Prepare for an Alodia’s Fantasy event photo avalanche! Hover on the pics for captions. I enjoyed the program immensely with friends Kring Elenzano, Winston Almendras, Faith Salazar, and Coy Caballes. The cosplay competition segment is the best that I have seen so far from among the cosplay competions I’ve attended through the years: schedule is tight but just right, sound accompanying the performances are all high quality BGMs, finalist line up are truly worthy to be called best in class, and the cosplayers gave it their all to justify their character portrayals. The event was held in the ICON at the Intercontinental Manila Hotel. Usually a bar and lounge for a CBD night out, it was for the night transformed to stage the live online show. I heard from Marcelle, the host for the evening alongside Alodia Gosiengfiao, that the number of online views for the program reached more than 10,000 and at one point, there were around 700+ simultaneous views. If broadband in the Philippines weren’t so darn slow, I bet there would be a lot more people staying in their homes to watch the show. Still, amazing!
Below are photos of the cosplay participants during the show’s competition. First up, the Male Cosplay Category.
Dennis Madarang playing Pyramid Head, a violent monster from the hit game Silent Hill 2, is the winner for the Male Cosplay Category. If you look at his skirt closely, you’ll observe that he brought along his arcane posse. Talk about detail!
For non-otakus, Sajin Komamura is the captain of the 7th Division of Gokai 13 in Soul Society in the anime series Bleach (if the robe does not give that away yet lol).
Eddieson goes onto the stage with a folder covering his face. Put down, he reveals a cylindrical-ish Red Angry Bird mask and starts throwing birds to the audience as the Angry Birds theme played in the background. Then suddenly, he yanks away the pants, throws down the mask, and pulls off the black shirt to reveal Red Hawk. OutSTANDING in creativity!
I apologize to Rubinstein Ebuenga who played Kamen Rider Dark Kiva with the song number because my shots of you are all dark. Failure from my end, sorry. Plus I’m quite peeved by the color of the lighting in the venue. Too magenta for my liking and white balance presets. Again, I’m sorry.
Up next are the ladies from the Female Cosplay Category.
I have been taking photos of Monique in various cosplay conventions but it is only during Alodia’s Fantasy that I have seen her do the geiko dance. It was nothing short of stunning: her facial expression show pride, control, and a calm vibe showing in her calculated and fluid movements that she must have perfected through years of cosplaying a geisha. Great job, Minique! Mighty proud of you, my friend! EDIT: So I found out that Monique was played the wrong background music for her number. Double the props to you, my friend for pulling that dance off like that with professional reserve. Shame shame on the audio people. Shame!
Myrtle Gail won in the female cosplay category by playing Grand Archer Rena from the MMORPG Elsword.
Apologies to Catrina Anne Lazaro who played Black Rock Shooter because my shots of your performance could not be salvaged owing to the erratic and magenta saturated lighting :( I’m so sorry!
Next up is the Mecha Cosplay Category.
From the rehearsals earlier Saturday, Don Robert came in a Stark jacket for the run through. Near the end, he did a back flip much to the surprise of everybody in the set. The question in my mind was will he do it during the actual competition with the Mark V on. He didn’t. I must say the online audience just missed a singularly awesome moment in Philippine cosplay history.
Bolen Lareza playing Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn’s MSN-06S Sinanju bagged the grand prize in the Mecha cosplay category. I suddenly remember something I heard from a friend during a con a loooooong time ago: “we are no match with chibis. They come out and they wow and make everyone swoon and gush with little or no effort.” Haha. Bolen, however, really worked the stage. Her moves are in sync with the background music and sound effects. The mecha is also exquisitely made. My favorite detail is the etched insignia on the MSN-06S’s left shoulder.
Richard Cheng’s Zoids mecha is probably the biggest mecha I have EVER seen around. It’s just HUGE! Just look at that photo where he’s fighting with a human who looks like a mouse. Not in this picture is the tail detail of the mecha. It’s LOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG AND HUGE, TOO!
For the other things that happend that night, check out the following. click on the landscape oriented photos for the larger image.
Kel asked Gerard what his name is to which Gerard answered, “a friend.” His answer brought the house down. Well played.
That’s it. The Alodia’s Fantasy program in photos. Great job flippish and everyone who made this event possible and the sponsors, of course. Thanks Kring and Chris Tan for the invite! Will there be an Alodia’s Fantasy Encore any time soon? :)
PS: I apologize to the Haga Twins Miwha and Michiko, too. Looking at my photos at home, it appears I did not have a great shot of them other than what I took during the rehearsals. Bawi ako next time, I promise >.
