Attending the Otaku Expo 2014

Last weekend, the first after the Quiapo fiesta was a busy one. Last Saturday, I had to go to Antipolo for a school activity and last Sunday, I went to another cosplay event, which I'll be covering in this post. Jan 12, Sunday, I went to the Otaku Expo 2014. Once again, it was held at SM Megamall. This is the 6th time I have been to a cosplay event like this. How I know these events is thanks to the internet. I know when and where these events take place. (Some upcoming events are posted in this page and here also) I bought a ticket this time (it was 100 Pesos) to access the main venue. Last time I bought a ticket for a cosplay event to access the hall was last October, also held at Megamall.

Hundreds attend the event

People at the stage. Note the "Kingdom Hearts" cosplayer to the left.

Inside, there was this stage set up for performances. The first thing that would greet the people was a booth run by anime channel, Animax, which had activities there. There were booths, selling cosplay or any entertainment related stuff and memorabilia (Not all were anime. There were other merchandise such as Adventure Time, Harry Potter, Hunger Games, Despicable Me, Marvel comics, memes, etc... related stuff). Some of which are rare and only seen in events like this. I thought I'd see some of them first somewhere in Manila, but I guess not (Probably because Spongebob, Dora, Ben 10 or Angry Birds still has merchandise everywhere...). I thought I was gonna buy something but... nah, and I guess it might've been a good thing.

One of those stores.

Hats on sale

Bookmarks and memorabilia.  "Shingeki no Kyojin" and "Kuroko no Basket" are so popular.

Memorabilia and collectibles, some only seen in these events.

Bags on sale. As I said, not all were anime, such as Adventure Time and Minions

More cosplay hats.

Gundam assembling area

That was on one side and some parts of the hall. The other side, there was this maid cafe (didn't enter and no need for me), a place for assembling Gundams and booths run by artists and mangakas, where they take commissions and sell some of their comics and artwork (many were admittedly good). One thing that I like in Anime is the art. I did buy some
Just a warning though, some of the artworks (and merchandise) I saw have mature, indecent content in them. Also note, some (I'm sure not all) artists will not allow pictures of their works to be taken. I'm saying this so people would know now for future events. I'm going to say this also: Sure, I appreciate art. I like the art in Anime, but I don't like those mature content, fanservice types.

One of the artist booths

Another one. Cute artworks. Good job to the artist.

But of course, the main reason why I went here was, syempre, the cosplayers. Hundreds of them were roaming around, in and out of the hall, stopping to have their pics taken and having gimmicks. As usual, great costumes on their part, from the simple to the rich, elaborate ones. Some of them are familiar as I've seen them before already. I've said this already in some old posts: I'm not an otaku, but I'm familiar with what series some characters come from.

Some cosplayers in the parking lot

Taking pictures of a cosplayer

As characters from the anime "Fairy Tail"

"Sword Art Online" cosplayers. Looks like they used the same character...

That is one impressive costume

The event was kinda chaotic, given the number of people that were there, both in and out the venue. I've been seeing rants also on how these things go, like the crowd situations or the guards. But, then again, having many times been to events and places where many (sometimes much more) people go to, I should be used to things like these already. At times I wasn't concentrated. But it went well nonetheless and at least, it was fun. But it looks like after this cosplay event, I'll probably be laying low from these and it'll be a while before I attend another... if ever.