January 24 and 25, 2015 - The CNPH Team headed to
Megatrade Halls 1 and 2 to witness the first hobby-centric convention of the
year – Otaku Expo 2015. This event almost had all the same activities with their
other events such as the Ozine Fest and Otaku Expo Reload but nearly everyone
in the anime and game subculture still keep on flocking over to the same event
over again.
To
initiate crowd control, there was a free hall to facilitate cosplayers,
photographers, and con-goers alike and the paid hall was where the stage, concessionaires,
and gaming tables were. If you’re the type of conger who is only for the
activities and merchandise, then the paid hall was worth its price as you will
also be witnessing Vanguard players and Gunpla assemblers. Otherwise, you could
stay in the free hall to chat and take photos of cosplayers. If you enjoy both,
then you could see the event in its entirety. The ever famous Ozine Maid Café
was in business too.
Most
cosplayers are truly passionate about their hobby and because of this, our
creative heads came up with the “Cosplayer of the Week” mini project. With
this, we selected a fortunate few who came in their best cosplays and
interviewed them about their attitude towards the hobby, a little about
themselves, and anything under the sun. Even if cosplay events seem to be
repetitive, the cosplayers were still able to come in their best ensembles and
never failed to awe everyone who sees them and so they deserve to be in the
spotlight.
If we are
going to compare this year’s Otaku Expo from conventions beforehand, we could
see that the anime-centric conventions that we used to attend before has now
evolved into a wider one that also captures the fans of Western games, movies
and comics.
Generally-speaking,
conventions that tap the hobbyist market are now immersing different cultures
into one and even if it has the same lineup of guests or activities, people
would still flock over because of the people and the experiences that they
share with one another.
“On
another note, this year’s Otaku Expo was less crowded compared to the 2014
year-ender event of the Ozine team which was Ozine Fest Anime Figure Special.
By less crowded, I was able to get the opportunity to roam inside the
convention hall itself and watch the competitions held on stage as well as buy
some merchandise.” – Aire
“I
enjoyed the free hall more than the main event because almost all of the cosplayers were there and the team had a chance to greet familiar faces in the community. I also agree with Aire that this is way better than their year-end event in terms of crowd control. My overall experience is not that bad for the first con of the year." - Xien