Cosplay Mania X

cosplay- short for "costume play".is a type of performance art in which participants don costumes and accessories to represent a specific character from anime,manga,video games,graphic novels and live actions.

Last weekend the biggest cosplay event of the year, Cosplay Mania X, was held in Mall of Asia and organized by cosplay.ph the biggest cosplay community in the country. Its a annual cosplay convention that also showcase other stuff such as video game,anime bands,toys,etc. This year's event was also a culmination of all cosplayers nationwide for the finals of the Tournament of the Champions and the project cosplay competition.This is also a celebration of the 10 years of cosplaying in the Philippines.

The first day main event was the project cosplay competition: solo category. A total of 99 cosplayers from anime,western comics,live action and games compete to one another.Guy Singson won the overall champion, a cosplayer who specializes in making mechas(robots) and warrior type of costume.On the second day,they conducted the group cosplay competition and the grand finals of the tour of the champions.

The two days event are packed of interesting activities such as workshops conducted by different well-known groups such as 501st Legion Philippine Outpost, Tuxedo Group and Magnetic-Rose on cosplaying, portrayal of characters, and proper wearing of yukatas (a casual Japanese summer-type kimono). They also featured international cosplayers such as, Clive Lee winner of 2009 Anime Festival Asia (AFA09) and Jesuke, one of Singapore’s well-known cross- dresser.They also have a costume building contest and team cosplay checkmate, a game of chess wherein the pieces are the coplayers themselves.

They also show a video tribute to 10 years of cosplay in the philippines. Its a showcase of pass conventions since its early beginnings of 2000 and interviews from veteran cosplayers like Robert Wong, the master mecha maker, up to the most recent ones like Jin Joson, well-known cross-dresser in the country.The way that they
passionately talked about their love on cosplaying was trulty inspiring.

The event was a wonderful celebration of creativity and love for cosplay.Who knows that ten years ago a hobby of a few people will boom in a kind of subculture wherein people of all ages can participate and share their passion for arts and creativity.

*congratulations to cosplay.ph and all those behind this successful event,more power to you guys :)