Cosplay, On To Mainstream Media!

Alodia Gosiengfiao and Myrte Sarrosa. Gosiengfiao - really hard to type. -_-

Based on my humble experience, the hobby of cosplaying and consequently the cosplayers have been treated negatively by the general public. People view this hobby as something weird or just something that just doesn't look right.

One story I have is about a class mate in high school. Let's name her Girl-chan.*haha* Girl-chan is quite the fan for all things Japan and of course, she's a cosplayer. Girl-chan sews her own costumes (she makes really fine clothes!) and even won a fashion contest in one of our school festivals. It was a really good kimono-inspired dress. It was well-made and can be sold on some women's apparel boutique. Heck even Comic Alley! However, she's treated as someone weird, someone unlikable. Well, she is a little different - but aren't we all? What separates her - or more precisely what people DO to separate her from the general pool of "normal" students is that they brand her as some sort of outlier all because of her love for cosplaying.

This scenario, I think, has created a sort of cult following - cosplaying (and socializing) with only a few people in tight-knit groups.

GM Miao as Vayne from LOL

However, this may not be the case anymore. I could say that cosplaying (at least in the Philippines) got swept into mainstream media when Alodia Gosiengfiao rose to fame. Along with her comes other beautiful cosplayers such as Myrtle Sarrosa and for the gamers, GM Miao from Garena.  These gorgeous ladies shed new and positive light to the hobby that was once viewed as something weird.

And now, there's a huge community of cosplayers and cosplay enthusiast all over the country! There are even conventions held in MOA or other SM Malls. TV networks such as Hero and Animax have also helped lift the unlikely image of cosplaying.

Surely, cosplaying in the Philippines has a bright future ahead of it.

As Edward Elric put it,

"Stand up and walk, keep moving forward."

Cosplay Unite!

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