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Alodia’s Fantasy Live Online Show Event Recap in Photos

Fritz — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 23:58:32 +0000

Prepare for an Alodia’s Fantasy event photo avalanche! Hover on the pics for captions. I enjoyed the program immensely with friends Kring Elenzano, Winston Almendras, Faith Salazar, and Coy Caballes. The cosplay competition segment is the best that I have seen so far from among the cosplay competions I’ve attended through the years: schedule is tight but just right, sound accompanying the performances are all high quality BGMs, finalist line up are truly worthy to be called best in class, and the cosplayers gave it their all to justify their character portrayals. The event was held in the ICON at the Intercontinental Manila Hotel. Usually a bar and lounge for a CBD night out, it was for the night transformed to stage the live online show. I heard from Marcelle, the host for the evening alongside Alodia Gosiengfiao, that the number of online views for the program reached more than 10,000 and at one point, there were around 700+ simultaneous views. If broadband in the Philippines weren’t so darn slow, I bet there would be a lot more people staying in their homes to watch the show. Still, amazing!

Below are photos of the cosplay participants during the show’s competition. First up, the Male Cosplay Category.

Dennis Madarang playing Pyramid Head, a violent monster from the hit game Silent Hill 2, is the winner for the Male Cosplay Category. If you look at his skirt closely, you’ll observe that he brought along his arcane posse. Talk about detail!

For non-otakus, Sajin Komamura is the captain of the 7th Division of Gokai 13 in Soul Society in the anime series Bleach (if the robe does not give that away yet lol).

Eddieson goes onto the stage with a folder covering his face. Put down, he reveals a cylindrical-ish Red Angry Bird mask and starts throwing birds to the audience as the Angry Birds theme played in the background. Then suddenly, he yanks away the pants, throws down the mask, and pulls off the black shirt to reveal Red Hawk. OutSTANDING in creativity!

I apologize to Rubinstein Ebuenga who played Kamen Rider Dark Kiva with the song number because my shots of you are all dark. Failure from my end, sorry. Plus I’m quite peeved by the color of the lighting in the venue. Too magenta for my liking and white balance presets. Again, I’m sorry.

Up next are the ladies from the Female Cosplay Category.

I have been taking photos of Monique in various cosplay conventions but it is only during Alodia’s Fantasy that I have seen her do the geiko dance. It was nothing short of stunning: her facial expression show pride, control, and a calm vibe showing in her calculated and fluid movements that she must have perfected through years of cosplaying a geisha. Great job, Minique! Mighty proud of you, my friend! EDIT: So I found out that Monique was played the wrong background music for her number. Double the props to you, my friend for pulling that dance off like that with professional reserve. Shame shame on the audio people. Shame!

Myrtle Gail won in the female cosplay category by playing Grand Archer Rena from the MMORPG Elsword.

Apologies to Catrina Anne Lazaro who played Black Rock Shooter because my shots of your performance could not be salvaged owing to the erratic and magenta saturated lighting :( I’m so sorry!

Next up is the Mecha Cosplay Category.

From the rehearsals earlier Saturday, Don Robert came in a Stark jacket for the run through. Near the end, he did a back flip much to the surprise of everybody in the set. The question in my mind was will he do it during the actual competition with the Mark V on. He didn’t. I must say the online audience just missed a singularly awesome moment in Philippine cosplay history.

Bolen Lareza playing Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn’s MSN-06S Sinanju bagged the grand prize in the Mecha cosplay category. I suddenly remember something I heard from a friend during a con a loooooong time ago: “we are no match with chibis. They come out and they wow and make everyone swoon and gush with little or no effort.” Haha. Bolen, however, really worked the stage. Her moves are in sync with the background music and sound effects. The mecha is also exquisitely made. My favorite detail is the etched insignia on the MSN-06S’s left shoulder.

Richard Cheng’s Zoids mecha is probably the biggest mecha I have EVER seen around. It’s just HUGE! Just look at that photo where he’s fighting with a human who looks like a mouse. Not in this picture is the tail detail of the mecha. It’s LOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG AND HUGE, TOO!

For the other things that happend that night, check out the following. click on the landscape oriented photos for the larger image.

Kel asked Gerard what his name is to which Gerard answered, “a friend.” His answer brought the house down. Well played.

