CosplayMania 2017 was the epic conclusion of a long year of amazing events of Cosplay.ph. The annual event continued to be a must-go convention, especially in 2017 when there are more anime conventions than ever. Cosplayers from all over the Philippines gathered at SMX Mall of Asia on September 30 to October 1, 2017 to jam, cosplay, and meet acclaimed cosplayers in other countries. This a was a venue where Filipinos could fly their fandom flags proudly!

This iteration of CosplayMania saw the first Ultimate Cosplay Championship. Seven skilled teams from all over the Philippines gathered under one roof to impress the judges and the audience with stunning visuals, costumes, and performances. The finalist acts varied from musical numbers to elaborate skits and awesome fight choreography. Congratulations to the Bacolod team of  Shenzkie Yow and Siegfried V Enero of Team Class S as the winners of the Ultimate Cosplay Championship!

Pinoy otakus weren’t left out either. Japanese music fans in the Philippines were jamming all out in the JAM Anime Concert. This was due to the fact that the concert this year had a plethora of amazing acts. In addition to Shiena Nishizawa and ELISA, Vocaloid cover singer Kradness and J-Pop star Konomi Suzuki performed show-stopping numbers for scores of their excited fans.

If there’s anything CosplayMania proves, it’s that cosplay is definitely an activity for everyone: from the young and old, to solo cosplayers and barkada goals. Here’s the rundown from What’s-A-Geek! to this year’s amazing convention.

CosplayMania 2017: The Convention Floor

Cosplay fans surely have had their day’s worth of awesome costume courtesy of Cosplay.ph’s year-long nation-wide cosplay competitions. Kyle Tan from Cebu won the title of Grand Champion of the Cosplay Mania Cup as the Queen of Hearts. Meanwhile, First Runner-up was Junichi Polintan with Team Cyback as Winston from Overwatch, and coming as Second Runner-up was Jhay Labeste from Naga City cosplaying Grunt from Mass Effect.

However, the convention is not without surprises for fans and attendees. In fact, there were a lot of surprises waiting for audiences at the convention floor as well. Several booths made the event even more enjoyable for convention goers across seven “Experience Zones,” each with their own features.

In the Blockbuster Zone, Animax had a plethora of activities to do, including a crane game for Oo-kun plushies.  Canon set up a free photo booth for cosplayers who wanted their pictures printed on high-quality photo paper. Meanwhile, Gundam Philippines continued their strong support for conventions, with free gunpla building sessions and display cases of amazing creations by fellow Pinoys. Sony Music Japan set up a booth showing off many of their musical talent that many Pinoy otakus are familiar with.

At the Gaming Zone, Quantum brought a host of arcade machines alongside a Dance Dance Revolution competition among participants. Lastly, the Fan Fair connected local artists with their other fans. Some are convention regulars and others are setting up a booth for the first time. As usual, this was a great opportunity to meet popular internet artists like Rosuuri or Hews as well bond over others who share fandoms with each other.