Events Archive: Mangaholix Manga Mania 2009

Apparently, I have friends. Wee~!!!

So be it that this is the first convention which I had friends going with me (only on the first day though), and I shall name them as follows: Bug John, たぶん, Shark Boy, Was Ki For A While, and Far~ Guy. No particular point in mentioning them ^_^

 

Day 1: (Pictures)

We got there roughly around 2 PM and the place was already very much alive. It’s not exactly the easiest place to get to, but the place wasn’t bad to be honest. The place was big, so plus points. It was well-ventilated, plus plus points. But at certain times it got really really cold that we were quite shivering. Well I guess cold is better than hot >_>

Not a lot of events actually took place on the first day. There was a contest about guessing the Anime soundtrack, as well as an interview of famed Filipino comic book artists (Pol Medina Jr., Carlo Vergara, etc.) [Which by the way, was poorly hosted. I mean one of the four panel didn't get a proper introduction!]. The group cosplay competition was also held today, but they only had like 3 groups… so… well…

On the other hand, there was a lot of variety of things being sold as about 2/3 of the entire hall is packed with booths. More choices is win, right? Spent more than 1k today, yikes!

One thing amazed on the other hand is that there was significantly less cosplayers on the first day. Maybe they’ll grow in numbers tomorrow, but there just wasn’t as much as I’ve seen before. (I have to mention though that random Japanese school girl and gothic lolita IS NOT cosplay, and I will never consider them as cosplayers). The good thing about this is that the ration of good to bad cosplayers vastly improves. The bad thing is that, well, less cosplayers >_<

On a personal note, it’s more fun going with peers… lol.

Some special mentions:

- Mio cosplayers<3 Bug John and I were discussing that she cosplayed it well, as she was quite tall and carried the character well. But I later on rechecked my photos and realized one thing: she was holding a guitar and not a bass!

- Sexy-no-jutsu… lol

- Watching the group cosplay was like watching a MAD…

- Lots of Katekyo Hitman Reborn cosplayer on day 1. Best one is the actual baby as Reborn.

- Rozen Maiden kid looked like a doll ^_^

- There’s Cloud, Tifa, Vincent and… Gilbert Nightray from Pandora Hearts??? Who’s he supposed to be???

- A group went as characters from X-men, and they were a lot. And I mean a lot, without overlapping characters. Props to them.

 

Day 2: (Pictures) (Pictures) (Pictures) (Pictures)

Practice tilting your heads for the photos ^_^ Didn’t bother rotating them haha.

So… freakin’… cold… The A/C is still that cold, even with more people  on the second day.

So true enough, the second day called forth more people, as the event held its individual cosplay competition on this day. To be honest, I didn’t really bother much with the booths anymore, as I just went around (multiple times to boot) to see whatever is to be seen and take pictures of everything and anything.

(Hey! I’m actually improving! I managed to actually ask people to take a picture of them! Socially functioning today, socially comfortable tomorrow!)

The cosplay competition of Mangaholix is a little different from what I’ve seen before. Instead of having the cosplayers do their thing for a couple of minutes, and do their struts on the stage, the cosplayers needed to interact with other cosplayers while keeping in character. Nice concept to be honest, as this stresses not only looking like the character but being the character.

Nice concept, but horribly hard to pull off. I mean, how exaclty is Yu-gi-oh supposed to interact with Rinoa (FF8)? Masked Rider meets G.I. Joe??? And how is an adult cosplaying as a Gundam supposed to fight some 7-something-year-old kid dressed as a superhero?

Well, in any case, some of the match-ups did prove entertaining. Rock Lee versus Martial Law (Tekken I suppose?) actually made sense. And the giant penguin was funny.

As for the general quality of cosplayers on the second day, I don’t know, I kind of liked this bunch more than the previous batches I’ve seen. Maybe they are better, maybe I just recognize these character better, maybe I just got used to the QUALITY in general… *shrugs*

Special mention to the following:

- I spend probably an hour’s worth of effort looking for that Shana cosplayer. Hey, she looked quite cute.

- Normally I dislike Bleach and Naruto cosplayers because, well, they’re far too common. But hey, making effort to have a big group is worth something, right? Plus the Mayuri had a really nice get-up.

- So many Vampire Knight cosplayers >_<

- Kotomi-chan <3 Even though it’s just a picture… <3

- Is Yu Yu Hakusho getting famous again? ^_^ Too bad they were late in forming their group, couldn’t wait that long…

- Hitman Reborn cosplayers are growing and growing and growing…

- Something about the Hinata and Echo cosplayer that draws me to them. Cuteness perharps?

- Rock Lee will not only kick your ass physically, he’ll pawn you even in video games.

- Al in armor deserves credit. Plus, I saw a small panda on his shoulder ^_^ The chest and shoulder area should have been wider though…

Good times, good times ^_^