ToyCon
Alodia Stars in Cosplay Nation at ToyCon
Wherever you find toys, hobbies, and collectibles that invoke fictional characters of any kind, you will find cosplayers. That’s why the Philippine Toys, Hobbies, and Collectibles Convention (ToyCon) serves as an annual index for the growth of Philippine cosplay. At ToyCon 2008, a Filipina cosplayer got behind an autograph table for the first time in history. At ToyCon 2010, five Filipina cosplayers got behind an autograph table.
Rise of the Cosplay Nation
ToyCon 2011 upped the game exponentially, by serving as a filming location for the world’s first full-length live-action movie about cosplay. Cosplay Nation is an international production starring two of the world’s top cosplayers: Alodia Gosiengfiao in the Philippines, and Linda Le in the United States.
Alodia headlined the Cosplay Nation filming at ToyCon 2011, which attracted a crowd of over twenty thousand attendees in and out of costume. The first day of the event saw Alodia don the guise of Mirai Suenaga, the mascot of top otaku culture blogger Danny Choo. The second day saw Alodia enchant the audience as Black Mage Rikku, from the PlayStation 2 role-playing game Final Fantasy X-2. Later in the day, she continued the cosplay fun as Haruhi Suzumiya from the anime series The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. Click here to continue reading “Alodia Stars in Cosplay Nation at ToyCon”…
Otacool 2 Filipina Cosplayers at ToyCon 2010
Filipina cosplayers Alodia Gosiengfiao, Ashley Gosiengfiao, Monique Dimanlig, and Jessica Ouano.
The Philippines boasts a strong otaku culture, an otaku culture that’s been growing ever since the Japanese super robot anime Voltes V enthralled a generation of Filipinos in the 1970s. With the growth of that otaku culture comes a strong cosplay culture, a cosplay culture that started going mainstream with breakthrough performances from Filipina cosplayers Alodia Gosiengfiao, Ashley Gosiengfiao, and Jerry Polence in 2003.
That’s why the Philippines is so well-represented in Otacool 2: Worldwide Cosplayers, the new cosplay photobook from top otaku culture blogger Danny Choo. Otacool 2 features not one, but four Filipina cosplayers. Cosplay industry veterans Alodia and Ashley are joined by upcoming talents Monique Dimanlig and Jessica Ouano.
All four of these performance artists have done their country proud, and all four of them will be signing copies of Otacool 2 at the 9th Philippine Toys, Hobbies and Collectibles Convention (ToyCon). If you’re in Manila on June 19, meet these Filipina geek princesses at ToyCon’s Maxicollector booth in the Megatrade Hall on the fifth level of SM Megamall Building B, 2:00pm to 4:00pm GMT+8. If you haven’t done so yet, you can order a copy of Otacool 2 at Amazon
In a way, ToyCon 2010 brings Alodia full-circle in her involvement with the Otacool 2 project. After all, Danny first discovered Alodia through a photo of her at ToyCon 2008. ToyCon will be a decade old next year; perhaps the annual convention will create even more cycles of cosplay awesomeness in the decade to come.
