Sorry if I haven’t written anything here on this site as I was (and still am) dealing with sudden realizations that came into my life but you’re not here to see me rant about life and all, let me share what the Ani-Fig-Cos Tour is.
Last Saturday, I decided that I would go to not one, but two events: GreatToys Online’s Anime Figurine Festival 2022 and what I believe is my hometown’s second cosplay event: Xentro Mall Antipolo’s Anime-Versary.
Toys! Toys! Toys! – First, I went to Robinson’s Magnolia on Aurora Blvd. to visit GreatToysOnline’s Anime Figure Festival. I was not planning to visit this event because it’s not really a part of my schedule but I can’t pass up the opportunity here.
Based on what I’ve seen here, it’s a showcase of new releases from Bandai, Tamashii Nations, and other toy makers. Still, it’s mostly Bandai and Tamashii Nations so there is a lot of One Piece and Dragon Ball figures.
“Newcomer” franchises like Kimetsu no Yaiba and Jujutsu Kaisen were also in the spotlight and some franchises that you don’t expect figure merchandise to come out of showed up like Ousama Ranking, Kaguya-sama Love is War, Rent-a-Girlfriend, and… Upin and Ipin?!
Yes, Ultraman Ribut from the hit Southeast Asian cartoon series “Upin and Ipin” makes his debut appearance on the SH Figuarts line under the Ultraman brand. I hope Bandai releases more figures from the Upin and Ipin line. Give us SH Figuarts Kak Ros Bandai lol.
I have created a music video for this event, of course. Enjoy this special presentation.
Antipolo City Does Cosplay Events for The Second Time – After a taxi ride from Aurora Blvd., Quezon City, we now landed in Antipolo’s Xentro Mall to witness the second cosplay event the city has witnessed itself: Xentro Mall’s Anime-Versary.
I would just like to get this out of the way first: I haven’t learned my lesson from last time. I expected it to be more than just a stage show like what happened when Robinson’s Antipolo held its cosplay event some years back but alas, I was a bit disappointed. I really wanted for some mall owner to conduct a cosplay even with the same caliber, at the very least, as your typical Ozine Fest in terms of presentation and spectacle.
I guess the city of Antipolo isn’t ready for that kind of an event yet.
The event was organized by the mall in partnership with DC Cosplay Creatures, which primarily does ready-to-wear costumes for kids. The stage show consisted of four segments which can be grouped into two sets: the catwalk set and the talent set.
I wouldn’t say much about the kids’ portion of the catwalk and talent portions of the event because you can’t expect kids to know what they’re doing on the spot but I wished the adult side of the talent portion segment was as organized as the cosplay catwalk section.
I would really like to commend them on organizing this event and trying to manage things on the spot as best as they can but it really irritates me when things aren’t planned in advance.
There is a severe lack of communication between the organizers and the cosplayers who were supposed to be on the talent portion of the show.
So much so that they keep on entertaining cosplayers who come late to the show for the talent portion and by the time, I believe, that the last contestant was on the stage I was already riding on the bus towards home.
Other than that, it’s nice to hear The OYSTARS and Yukari Konno blaring on speakers instead of RADWIMPS and Yuuki Aoi from time to time. Remember when I said that Antipolo City isn’t ready for Ozine Fest tier cosplay events yet? Here’s another thing to consider, out of all the contestants that I have seen on the stage, only two have stated that they are from the city.
Most of the contestants came from other cities such as Malabon or Bulacan. Considering that fact, I believe that the otaku/cosplayer population within the city is so minuscule that people from faraway cities and provinces have to travel for miles just to join this event. I am not saying to limit the contest to Antipolo City residents only but I wished that more cosplayers from this city would come out of the woodwork and join in on the fun.
It also won’t hurt to have a cosplayer as a judge for the show so that at the very least, there’s a person who’s knowledgeable about pop culture as part of the jury.
I understand the importance of having non-anime fans as being judges on the show because the point of cosplay is to make everyone take a look at you and be amazed but it would really be beneficial to have someone who knows the history and the background of what the cosplayers are representing for accuracy purposes. Maybe it’s just me being an old congoer but that’s the way cosplay competitions worked in my opinion.
In summary: kudos to the organizers for reaching out to this niche community as a marketing ploy cum goodwill gesture to its patrons and kudos to the cosplayers who took the time, resources, and energy to join this event. I just wished it was handled better in terms of logistics and I hope we have a legitimate cosplay convention here in the city of Antipolo, or in the province of Rizal in general.
Of course, I also made a music video for this event:
Rayas-WEB 