That’s it. The Alodia’s Fantasy program in photos. Great job flippish and everyone who made this event possible and the sponsors, of course. Thanks Kring and Chris Tan for the invite! Will there be an Alodia’s Fantasy Encore any time soon? :)

PS: I apologize to the Haga Twins Miwha and Michiko, too. Looking at my photos at home, it appears I did not have a great shot of them other than what I took during the rehearsals. Bawi ako next time, I promise >.<

Alodia’s Fantasy Sneak Peek Rehearsal Photos!

Fritz — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 10:19:01 +0000

[ EDIT: Click here for the actual event photo recap. Thanks! ]

Adding to Kring Elenzano’s post on what to expect from the Alodia’s Fantasy live online special which will air tonight, October 22, 2011 8pm-10pm GMT +8 flippish.com, below are a few preview photos from this afternoon’s rehearsals to get you all more excited to be at home and watch it get aired direct from the set.

(Click for the full-sized image)

Michiko and Miwha Haga in the house!

You probably won’t see Kring later but she’s there in the audience LOL

Yes, folks, Alodia will be dancing on set. Epic! Online viewers will also be treated to a live chat portion with Alodia. There will be so much more in store for viewers tonight so stay tuned!

From what I gathered, there will also be a cosplay contest that will be divided into three categories: Female, Male, and Mecha. The contest will be open for online votes so cast those “likes” for your favorite cosplayer. Links for voting are situated below the video stream at the flippish.com site. There will be live judges so I reckon the number of likes will form part of the final score tally as the winners for each category will also be announced tonight before the end of the program. For your reference, I got ahold of the names of all the contestants representing a huge chunk of the more popular and passionate cosplayers in the Philippines. They will be on set and will show off their glorious renditions of their favorite characters. They are:

Male Cosplayers:
Cykah Malagad (Ashtaroth)
Ryan Simbul (Monster Hunter Freedom Unite Blademaster with Dragon X Armor)
Mark Celtic Buenaventura (Warlord Predator)
Dennis Madarang
Rubinstein Ebuenga (Kamen Rider Dark Kiva)
John Ezekiel De Guzman
Eddieson Jaluag (Red Hawk)
Jo Marcel Navarro (Mamoru)

Female Cosplayers:
Chienna Filomeno
Monique Dimanlig (Geiko)
Hye marie Nim
Myrtle gail
Isabel Cortez (She-Predator)
Aikia Keary
Catrina Anne Lazaro
Czarina Bisda
Marienela Chanco (Suigintou or Rozen Maiden)
Shiela navarro (Yellow Ironman)

Mecha Cosplayers:
Jonam Baladad (Mobile Suit Girl Gundam Wing Zero)
Don Robert Torio (Iron Man Mark V)
Bolen Lareza (MG Sinanju)
Gibs Sagun (Kamen Rider Oz Latoratah Combo)
Miguel Panlilio
AbrahaM Cruz (Zodiac Twelve from Exteel)
Richard Cheng (EZ-021 Deathsaurer from Zoids)

To support your favorites, don’t forget to vote.

For latar tonight, there will also be an After Party from 10pm onwards. Gates of ICON Ultimate Club will be opened at 10pm for all the registered Flippish members who want to meet and mingle with Alodia and other cosplayers. Registered Flippish member will be given After Party Invites, so if you know someone who wants to join the After Party, all they have to do is register on Flippish to make it into the guest list and be given an After Party Invite.

If you missed the trailer, here it is. Note of the list of performers who will be gracing this event? Awesomeness! Don’t forget that Alodia’s Fantasy airs tonight, October 22 at 8:00 PM (Philippine Standard Time) live on flippish.

Watch out for my photos from during the event tomorrow!

Cosplayers of Cosplay Mania ’11 Day 2

Fritz — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 19:45:54 +0000

Wasn’t able to drop by Day 1 but didn’t let Day 2 of Cosplay Mania ’11 just happen without me meekly (lol) requesting for photos from the better cosplayers of the day. Was told by Lyron Aquino last night that Kristel Lim will showcase something BIG for Day 2 (which also happens to be her birthday. Happy Birthday Kristel!). And in a great big armor she came! Saw a lot of familiar faces in the crowd the likes of Samantha De Guzman in armor, Jia Gold Bustamante doing Shaiya Light (a very wholesome rendition, mind you. I would not have thought it possible for anyone to put together until today), Lyron was of course around in his version of civilian clothes (lol), and Jayem Sison as a Black★Rock Shooter dude, complete with abdominal stitched-up lacerations, a badass katana, and bright blue right eye. And of course, abs.

