How should I put this…? Day one was… rather bare… But really now, I can hardly blame them (the organizers). At least day two somewhat made up for the rather bareness of it all.
Day One (Pictures)
So the word about why this event was suddenly pulled out of everyone’s asses is that SM management (or whoever SM peeps run the Megatrade Hall business) requested for some kind of convention for this weekend. Why? I don’t know. But the folks of Otaku-zine obliged, for better or for worse.
All that is purely hearsay and have honestly no concrete evidence to back it up as far as I know. But speculating is fun, you know…
In any case, and so we have on the first day a somewhat half-assed convention. The place is bare; the people (and cosplayers!) were rather lacking; there’s really not much booths to see; the group cosplay competition got cancelled; major delays on opening the gate (they started letting people in at 11); et al. Sure, it was probably the best ANYONE can do at such a short notice, but that doesn’t take away the fact that it was rather… half-assed.
And really now, they only used one hall and somehow they weren’t really able to fill up all the spaces. The hordes and scores of people you would normally see is rather unimpressive for the first day, so was the general quality of cosplayers. Normally mid-tier quality cosplayers were getting the attention previously given to exceptional cosplayers, simply because there was not much to choose from. God bless them, but frankly speaking, they’re not all that impressive.
I’m speculating that probably much of the cosplaying community and also of the con-going community were in a different event for the day. I think Cosplay.ph has much pull, and we may see a different turnout on day two which does not coincide with any other event anymore.
I only took about 8 photos for the first day, and they were taken rather reluctantly. I’m still trying to abide by my cosplay photography philosophy you know…
In any case, it was a rather weak day. If the day was worth anything, it was probably on account of the announcement that there will be a Ozine Fest encore on October. And supposedly, a Japanese artist would be coming. I was just told, I left too early to hear the announcement ^_^
Day Two (Pictures, pictures of the competition, and more pics!)
At least day two somewhat made up for the rather bareness of it all. Either there were more and better cosplayers (and people as well) on this day, or my expectations were set really low. Either way is fine really, what matters is that day two is more fun.
Well, I really did lower the criteria I’m looking for in terms of choosing what to take pictures of, since the variety isn’t really mind-blowing. Hence, the evident shoot up of pictures taken for day two compared to day one. I still had my no-pictures-of-non-cosplayers rule enforced, and sadly that is the reason I don’t have a picture of the person I found most visually appealing on the day.
Funny true story: So there during the early afternoon about a bit past lunch time, I saw this cute girl going around the hall by herself. Gasp! A cute girl by herself? That’s rare. Anyway, since as a rule I don’t take pictures of non-cosplayers, I gave the issue not much mind. Sure, whenever she was in the vicinity (which was quite often since the place is small) I’d steal a glance here and there, but that was pretty much it.
But lo and behold! I chanced upon her walking when a group of guys suddenly asked to take her picture. She was taken aback. I was chuckling inside of me, watching the scenario unfold. It was awesome. If I recall correctly, she allowed them to take a picture. But still, the scene was priceless. Though on the other hand maybe I should have jumped on the opportunity, eh?
On a side note, it’s not a very nice thing when my eye-candy for a day in a convention is NOT a cosplayer. I’m just saying…
Anyway, the only thing that changed for day two is probably the turn-out. At least on the second day, it was now a real and normal convention. The cosplay competition did pull through, there was a band performance, and the crowd finally spilled to the outside of the hall.
Speaking of band performances, kudos to Haponesang Dilat for actually making one of the speakers smoke profusely. Sure there are probably other factors that led to that, i.e. mis-wiring, over-amplification, thermal concerns, divine intervention, sabotage, but it’s my first time to see a lot of smoke coming from a speaker. And trust me, I’ve been around speakers for a very long time.
In any case, I Ai Anime managed to salvage itself to at least the status of a normal convention. Nothing too fancy, nothing too memorable, and thank God nothing too disappointing. For what it’s worth, just take the whole thing as a run up for Ozine Fest Encore. As for the guest for that event, I really do think they’re bringing in… (I guess that’s for another post hehe)
oo nga ehh umusok un speaker..misteryo pa din ngayon un….
“Sure there are probably other factors that led to that, i.e. mis-wiring, over-amplification, thermal concerns, divine intervention, sabotage, but it’s my first time to see a lot of smoke coming from a speaker. And trust me, I’ve been around speakers for a very long time.”
possible nga na isa sa mga nasabi mo na factors yun dahilan kung bakit umusok..pero actually..may mga kilala kami na sound tech..at nag-tanong ako..ayun may sinabi nga sya na dahilan..at ayun…nakakalungkot yun sinabi nya na dahilan…… T.T tama yun hinala namin..
pero pwede ding nag-karon nga ng divine intervention..ahahaha nag-paramdam si Francis M. hehehe joke..nag-cover kasi kami ng songs nya..
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yeah baka nga na sabotage ang hd dun pero sana sa ibang magaganap na event kahit ndi sa hd wala na sanag ganun hehe
naniniwala ako na … dundundundund
@mek-HAPONESANG DILAT
@koikoi_haponesangdilat
Ok, shoot, anong hinala ninyo? Speculations are fun
add mo ako sa fb ko search mo po koikoi gonzalez
at un ay possible many percent na totoo 
sabhn ko sau ung alam ko