Featuring the 2018 Nihongo Speech Contest Student Category Winner Sofia Abigail Sanches Let me tell you a story. One day, someone thought of a small dream. This dream was a result of her being inspired to Sailor Moon, Sugar Sugar Rune and other anime series that made a mark in the childhood of most of us 20-somethings. She keeps that dream as she studies. Photo: Japan Foundation Manila One day, she was given the opportunity to address her “small dream” to a large crowd, in a place she has rarely been to. ...

[Photo] Lime Creatives / Otakufest Recently-held preliminaries a first in the city [Photo] Lime Creatives / Otakufest Team Class S is the champion in the Central and Eastern Visayas Qualifiers of the World Cosplay Summit Philippines held at Otakufest 2018 inside Cebu Business Park last Saturday, February 24. The team, composed of Seigfred Enero and Sheena Mae Butad, performed a skit as Aram and the Dark Lord of the hit game “Chain Chronicle.” ...

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. ...

…says the 30 or so people inside the Rice Party held January 21 Rice for the Rice Queen. This is the words of praise for the idol of the Rice Cult, Hanayo Koizumi. The thing is, Hanayo doesn’t know this. Also, I made that up. Forty keks. While my stay at Red Monster Cafe was brief, what I can tell about the first-ever local birthday party dedicated to Hanayo is this: Kanin. Rice. Rice is life. Rice is carbohydrates, which is turned into energy. ...

Trust me, they have soft, pugon-made pandesal. The Kamuning Bakery Cafe, an institution in Quezon City, serves as a venue for various occasions. This includes the Pandesal Forum and the World Pandesal Day. I dreamt of visiting this historical bakery along Judge Jimenez St. in Quezon City (even just once), so when the opportunity comes, I’ll come and see for myself. That opportunity came last Saturday. Before we start: Prior to my visit here, I went to Eccentric Yet Happy’s law seminar for bloggers (but for some reason I am late and embarrassed by how I was late because the topic was so important and yet here I was). ...

MNL48 and the Marketing Mix MNL48, AKB48’s Pinoy sister, will be announcing its top 200 participants in a few hours — and here I am, thinking of what has gone through this gruesome yet exciting journey. Never mind me not being able to oshi (push) more applicants, or even verify my own account so I can do so — being in sales and marketing company for almos two years made me understand this journey a bit different. ...

Digongland 2, featuring new works by H.U. Sison and guest artists After its successful launch last year, H.U. Sison’s “Adventures in Digongland” exhibition gets its second run at the SM Megamall Art Center, which opened last Thursday. I went there a day after it opened and talked to the visual artist… after finding myself amused with all these artworks. The “Digongland” artwork where Duterte is mashed with Mickey Mouse spawned more versions, and he said that it was the most sought-after work from last year’s exhibit. ...

Completing this year’s #CosplayWeek is a visit to SMX for one last time this year I finally got to see the last day of Cosplay Matsuri 2017 at the SMX Manila, the last event of the year. As with the Ozine AFS, this has most of the offerings it shared last year, but the difference is that (1) the upcoming Jumanji movie supports the event, (2) the dates for the Cosplay Mania event series have been announced — including the date for CosMania’s 10th year, which will be held at the ground floor halls of the SMX Manila for the first time, and (3) Naru is one of the hosts. ...

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. ...

Two teams who competed at the 12th Christmas Toys and Collectibles Fair will proceed to Davao for the Nationals this April 2018 Two teams are added to the set of finalists vying for the right to represent the Philippines in the World Cosplay Summit in August 2018, both coming from the NCR Qualifiers held at the last day of the 12th Christmas Toys and Collectibles Fair (December 17, 2017, Sunday) at the SM Megatrade Hall 2 in Mandaluyong City. ...