Like you’ve read what I’ve written anyway. You just scrolled straight at the photos, didn’t you? I do that all the time, too. Guilty as a death row inmate. Overall, Cosplay Mania ’11 was pretty organized. Sure, there were three long lines moving at a snail’s pace at the entrance but that was because the security folks were pretty thorough with the bag inspection of both participants and spectators. Security minus the irony. Great job! SMX was also pretty lax in letting cosplayers and photographers just hang around the lobby area of the Function Halls which is a first for the cosplay cons I’ve gone to in SMX, so far. The result was an event that is not as crowded, though I think there are more people who attended this year than last. I had so much fun that I could not be arsed to watch the TOrCH Finals, although I did buy tickets LOL.

Ok, on to the photos! Just like old times, left click to view the larger image. Feel free to grab and post on your facebook but please do not remove the watermark. Linking back to fritzified.com is not required but I’ll love you more if you do lol. If you know the characters that I haven’t named and the names of the cosplayrs featured here, do call me out on them by the comment area so I can properly label the photos in return for their indulgence (for graciously letting me take their photos). Great job for this year’s con, guys! If I may say, participants are SERIOUSLY getting better and better each con!

EDIT: as this is too good to not share. Added Gerard Sison’s cosplay of Superman. Know why that costume looks so finely detailed? Here’s the story straight from Gerard:

“I was offered that Superman costume the night before the Toycon. It is a limited edition Christopher Reeve replica and there are only 10 in the world. It is made in Argentina and was sourced from all over the world. But I thought it was too much to spend for.”

AMAZING!

Cosplay Mania ’11 TOrCH Manila Preliminaries Winner

Fritz — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 17:52:18 +0000

Before the grand showdown today, Sunday, October 2, 2011, of the Cosplay Tournament of Champions aka TOrCH II 2011, preliminaries were held in Baguio, Cagayan de Oro, Bacolod, Davao, Cebu, and three other SM locations around Metro Manila. The winners from each of the locations get to compete against each other during the TOrCH II Grand Finals. The finals will be held at the SMX, SM Mall of Asia during Day 2, that’s TODAY, of Cosplay Mania ’11. The Grand Prize winners will only represent the Philippines in the AFA ’11 Regional Cosplay Championships. Very VERY snooty.

A week ago, I was in SM Manila to watch the Manila preliminaries. Team Vostel who cosplayed Voltes V and Baizanga emerged victorious with Team Lion Rush who cosplayed Chun Li and Ryu coming in second with a fraction of a point difference in the score. That Voltes V cosplay sure looks like it jumped straight out of the animated series and everyone agrees. Contestants are asked to do a skit complete with sound bites from their chosen anime, manga, or game. How well shall Team Vostel and all other finalists fare in the Finals? Stay tuned for that and more on my update soon after the event.

See you at Cosplay Mania ’11!

Figutto! Ryuk Action Figure Review and Photos

Fritz — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 22:36:30 +0000

It was love at first sight the moment I saw the Death Note Ryuk figutto! action figure from Hobby Japan’s website in March and the minute they became available in pre-order at the local toy store I frequent, without hesitating, I got Ryuk plus Yagami Light. No Misa Misa and L figuttos yet (as of this writing), Death Note fans, sorry to say. If the pre-release photos are accurate, I thought, the Ryuk action figure would kick major ass! During the 4 months of waiting, I worried about the 16-point articulation Ryuk is said to have, hoping they’d at least come close to what Revoltechs, Figmas, Figuarts, and Play Arts have for maximum posability. With a retail price of JPY 5,700 for Ryuk over at HLJ and Hobby Japan and PHP 3,400 locally from Great Toys (WasabiToys had Ryuk on pre-order at PHP 4,250 even!), they’d better be good.

