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December 26–27, 2017 — Megatrade Hall 2 and the Megatrade Conference Rooms A & B, SM Megamall

It is that time once again for the annual Cosplay Week, where I see cosplayers suit up and deck the event halls for five straight days — the first half of it starts with the Ozine Fest Anime Figure Special 2017 at the Megatrade Hall 2, held last Tuesday and Wednesday, December 26 and 27.

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I am invited by Ozine to come to the event as media, which is something I am very thankful for the team — I’ve seen them through thick and thin starting from around 2010 or 2011.

Most of you who have stayed through Hall 2 without knowing the corners of this year’s AFS are wondering where the heck is the Anime Figure Special part of it — if you didn’t stepped inside the Conference Rooms past Hall 3, you are missing a part of the experience. Inside it are the Anime Card Gaming Tournament, the Team Onii-chan Figure Display Crew, and the Artists’ Alley.

Going back to Hall 2, merchandisers did occupy the majority of the area, and I’ve heard that they are doing toy auctions with their help. As for the tarps hanging around there, it’s been given to the marshals who helped the team at egress.

In addition, they have these game booths at one corner of the hall. The last time I glanced upon it, there’s a puzzle game which you need to finish in 25 seconds, and most are trying to solve that puzzle of Nendoroid Rem, because Rem is the thing here in this country called the Philippines. (Say “I love Emilia” for me.)

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The highlight of the event is the first visit of Aliga in the Philippines. Aliga, who came all the way from China, is notable for her Kizuna Ai cosplay — little did I know is that she also cosplayed as Rin Shibuya of THE iDOLM@STER Cinderella Girls, which is a plus for me. Since we are talking about the cosplayer most known for bringing Kizuna Ai from the virtual world to the convention halls, I saw around three Kizuna Ai cosplayers.

Ladies and gentlemen, I am proud to present to you a massive showcase of cosplay photos that I got in two days — feel free to tag me on Facebook (@keepsakesbyjay) as I aim to update my WorldCosplay and Cosplayers.Global profiles.

If you are wondering how did we got to this huge load of stuff, it’s because I borrowed Al’s camera, to perhaps prepare myself for next year’s activities.

As you can see, some of the images are too bright or too dark. It’s me playing with the aperture speed, and I do apologize for that. Still, a learning process is a learning process. I should get used to this.

 

I can sum up this year’s Ozine Fest Anime Figure Special using my friend’s words: “Nothing new, nothing old.” It’s the same Ozine Fest most people love and some avoid. Knowing that Ozine’s been part of our community for more than a decade, they are here to stay. They’ve announced their next event this February, Otaku x Sketch Expo (perhaps a mixed concept of Otaku Expo and Sketch Doujin Expo). As always, I hope that things will go well, and everyone will have a good time — after all, that’s what I share here.

Speaking of “Ozine will still be here.”