabulous :D For everybody else in Manila, Cebu, Davao, and all across the Philippines — please stay tuned for more on the Asia Cosplay Meet Grand Finals, live from Singapore! Cheers!

Update on 28th June 2010

The third winner of the ACM Philippine Semis is Jia Gold Bustamante as KOS-MOS from Xenosaga. She will be joining Lyron and Lendl in Singapore for the Grand Finals of Asia Cosplay Meet on 4th July 2010. Congratulations to all three and see you in Singapore this weekend!