OtaGonzo: The White Hat Cosplay Charity Event

by otaking on Aug.31, 2009, under Otagonzo

White Hat Strawberry Yogurt

The White Hat Strawberry Yogurt

I was finishing off my cup, watching the crowds at the Shangri-La Mall line up for photos and frozen yogurt, when I realized that this particular cosplay event wasn’t anything like a convention at all. It was a carefully choreographed, well-organized media event that appeared to be a cosplay competition. It was pure publicity for a charity tie-in with a consumer product.

And I didn’t have any problem with it.

The particular cup of White Hat frozen yogurt with peach topping that I was consuming at that moment (which tasted identical to its Red Mango counterpart — a good thing considering my addiction to the latter) had been sponsored by Mike Abundo, because he had caught me before I could get to an ATM, and I really, really wanted a cup and wasn’t about to pass on a freebie.

My little group had arrived late and had apparently missed Alodia and Ashley personally serving everyone, or so Mike was telling me. Eric Chao, the Marketing Manager of White Hat, was telling us that he wasn’t actually familiar with cosplay, or even the word ‘otaku’. It was plain from the turnout, however, that his comprehension of the subculture wasn’t the least bit necessary. All he needed to know was that cosplay, and the Gosiengfiao sisters in particular, would draw a crowd.

And it did.

Got Heart? Plushie Tin Man could use a spare!

Got Heart? Plushie Tin Man could use a spare.

Which was good news for the Got Heart Foundation, the lucky beneficiaries of 50% of the event’s proceeds. This begs the question: If you cosplay for money, but half that money goes to charity, how much of a cosplayer does that make you?

Frozen yogurt and plug suits. The hallmarks of a good day.

Frozen yogurt and plug suits. The hallmarks of a good day.

Speaking of cosplaying for money, I met a pair of girls cosplaying as Asuka and Rei from Evangelion who were promoting a soon-to-open cosplay studio in Ali Mall. Asuka in particular was apparently a nineteen-year-old model who was new to the scene and was overwhelmed by all the attention. That’s right, I said model. I leave it as an exercise to the reader if this disqualifies her from being a cosplayer, especially considering she also won the Best Kid Costripper award, beating out a very dejected twelve-year-old girl who cosplayed as L (who, come to think of it, was possibly aiming for two awards at once). This makes Asuka both a model and a costripper. If you get awarded in free frozen yogurt for two months, are you still considered cosplaying for pay? This is all so confusing.

The sisters, bookending the winners of the day's competition.

The sisters, bookending the winners of the day's competition.

Note the guy in the half-face mask and ornate armor. He is the poster boy of dedication to his craft. Why, you ask? Because that mask is superglued directly onto his face. I am not joking. Lacking access to an affordable prosthetic adhesive, he simply applied some Mighty Bond directly onto the mask and stuck it on his face. I know this for sure because after he extricated himself from his costume, the inside of his mask had bits of skin sticking to it. Wow.

Willy Wonka proposes a yogurt-chocolate joint venture.

Willy Wonka proposes a yogurt-chocolate joint venture.

After the winners had their pictures taken with Ashley and Alodia, the sisters posed for pictures with other people. Naturally I took the opportunity to get a picture of my own. As we posed for the cameras, we exchanged a few words before I let them get back to their adoring public:

"Andaming nangyayari sa blog mo 'a." "Oo nga eh. Exciting."

'Andaming nangyayari sa blog mo a.' 'Oo nga eh. Exciting!'

I was also introduced who Richie Dela Merced of Fat Boy Studios. I professed my admiration for his beautiful and detailed sculptures. He professed his admiration for my writing. It was an impromptu meeting of the Otaku Mutual Admiration Society, and I left with a promise to get the inside scoop of his experiences with the international toy and sculpture collecting community for Project Otaking. Watch out for it!

United by cosplay

United by cosplay

I also introduced Seedsop and Sese to Ren aka MaxiCollector. Business cards were exchanged, talks commenced over frozen yogurt. This didn’t feel like a convention at all. It was more like a networking event between geeks, connections being established, deals being made.

