The 2nd Philippine Cosplay Convention was held last 28th March at The Atrium of Robinsons Midtown Manila in Malate. One of only two cosplay-centric conventions on the local circuit (the other is COSPLAY.PH‘s COSMANIA), PCC was a welcome breather in a sea of cookie-cutter events.

At PCC, organizers HOBBIWORX and COSPLAY.PH tried to emphasize the “play” factor of “cosplay”, by introducing the concept of Cosplay Tag. Also in the spotlight was a category of costuming found exclusively in this event: historical recreations.

One of the highlights of the event — and my personal favorite, is the showcase of award-winning costumes from past events. Representing a timeline not just of the development of individual cosplayers, but of the hobby and the community as a whole, the costumes featured are the some of the very best work of the talented young cosplayers behind them.

Standouts include a pair of diminutive mecha-inspired costumes from the Predator and the Transformers movies, worn by eight-year-old Belldandy Grimarez and constructed by her proud papa Ham.

A special awards ceremony mimicking the Academy Awards also took place at PCC to honor the talented people behind some of the best costumes of 2008. Some of the most hotly contested categories included the Mecha, Kids, and Crossplay Categories, where the voting literally came down the wire.

Although my personal picks didn’t take home any of the awards they were nominated for, there is certainly no doubt that all the winners deserved their awards.

The 2008 Cosplayers of the Year are:

Best Male: Robert Torio (Iron Man)
Best Female: Chai Domingo (Lili Rochefort from Tekken 6)
Best Child: Alexa Alegria (Alchemist from Ragnarok Online)
Best Crossplay: Marky Ilano (Dark Magician Girl from Yu-gi-oh!)
Best Mecha/Monster: Abraham Cruz (Poring King from Ragnarok Online)

Last but not least is the main event: the Cosplay Competition. As if taking their cues from previous cons that bigger = better, giant, hulking mechanical costumes dominated this year’s competition. The largest costume at the event — and possibly in the history of Philippine Cosplay thus far, is a ten foot-tall mecha made up of fused, fully evolved Digimon. It’s hard to believe that there was only one person inside that suit.

The kids were also getting into the act, with four out of six competitors under the age of ten showing up under layers of rubber foam and plastic sheeting. I’ll bet their dads had something to do with it XD

The winners of the 2nd PCC Cosplay Competition are:

Best Male: Jacob Gil (Omnimon X of Digimon)
Best Female: Jemelyn Canlas (Yuuko Ichihara from xxxHolic / Tsubasa Chronicles)
Best Kids: Vien Testa (Robocop) and Vincent Testa (T-800 from Terminator 3)
Best Robot/Mecha: AC Hernandez (Warmachine from Ironman)
Best Performance: Belldandy Grimarez (Voltron)
Best Craftsmanship: Mark David Cerezo (Marcus Fenix from Gears of War)
Best Historical: Selwyn Alojipan (Guardia Civil Sarhento from Noli Me Tangere)
Best Group: Lame Cosplayers

PCC is a young con, and it may not be the best there is, but it certainly is shaping up to be one. The venue’s size constraints and the lack of variety with the merchandising booths notwithstanding (not entirely the organizer’s fault, by the way), its novel activities and exclusive branding concepts make it one of the most refreshing and entertaining cons to attend.

So forget the overcrowded walkways and cramped convention spaces — cosplayers deserve so much more than being used as bait to hawk toys. Come to next year’s PCC and experience the difference.

Thank you very much to the PCC staff for the event invitation.