Say it with me, mga bai: “Oh-zeen,” hindi “Oh-zayn.”
Imagine a conversation between a group of people: “Tara, Cebu?” “G.” Now, imagine if this was the team behind the Ozine Fest series of events. This is probably how Ozine Fest Cebu was set.
Otakuzine has been in the events (and the magazine) business for a decade now, and I believe it’s their first time that they will go out of town and into SM Seaside City Cebu’s Sky Hall this May 18–19, 2019.
Among the guests for Ozine Fest Cebu include World Cosplay Summit Philippines alumna Angeleah “Mingmiho” Mejo and Thai cosplayer Misaki.
Most of all, this event brings the Ozine Fest community experience to Cebuanos, such as the Cosplay Competition, Anime Singing Competition, Anime Trivia, Art Contest, Game Booths and the rising again of Ozine Maid Cafe, this time in Cebu. (Ozine Maid Cafe has ended its run in Manila, and this is confirmed to me by Ozine itself, prior to posting of this story.)
While I won’t be at Ozine Cebu personally, Gary, Serena, Cebu X-Geeks and Chey will be sharing their experiences during and post-event. I’ll keep tabs on that.
On a side note, maybe the Ozine Team has tried (or may want to try) Crown Regency’s Sky Experience Adventure (affiliate ad). I dunno. Also, you may want to book a hotel room (affiliate ad) in time for Ozine Cebu and other events.
Decade-long Ozine Fest activity held its last hurrah at recently-concluded Anime Figure Special 2018
At the end of Otaku Expo Reload 2018, I chanced upon Ozine GM Dennis “Ukiya” Uy and Leny from the Ozine Maid Cafe, congratulating them for another event that has passed.
During our brief chit-chat, I’m informed that Ozine Maid Cafe will have its last run at the next Anime Figure Special this December.
What happens to be a simple kamustahan led me to mark the date on my calendar.
In fact, this photo taken at Otaku Expo 2010 proves that in one instance, it gave me the opportunity to meet, greet and take photos with THE Alodia Gosiengfiao at a time where she was already the community’s revered star. As far as I remember, this is the first time I attended an Ozine Maid Cafe.
Since this is the Maid Cafe’s last run, I expect that there’s a long queue — good thing I met a group playing Uno. They invited me to play, so I obliged — thus the live stream:
As soon as we got our turn to sit, the menu has been handed out. I requested for a serving of Beef Curry with Iced Tea on the side.
Aside from the food, you can have photo prints of the maids for a price. In addition, you can play games with them.
A side note: Technically, photo-taking is not allowed inside the Maid Cafe unless it’s a permission to have a selfie, but I smuggled a photo of the toy that attendant Akire has left for us while we wait for our turn.
The result: We discovered its weakness, which I used to win against her in a one-on-one game of Pop-up Anpanman. Neat.
I’ve heard of Akire’s name, but I understood that this the first time I got to meet her up close. This photo caps off our visit to the Maid Cafe.
Since 2008, the Ozine Maid Cafe has been an established name in major events organized by Otakuzine’s Ozine Fest team. For 10 years, the maid cafe has served a lot of visitors.
Sure, other maid cafes have sprouted during that span of time, but those didn’t last long. Ozine’s Maid Cafe perseveres during its decade-long run — and according to one of its staff, they peaked during 2014 and 2015.
It’s an end of an era for the Ozine Maid Cafe, and I’m glad I got to experience it one last time. Until then.
Special thank to Otakuzine Anime Magazine for allowing me to cover Ozine Fest Anime Figure Special 2018. I have select photos posted already on Facebook (which has more toys and Seishun Kakumei than anything else), so go check it out.
keepsakes. gets up-close and personal with the songstress at August 2018’s Anifes inside SMX Manila.
The highlight of this weekend’s ANIFES 2018 is singer-songwriter Mika Kobayashi who has sung tracks such as “Before my body is dry” (aka DON’T LOSE YOUR WAY) from Kill la Kill, “at’aek ON taitn” from Attack on Titan, “βίος” from Guilty Crown among others.
Prior to the concert, we had an opportunity to talk to her about her musical journey and her current activities.
When Kobayashi arrived in Manila, the wind is very strong, and she assumed that there will be a typhoon coming (it actually exited the country but the heavy rains are still ongoing at this point).
She had ensaymada and cheese roll (Mika loves cheese) and she find it very delicious. For Mika, Filipino bread is very delicious. (I’m guessing that the cheese roll she had is from Mary Grace Cafe).
Mika Kobayashi’s musical journey, her passion and philosophy
Kobayashi has been inclined to music in her high school days, so it was not a hard decision for her to turn it into a career. From junior high to senior high, all she did was to join the Music Club. It was a conscious decision that she made and did not looked back ever since.
Not all songs that she sings are her songs, sometimes it’s a collaboration with record companies. She has collaborated with composers for soundtracks of various series (anime/TV drama/games), among them is Hiroyuki Sawano.
The variation of her musical career is kind of hard to explain because it doesn’t have a single niche. She comes from a complicated musical background, so her activity is very broad.