This, I decided, was a good thing.

And then, as the event began to wind down, the true star of the show made its appearance.

Worship the MOE Cow. Moe Cow goes MOE!

Worship the MOE Cow. MOE!

This googly-eyed idol suddenly appeared from the wilds of Alodia’s personal effects and perched itself on a table that quickly became the center of all attention. Its effects on the crowd were immediate. I lost all pretense of journalistic integrity and began cooing at it unabashedly. Cameras that had been put away suddenly reemerged to capture the image of this icon of power. Alodia must have acquired it from a dimension of pure cuteness, waiting for this moment to unleash it upon the world.

Even Ashley's camera reemerged from behind its lens cap.

Even Ashley's camera reemerged from behind its lens cap.

The event was over soon after this, the crowd dispersing. Clearly it was a success. But for whom? Got Heart Foundation, for sure, as well as The White Hat. And for the Gosiengfiaos as well. But for cosplay? If you consider it a demonstration of cosplay’s crowd-drawing power and growing mainstream acceptance, then absolutely. But what about cosplay for its own sake? As a craft? As a hobby? Or as a sport, for that matter?

I leave the answers to these questions to observers with much more impressive credentials. :D But as far as I’m concerned, the event made a statement: Cosplay is now big business.

As for the Red Mango/White Hat showdown, my verdict: Red Mango has green tea, White Hat has strawberry. It’s a draw.

See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil

Monkey See Monkey Do

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31 Comments for this entry

  • Sese
    August 31st, 2009 on 10:55 am

    MOE COW WANT!!

    It was more like a networking event between geeks, connections being established, deals being made.

    - Besides that, I really had fun. I want to cosplay in events like this, where you dress up, eat good food (yogurt) and just have fun mingling with people no matter who they are.

    Reply
    • otaking
      August 31st, 2009 on 9:15 pm

      I did notice that the reception to cosplayers by onlookers was very different from, say, the Megamall events. Why is that?

      Reply
      • Sese
        September 1st, 2009 on 9:25 am

        maybe the mindset? That would be a good topic for research :)

        Reply
      • Kia
        September 3rd, 2009 on 11:25 am

        For one thing, the type of crowd in Shangri La Mall was fairly different from that of those who normally go to SM Megamall. And I guess as Sese mentioned, it could be the people’s mindset or it’s just that there are a lot of people who are still unaware about cosplay or even know why people dress up and wear costumes apart from Halloween.

        Reply
  • Clair
    August 31st, 2009 on 11:10 am

    I give three cheers to this news:
    Hooray for good yogurt! Hooray for charity! Hooray for cosplay!

    You’ve got the combination of good frozen yogurt and cosplay promoting charity and I do hope that at the end of the day people also started caring more about the foundation who will benefit from this event, at the very least have an awareness for it. :)

    I love the monkey see, monkey do picture! XD

    Reply
  • Mike Abundo
    August 31st, 2009 on 12:51 pm

    Alodia correctly guessed my preference for blueberry cheesecake toppings. Wonder if she would have guessed your preference for peaches.

    I’m suddenly picturing you as Gendo with the Eva girls. Great seeing you and Maoi at the event, Cliff. I’m glad you had fun. :)

    Reply
  • scriviner
    August 31st, 2009 on 2:22 pm

    MUST HAVE MOE COW.

    Reply
  • Romeo
    August 31st, 2009 on 2:26 pm

    Amidst all the empty White Hat err, cups, I did get a good look of that stuffed cow.

    The event, unexpectedly, turned out to be a great medium of interaction for geeks.

    So I tip my Hat off to the organizers and of course, to the sisters for making a lot of money for the foundation (Do forgive me for the pun :D ).

    Reply
  • casualsavant
    August 31st, 2009 on 2:35 pm

    Oh no! Not the MOE cow!!! I looked into its eyes and now i has to do its BIDDING!!! Wah!!! T_T

    So cute! I cannot resist!

