I’d like to apologize for the very late post (to anyone still reading cosplay related entries on my blog that is), I had been busy with quite a lot of things In Real Life so I had to give blogging a break to focus more on that.  Anyway, I think I’ve gotten my problems fixed so here goes the Aftermath Post for Mangaholix.

I was looking quite forward to Mangaholix for quite awhile since it’s one of the better known anime events which meant that who’s who in the Philippine Cosplay scene was going to be there (Alodia was there for those wondering) and there was a lot of people to snap pictures of with my new camera (a Nikon D40, I’m a real newb to digital photography but I’ve done film).  Suffice to say, I was right to trim my expectations to a few items before the event itself:

1. I’ll be spending more time with Ichiraku members than shooting pictures
2. I’ll be shooting more photos of Ichiraku members than cosplayers
3. I’ll probably be getting shots at the beginning of the convention AND towards the end
4. I’ll probably spend more on food than anime merchandise

I didn’t include the public’s general reaction to my insta-fail costume (yeah, I’m not even sure I want to see how bad I look on other people’s camera) simply because it’s uhh.. insta-fail.  At least I’m happy that the few people who asked for pictures know who my character was :-D.

Photo taken with my Nikon D40

As for what happened, well here’s a quick run down if you’re not interested in all the lack luster words I’ll be using:

1. H4, the hall holding Mangaholix was packed. I estimate it held at least 1.5x the expected amount of people to be moving around inside.
2. Very few activity booths. There were areas for the event-related contests but little else for the event goers.
3. Very bossy bouncers. Security is tight with such a well-known convention center but most of the time, the bouncers were just too willing to do their job and shoo us away.  I understand that with that much people riots can easily happen but you could at least be a little more courteous about doing your jobs.
4. Unrelated booths. It’s common through out cons but I think we’ll be more appreciative if the booths contain more of what we (the event goers) know the event is about.

As for the event itself, well, let’s just say that it’s a total let down (READ: BOOORINGG) to most of the cosplayers I know mainly because there was very little left to do.  Yes I’ve stated that over and over again because it was really the case with this year’s Mangaholix.  There was quite a few booths that drew my interest like WACOM’s booth where they were demonstrating their latest lightpen (or graphic tablet) model but the price blew me right off.  20,000?  Do they really think cosplayers or casual event goers will buy something like that at a convention?  It’s admittedly cool but they’re targetting the wrong crowd.

As for the venue, well picking SM X is both the saving grace and bane of the convention.

Being situated right beside Mall of Asia, the event itself gathered enough attention for people to flock to it which means plus points to the marketing staff behind the project. After all, not every con gets to attract that many people.

However, opting to use just one of the 4 available ground-level halls was really a bad choice.

At noon, the hall was so packed I had trouble getting from one booth to the other.  There was little room for movement much less take pictures.  Seriously, as an avid convention goer, the cramped confines was a real pain and turn off to most of the first-timers and casual event goers.

I was looking forward to some of the events like the band performances but I didn’t get to watch them since we were stuck outside while the mass of people mingled within the convention area.  I didn’t even get to drop my ticket entry for the Wii =(. A few people in our group dared to enter and found themselves lost and looking for each other most of the time so no points in terms of activity.  The rest of us just stayed outside the Halls and took turns taking pictures.

Overall, I don’t think I’m happy paying 100 bucks for the con.  I think just 50 should do, since I got to get some interesting photos.  You can view my gallery at Multiply here.  Just sign up if you want to comment or grab things.

If you’re like me and got disappointed with Mangaholix, don’t fret, ToyCon 2008 is just around the corner.