When asked about her philosophy in music, she said that in all of her musical activities, she exerts 120%. Whether she performs in front of 20 people or in front of 10,000 people, her approach is the same. It’s like she and the song are in a constant battle. Her collaboration songs are more inclined to be used in particular scenes, so she has that constant imagination.
Working with Hiroyuki Sawano
Her most challenging (at the same time interesting) task as a singer was when she was asked by Sawano, “Mika, can you do a giant’s voice — a titan’s voice?,” and she said “I haven’t seen a giant, I haven’t seen a titan in my life so I don’t know what a titan sounds like.”
When she receives a work by Sawano, she receives the work as if it’s almost complete and she is just asked to do the vocals.
Her feeling towards it is that when she does recording with Sawano, it’s as if she does it in a live performance. The passion and effort she puts into doing the song live and in recording is the same.
Keeping that kind of consistency is challenging at the same time interesting for her because not all collaborations can be done in that manner.
Mika’s collaboration with samurai performance group Kengishu KAMUI
Aside from Sawano, Kobayashi is also collaborating with samurai performance group Kengishu KAMUI founded by Tetsuro Shimaguchi (KILL BILL).
She and Kengishu KAMUI have known each other for 15 years but they started the collaboration around 8 years ago, touring the world and making a mark in performance arts with her singing and playing the piano and them doing the samurai acts.
She is hoping to bring the said concept to Manila soon.
What if she was not a singer?
Mika Kobayashi merchandise that were on sale at Anifes 2018.
I asked Mika “If you are not a singer today, what could be your occupation?” She doesn’t know what she want to do, so she will probably be an otaku.
Prior to the conference, she had a discussion with her translator wherein she said that she is also an otaku in a way because when she focuses on one thing, that’s it. Her translator added that she will probably join us to watch someone else if that’s the case.
Her Message to Filipino fans
For her performance in Manila, she performed some of her original songs which are also included in her new albums “Mika Type I” and “Mika Type Ro.” These include “毒” (Doku), which become my new favorite song of hers… Yay.
She encourages fans to learn Japanese, saying that if you’re an anime lover, you have to study Japanese language to understand Japanese culture deeper so you get to learn more stuff that you like.
Thank you very much to the organizers of Anifes 2018 for the opportunity. Visit Mika Kobayashi’s English page to know more about her musical journey.
Before I start talking about the event, here’s a story: I got contacted by rayan of AnimePH Project that they will be out of town during the weekend of Otaku Expo 2018, and I am asked if I’m interested to cover it. I said yes, of course, given that the Ozine Team is always open to the likes of us.
A day before the event, I met with the Ozine Team (that includes its General Manager Dennis Uy) and noticed that the hall where it will be held, Megatrade Hall 2, is on its way to refurbish the doors of that hall.
(Hall 1 has been refurbished to look like the doors of SMX Manila, just in time for the venue’s 25th year anniversary.)
That got me thinking — when was the first time I actually connected to them to be a media partner? If my memory serves me right, that may be in 2011?
It’s been a long time joining their events as a media partner — and I’ve seen their ups and downs (especially their downs) — now, why I am still with them?
Iba na kasi ang may pinagsamahan. Regardless of the situation they face or the opinion of some against them, they are still organizing events for the common otaku folk (especially those who are starting to dig themselves deeper in the community). I’ve gotten select issues of Otakuzine, but I still feel connected to its events. I give them props for staying long — they’ve been doing these events for a decade.
In the language of events management, there are two types of media: Above-the-Line (ATL) and Below-the-Line (BTL). Ozine covers these two: their Magazines go under ATL, the events go under BTL. I thought I just had to put this fact here, and you’ll read more of my bite-sized thoughts later in this post.
Activities
Let’s get started with the activities — which is nothing more, nothing less. I’ve observed that Ozine’s events have its own single template, and only the major highlights differ each event from one another.
If you ask me, the one thing they started to put into the event’s experience are the booth games at the side.
Aside from the Karaoke, Band Eating and Cosplay contests (not to mention the unique, traditional auction that they are known for), this year’s Otaku Expo gave time to show on-the-spot art lessons as part of its Sketch: segment.
I didn’t ask the Ozine Team if it’s called “Otaku Expo” or “Otaku x Sketch: Expo,” merely because it’s already called the former and I’m too old to be bothered with the naming conventions (and also because the visitors don’t mind it at all).
Do note that I only attended Day 2 (which falls on a Sunday, the 4th of February), so that includes the opportunity for me to see the Cosplay competition and the auction that I had just mentioned earlier.
Tarpaulins
They got 20 banners hanging in the ceiling. It doesn’t matter to me how many of these gets hung there, the fact that it’s hanging there means there is a tarpaulin auction.
Heck yeah, I was right.
Here’s another story: My friend Tyler, was falling in line for the Cosplay competition which will happen right after the said auction.
He wanted this Ranko Kanzaki banner and bid for Php200.
Someone got ahead of him and placed a bid for Php500.
The thing is, Php500 is the maximum bid.
Whoever bids Php500 will automatically get it.
The bid’s closed, and I felt a sad Tyler afterwards. Natigilan si parekoy. BAD END.
