Top Cosplayers Vie for Otacool 2 Cover Spots
UPDATE: Yaya Han, the third cosplayer in this post, makes it clear in a comment that her application was not motivated by competitive spirit:
No one is competing for the cover. We are just submitting because we love cosplay and this seems like a great book to be a part of because it allows cosplayers from all over the world to submit.
No one was surprised to see Filipina cosplay princess Alodia Gosiengfiao apply for inclusion on the cover of Otacool 2: Worldwide Cosplayers, the upcoming cosplay photobook from Japan-based otaku culture blogger Danny Choo. After all, Alodia’s toy collection was featured in the previous photobook, Otacool: Worldwide Otaku Rooms.
What surprised me, however, were applications from two other very famous cosplayers — neither of whom were involved in the first Otacool project, and neither of whom live in Asia. Click here to continue reading “Top Cosplayers Vie for Otacool 2 Cover Spots”…
IDG Interviews Alodia
Since you’re reading a tech blog, you probably already know that International Data Group (IDG) is a leading trendspotter in the technology industry. From research to media to events to investments, all of IDG’s businesses revolve around successful trendspotting.
The whole thing started when a UNIVAC executive complained about the lack of market research on the then-nascent computer industry. Yes, that UNIVAC, America’s first commercially available computer. IDG has been playing the trendspotting game since 1964.
Someone at IDG Japan has spotted one particularly interesting trend, a trend uniquely enabled by the connective power of the Internet: the meteoritic rise of Filipina cosplayer Alodia Gosiengfiao. Akibatteru, an IDG-produced Web show, recently caught up with Alodia and her sister Ashley during their performance at Anime Festival Asia 2009 in Singapore. They even threw in a peek at Alodia’s room back home, toys and all, as it appears in the photobook Otacool: Worldwide Otaku Rooms.
It’s one thing when Animax says you’re popular. It’s another thing when International Data Group says you’re popular.
