Cosplay Matsuri (CosMatsu) made its matsu-waited return on December 28-30, 2024, at the SMX Convention Center, Pasay City, Philippines. If you didn’t know, Cosplay Matsuri is always special for every Filipino creative in the cosplay community — it’s the culmination of all the great and inspiring moments we’ve had in the Philippines’ anime convention scene with all our friends and favorite people – a true festival spirit!
Looking back, 2024 was a great year for anime, not to mention the local events held in the Philippines. We had the Haikyu: Dumpster Battle, SPY x FAMILY, and the DAN DA DAN movie screenings, the Demon Slayer Total Concentration Exhibition, the ONE PIECE 25th giant inflatable, the BLUE LOCK pop-up event, the Ghibli Festival, some new Tagalog dub releases, and more anime films premiering in theaters all over the country. It’s been an amazing year, so it’s only fitting to wrap it up in the best way we can.
Anime Corner was invited to join all 3 days of Cosplay Matsuri 2024, which marked the finale of the Cosplay Mania 2024 series by Cosplay.ph. This year, I’m featuring the amazing photos that cosplayer and crafter William Mescallado took at the event.
Artist Alley and Shopping Mania
This year, Cosplay Matsuri 2024 was especially lively because it delivered one of the biggest artist alleys ever. From end to end, the entire second floor of the SMX was lined up with artists’ tables. It was nice to see so many creatives celebrate their favorite anime and characters, all while reminiscing about the year and welcoming the new one.
Putting all the seriousness aside for a moment, there are a few things that people all laugh about whenever they go to a convention: the fact that they have not slept (because of last-minute preparations), have not eaten (losing track of time), have walked for hours (fitness is our passion), not recognizing friends under different cosplays (it’s amazing actually), gathering the courage to ask for a photo with a cosplayer (before you lose the chance forever), and of course, our financial choices.
Because when surrounded by so much anime and related merch, how can a fangirl/boy resist? One can only spend money and get broke too quickly in this joyful holiday season. Who says money can’t buy happiness? They obviously don’t know where to shop.
To recap, the event consists of the FanFair (Artist Alley), the cosplay All-Stars Alley, and the exhibit booths with their exciting and rare merchandise. The center stage also never stops being lively with all the programs and games. If you remember, Cosplay Mania 2024 didn’t have a photographer’s area, but Cosplay Matsuri makes up for it.
And of course, the main highlight is the cosplayers who strut their OOTDs across the halls, Meanwhile, the crafters, sculptors, and wig stylists also blended in as their workmanship went off to display into the crowd.
Why CosMatsuri 2024 Is Special
There’s no other anime and cosplay convention to close the year like this. Cosplay Matsuri is the one event that you cannot miss out on since it’s the conclusion of all the many things we’ve gone through. How many good shows did we laugh and cry to this year? How many iconic songs and trends have we done? How many costumes did we put on? Like a true festival, we celebrate and share all the nostalgic memories with friends and our favorite people.
And just like that, we can end the year feeling inspired to stay passionate about the things we love: our hobbies, interests, and our connections.
Finding the Way Back After a Year of Cosplay and Anime
Why is Cosplay Matsuri always filled with so much nostalgia? Maybe it’s because I look back and feel grateful for a lot of my experiences here. You see, from FanFes to Cosplay Mania, people have told me a lot about their feelings of burnout; the things they love do not spark joy anymore. A lot of them reasoned out the community issues, life catching up, and so on.
That’s okay. Burnout is a natural part of any creative pursuit, and cosplay, anime, and gaming are no exception. The best way to deal with this is to take a step back and take a break. And maybe, when you’re ready again, a trip to Cosplay Matsuri with your friends to lift your spirits.
That said, I feel incredibly honored to have had the opportunity to meet (and write about) so many talented and hard-working people who have found their passion and continue to stay inspired in each of their own crafts, be it cosplay, drawing, crafting, photography, and more.
If there’s one thing I learned from these conventions, it is that passion inspires purpose. It is a lot of good energy shared, and if we keep at it, it’ll hopefully remain a place for us to come back to fondly every year.
From anime to games to the FMA dog girl — we saw it all. Head to the next page to see more of our Cosplay Matsuri 2024 cosplay gallery.
The comments are temporarily unavailable for maintenance.