…although it’s not that of a bad end for him after all — he went on stage for a short skit (he’s looking for a KonoSuba cosgroup, and as his compadre who sees him suffer with no cosplay group, I ask everyone who has a KonoSuba cosplay to team up with him, even for once).
Speaking of the Cosplay competition, I saw Seushi Cahill, a former MNL48 applicant. She’s one of the judges for the said competition. Tyler involved her in his skit only by asking her one question: “Do you know the way?”
Seushi answers: “Yes, I know the way!”
Then she proceed to dab. Yep. To me, that is so cool.
Shimo / Miu
Moving a little bit backwards from our series of events, we go back to the highlights.
This year’s guests are Miu from Vietnam and Shimo from Taiwan, in which they are welcomed by their fans in their meet-and-greet-and-photo sessions.
…and these are our guests during their brief stage appearance:
Cosplay Photos
Let us welcome the Cosplayers who made Otaku Expo 2018 Day 2 what it is:
I for one welcome our Danaganronpa cosplay group:
No matter what we partners (or pundits to an extent) say, there are some things that visitors of these kinds of events want: Meet with friends, hang out with them, and then create their own keepsakes in the form of either cosplay photos or bonding moments.
Otaku Expo 2018 is just one place for them to do so.
Since I took a brief break from this community in 2015 to reflect upon myself (and went on solo flight afterwards), I brought upon myself a renewed point of view to just enjoy an event’s experience and stop being too technical about it.
This mindset actually gave me a break; a breath of fresh air. Instead of me saying more of like “this event is bland, the visitors are still trash,” I end up saying “nothing more, nothing less, but it’s OK.”
It IS OK. The event was done without any hitches, and they even have the eating contest participants sign waivers prior to joining. I didn’t see any complaints online so far. Even I, as their partner, didn’t saw something wrong.
To me, it feels peaceful. It might be me being positive as I write this post at midnight, but the event really feels peaceful to me.
This ends my thoughts on Otaku Expo 2018, and if you read through all of this, let me tell you that a video for this is on the way. I will also have a full album of this coming up next week on Facebook.
Thank you to the Ozine Team for letting me in once more as media in this year’s Otaku Expo.
Thank you for reading, and see you in the next events.
December 26–27, 2017 — Megatrade Hall 2 and the Megatrade Conference Rooms A & B, SM Megamall
It is that time once again for the annual Cosplay Week, where I see cosplayers suit up and deck the event halls for five straight days — the first half of it starts with the Ozine Fest Anime Figure Special 2017 at the Megatrade Hall 2, held last Tuesday and Wednesday, December 26 and 27.
I am invited by Ozine to come to the event as media, which is something I am very thankful for the team — I’ve seen them through thick and thin starting from around 2010 or 2011.
Most of you who have stayed through Hall 2 without knowing the corners of this year’s AFS are wondering where the heck is the Anime Figure Special part of it — if you didn’t stepped inside the Conference Rooms past Hall 3, you are missing a part of the experience. Inside it are the Anime Card Gaming Tournament, the Team Onii-chan Figure Display Crew, and the Artists’ Alley.
Going back to Hall 2, merchandisers did occupy the majority of the area, and I’ve heard that they are doing toy auctions with their help. As for the tarps hanging around there, it’s been given to the marshals who helped the team at egress.
In addition, they have these game booths at one corner of the hall. The last time I glanced upon it, there’s a puzzle game which you need to finish in 25 seconds, and most are trying to solve that puzzle of Nendoroid Rem, because Rem is the thing here in this country called the Philippines. (Say “I love Emilia” for me.)
The highlight of the event is the first visit of Aliga in the Philippines. Aliga, who came all the way from China, is notable for her Kizuna Ai cosplay — little did I know is that she also cosplayed as Rin Shibuya of THE iDOLM@STER Cinderella Girls, which is a plus for me. Since we are talking about the cosplayer most known for bringing Kizuna Ai from the virtual world to the convention halls, I saw around three Kizuna Ai cosplayers.
Ladies and gentlemen, I am proud to present to you a massive showcase of cosplay photos that I got in two days — feel free to tag me on Facebook (@keepsakesbyjay) as I aim to update my WorldCosplay and Cosplayers.Global profiles.
If you are wondering how did we got to this huge load of stuff, it’s because I borrowed Al’s camera, to perhaps prepare myself for next year’s activities.
As you can see, some of the images are too bright or too dark. It’s me playing with the aperture speed, and I do apologize for that. Still, a learning process is a learning process. I should get used to this.
I can sum up this year’s Ozine Fest Anime Figure Special using my friend’s words: “Nothing new, nothing old.” It’s the same Ozine Fest most people love and some avoid. Knowing that Ozine’s been part of our community for more than a decade, they are here to stay. They’ve announced their next event this February, Otaku x Sketch Expo (perhaps a mixed concept of Otaku Expo and Sketch Doujin Expo). As always, I hope that things will go well, and everyone will have a good time — after all, that’s what I share here.
Ozine Fest 2018 will happen on the last week of April at SM Megamall according to Event Organizer Bryan Uy. #OzineFest2018
