Cosplay Carnival 2024 kicked off last weekend with a pirate-themed carnival adventure “Prelude to the Seas.” Not only was it sailing away with so many fun cosplays, but in true Filipino fashion, the event was full of karaoke energy! From Creepy Nuts’ “Bling-Blang-Blang-Born,” to Michael Bublé’s “Feeling Good,” to Yakuza’s emotional “Baka Mitai,” and to Rick Astley’s iconic “Never Gonna Give You Up” — the event was a super lively party. It was enjoyable to hear nostalgic English and anime music, not to mention the sense of Filipino otaku belongingness while everyone else was jamming along.
The convention was a thrilling gathering for new and old fans from all walks of life to celebrate their love for anime, cosplay, and everything related to Japanese pop culture. Organizer Cosplay.ph prepared a line-up with the newest set of sidequests– from the McDonald’s spoof turned reality “WcDonalds,” VOLs, Hubbyte, Minute Burger, and the freedom wall “Cosplanomicon.” There were even large banners of what animes are airing soon on Muse Asia and Muse Asia Philippines. If you’re excited to see our cosplay gallery, you can go ahead and skip to the next page.
Xiaoyukiko appeared on the first day of Cosplay Carnival 2024. She is described as “one of Singapore’s top cosplay talents with a dedicated six-year cosplay journey.” Meanwhile, Larissa Rochefort appeared on the second day on stage. She is described as a “multifaceted personality from Indonesia who is loved for her avid gaming, captivating artistry, and melodious musical talent.”
During Xiaoyu and Larissa’s interview, they highlighted how cosplay is more than it looks — from wigs to costumes to acting — cosplay is an art form. Some of Xiaoyu and Larissa’s advice on the topic include:
Emcee: What would you give as advice to aspiring cosplayers who also wanna make content like you?
Xiaoyu: Be brave and go for it. Don’t feel the setback when you feel like, “Oh I’m not good in that.” Please don’t feel that way. Because you have a lot of time to make it even better, you have a lot of room to improve yourself. When you start don’t feel setbacks just feel encouraged to make it better and try to make friends in the circle so they can help you, teach you, and you all improve together.
Emcee: How do you build a nurturing environment with your community, supporters, and your fans?
Larissa: Just be yourself. I think there are no rules that someone cannot cosplay the same character, but I think the main rule is how you present yourself as you, that one that people will know. That’s what I do because I’m not faking anything. You know, I like to be straightforward and be honest. I think that’s also the key to improvement.
Emcee: Anything you’d like to say for your Filipino fans and to those who are aspiring to become a professional cosplayer like you?
Larissa: Make up your mind first. Do you want to cosplay for fun or do you want to cosplay to become a cosplayer influencer? Because it will work in a very different way, so that’s how you start your cosplay career. And don’t forget to maintain yourself; Be yourself and even [how you] present the characters you love. Don’t forget to enjoy every moment you spend with your friends and community, and don’t forget to post online. If you wanna grow, social media is the way nowadays so it’s kind of important.
Cosplay.ph also announced their special guests for their next event. Cosplayers Berry, JooA, ing, and Tomia will be appearing in FanFes 2024 at One Ayala, Makati. In case you missed it, the official dates of the upcoming Cosplay Mania events were previously revealed: FanFes on May 18-19, Anime and Cosplay Expo on July 20-21, Cosplay Mania on October 4-6, CosMeet on October 26-27, and Cosplay Matsuri on December 28-30.
You can also watch the Cosplay Carnival 2024 highlights video on the Cosplay Mania Facebook page. Finally, check out some of the cool cosplays we saw at Cosplay Carnival 2024 on the next page.