Both the Ryuk and Yagami Light figuttos come in clear trays inside a box. The Ryuk action figure as two interchangeable faces, 3 pairs of hands, two apples (one with a bite), two Death Notes, a pair of outstretched wings, a pair of shoulder feathers for when he doesn’t have the wings stretched out, a clear plastic box where you can store the accessories already mentioned, and a stand.

The paint job on Ryuk is impressive from the matte neck, face, hair, and leather detail, to the metallic blue body and metal finish on his costume and stuff that should come across as silver metal. His eyes are a glossy yellow. The feathers on his shoulders and wings are made of soft rubbery material (much like most of the soft material they used on the Play Arts Kai Ezio) that do not feel delicate to force in and out of the back shoulder sockets should you want or not want him to sport wings. You can make the action figure stand with one foot firmly anchored to the ground while the other points a toe out. If all else should fail, you can always use the stand for balance. To test how far the elbow can bend, I made him look like he’s about to give the apple another bite. I was pleased with the results.

The knees are slightly bent as a limitation just so people don’t go taking pictures of a perfectly postured Ryuk. Blasphemy! LOL. Bent, the knees can go all the way to the back like so.

I had no problem replacing the hands on Ryuk. They would hold out poses firmly, too. I had a hard time with the neck because, I found out later on, that the ball joint attached to the head has a curved but squareish end the should be aligned with the hole on the neck. I failed aligning the two up several times so lesson learned: twist and gently push should you feel some resistance.

The pre-release description of the Ryuk figutto claimed it will be around 7 inches in height. On the image below is Ryuk together with the Play Arts Kai Ezio, Revoltech Iron Man Mark VI, and Figma Love Machine from Summer Wars. Ryuk, slouched notwithstanding, is undeniably bigger than even the tallest figma figure in the market to date. Please left click on the image below for a higher resolution photo.

Below are more snaps of my Ryuk figutto.

I’ll show you guys Yagami Light some other time :)

Animax 7-Ghost Fever Week 3 Trivia Contest

Fritz — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 10:15:14 +0000

The winner for Week 2 of the Animax 7-Ghost Fever Trivia Contest is Dandy Cortez, you lucky bastard LOL I want that umbrella for myself given the inclement weather we’ve been having in the metro these past few days! Haha, congratulations!

I’m late in publishing this because the domain expired over the weekend LOL, sorry for the glitch there, folks, but hey, the site’s back after around four days, huzzah! For Week 3′s trivia question, and if you’ve seen last week’s episosed, the hero was tasked to do something in order to pass the Bishop’s Exam:

Teito is still keen on getting revenge for his best friend, Mikage’s death. Meanwhile, to hopefully make things better, the bishops encourage him to take the Bishops Exam where there he meets his supposed rival Hakuren.

Trivia Question: “How many volumes of the Barsburg Bible did Teito have to memorize for the Bishops Exam?”

Animax will raffle out all entries and will pick the lucky person who will win an awesome Animax goody bag! Winners will be announced to this blog next week!

Send in your answers to animaxph.promo@gmail.com with subject “Animax 07-Ghost Fever 3″

Include in the body your name, mobile number and the url of this blog. Deadline for this entry is Friday, August 5 at 5:00pm.

Tune in next week to find out the reason behind Frau’s arrest and the two boys, Teito and Hakuren’s attempt to rescue him. Look forward to more trivia questions on this blog next week and watch 07-Ghost Mondays to Fridays at 7:30pm only on Animax.

Don’t forget also to visit the Animax Philippines Facebook page to know more about upcoming shows and happenings, https://www.facebook.com/PhilippinesAnimax.

*Contest is only valid for participants residing in the Philippines.

I know you’d like a clue again, yes? Teito was asked to do the near-impossible feat of memorizing 7700 Chapters from ___ Volumes of this so-called Barsburg Bible within half a month. Note that this is something some priests have claimed to accomplish only after three years! Note the title of the anime series and the number of chapters there are inside the volumes? You can tell that they’re very fond of using this particular number as reference. Conjure up your math skills and multiply the lone number by 11. It can’t get any more easier than that so good luck!

Stey tuned for next week’s leg of the contest as we also announce the winner for Week 3 of the Animax 7-Ghost Fever Trivia challenge.