    Reply
  • Sese
    August 31st, 2009 on 6:10 pm

    MOE COW!!!!! I can’t help it but I actually gushed upon seeing it!

    Reply
  • Ashley
    August 31st, 2009 on 7:21 pm

    Hi! I’d just like to clarify that our idea of a kid cosplayer would be in the likes of…remember Bumblechii? Yoda? Predator? Terminator? Those cute wittle kiddies who didn’t know what they were doing, “oh mommy just told me to walk across the stage and be cute!” those kinds. The really young ones. :) Seeing as the L cosplayer wasn’t that young and naive at all about cosplaying anymore, we placed her under the crossdresser category. :)

    So I apologize if anybody had endured any hard feelings? Sorry sorry. :)

    Oh and about that Asuka cosplayer, we didn’t know she was “just” a model. She made a good Asuka though.

    Hey I’m not being defensive or anything. I’m just saying this before more issues suddenly pop out of nowhere. :)

    Reply
    • otaking
      August 31st, 2009 on 9:50 pm

      I only found out about it myself after the awarding, actually. I had no idea there was anything up until I had it explained to me. Personally the L cosplay is a little overdone these days :P

      The point I repeatedly make on this blog is that stuff like ‘cosplay’ and ‘costrip’ and ‘model’ aren’t categories of exclusion, which people who want to alienate other people do, but that they’re tags of inclusion. We are all members of multiple tribes. Exclusive affiliation is a thing of the past. :D

      Reply
  • questorminator
    August 31st, 2009 on 7:47 pm

    OMG!! I missed the COW!!! AAARGGGHHH!!!! I was burning with fever at around 4:30 PM so I had to go home early.

    At least Alodia got to hand me my yogurt. It was delayed because of Channel V taking pictures of it (and because a topping wasn’t placed there yet). I’m still keeping the spoon and receipt as a souvineer.

    But the COW!! I missed the COW!!! boohooohooo!!!!!

    Oh yeah, this is just my opinion, but I think that cosplaying is basically a form of modeling. Cosplayers “model” character designs made by other people.

    Not to antagonize purists. But I just wanted to give my two cents for whatever it’s worth.

    Reply
  • Midori
    August 31st, 2009 on 8:10 pm

    Hi there! ^^ Thanks for attending the event! May I please grab the winners’ photo? ^^ I’ll make sure to credit you of course. :)

    Reply
  • fatboystudios
    August 31st, 2009 on 10:35 pm

    Everybody can talk, some may not even agree. People Will look back and say it was a great event, or a huge waste of peoples time.

    This is what I know without a Doubt!! Comments of the chairman of Got Heart Foundation Melissa Yeung.

    “hi edj! :) WOW ang laki ng na-raise pala! that can send 2 of our scholars to college this coming semester. thank you so much! ♥”

    Those two could be the president of the country, who knows really. Everybody donated their time spearheaded by the sisters. Nobody made any money except for the two students. An Afternoon worth taking time for, “Dont you think” =)

    Reply
  • cream
    September 3rd, 2009 on 8:48 pm

    ohhh I missed the cosplay-charity event
    Thanks to this post
    8D

    Reply
  • MIggy
    September 15th, 2009 on 3:57 pm

    the super glue thing?? its part of sacrifice..xp almost all of the boys in our group does that sometimes greco 888..XD

    Reply
    • otaking
      September 15th, 2009 on 4:30 pm

      I salute your dedication to your craft. :)

      Reply
    • Kia
      September 19th, 2009 on 2:47 am

      Hi, Miggy…

      Super glue can be used and does stick very well on any craft material because it is also for permanent bonding… Now, if ever you have to stick props on any part of your body (on the skin), try using latex glue. It’s the kind people use for false eyelashes, prosthetic skin and fake body hair. It sticks even when you perspire and it doesn’t hurt when you remove it.

      But Like Otaking said, I salute you for your dedication to your craft.

      I hope this helps.
      =)

      Reply

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