Into the Chronosphere: CosMania ‘23

Cosplay.PH has brought us their biggest and most anticipated event with this year’s Cosplay Mania (CosMania/CosMa) 2023, held at the SMX Convention Center, Manila, Halls 2-4 & Function Room 4 last September 30 to October 1, 2023.

Cosplay Mania is also celebrating its 15th anniversary this year starting with their humble beginnings back in October 2008. Let us look at what CosMania ’23 has in store for us.

The event doors open for both days at exactly 10:00 A.M. with ticket tier lines separated via two entrances, with the Silver ticket holder’s access is via the SMX’s main entrance while the Gold, V.I.P, Priority, and Titanium ticket holder’s access to the fast track lane located at SMX’s side entrance.

Tons of panels were happening during both days as CosMania has both the Globe EX Stage (Hall EX) and Crunchyroll SP Stage (Hall SP) with Day 1’s EX stage having four panels with CosMania‘s cosplayer guests starting with Hiroto Kuramasu discussing the history of female-oriented games, the difference between an Otome and Joseimuke Games, and about Cybrid’s Ikémen Series.

KNITE‘s panel was about his different and intricate cosplays and what cosplays the Filipino fans would like to see next for KNITE to cosplay as.

VJ and Cosplayer, Joo A Cosplay also made an appearance for Day 1’s EX stage panel where she talked about her journey as a cosplayer, and what cosplays is she planning to do in the future, and lastly, our very own Diane Sabandeja performed the song “First Love” by Utada Hikaru during her stage panel.

VOLS Project also had their panel for day 1 with their representative, Yosuka Arai talking about how VOLS Project was developed and what people can look forward to in their new upcoming projects while revealing their next generation of VOLS Project Vtubers with Minazuki Mana and Mayuno A Charlotte.

Meanwhile, Day 1’s SP stage started with the Cosplay Mania Cup, followed by three different panels with BPM15Q which consisted of Ichigo Rinahamu and nicamoq they were asked some questions about the new age of virtual pop idol music. The second panel was about PRISM Project’s 2nd, 3rd, and 5th Gen members: Rita Kamashiro, Shiki Miyoshino, and Ami Amami they played different Filipino gameshows like the PAPAYA GUESSING GAME with their host being Hiroto Kuramasu and ended with JUNNA‘s panel at 3:40 P.M.

Mini JAM started at 4:30 P.M. at the EX stage with the new Filipino girl group DNE being its opening act, while cosplayer and singer Rena Rin performed Hoshimachi Suisei’s “Stellar Stellar”.

The Mini JAM concert was then followed by the trio performance of DJ Eldora Model, DJ Daizin, and DJ Mango-Man, as they pumped up the audience with some old and new mainstream J-Music.

Day 2’s EX stage started with an opening performance from MJU.Z KISS followed by Anime Trivia Throne Throwdown, Joo A Cosplay‘s second appearance for the EX stage continued from Day 1’s panel, followed by the Cosplay Masquerade segment.

Independent PH-EN Vtuber Pan the Bread also made an appearance at Day 2’s EX stage, where she performed a cover song of the Vocaloid Song, Kamippoi na or God-ish.

Day 2’s SP stage includes the panel talk with Daoko, Hololive ID’s 3rd Generation of talents also known as holoh3ro: Vestia Zeta, Kaela Kovalskia, and Kobo Kanaeru, Japanese-American singer and lyricist Nano and voice actor Shuta Morishima.

Shuta Morishima‘s panel was held at the SP stage at 1:20 P.M., with Hiroto Kuramasu being the panel host segment alongside Morishii’s translator. Shuta Morishima is a voice actor from HiBiKi Cast who is known for his roles as Rio Kikyou from ARGONAVIS, Shin Nitta from Cardfight!! Vanguard, Masanori Iseki from Cardfight!! Vanguard overDress & will+Dress, Baku ?mori from Future Card Buddyfight, and Sebastian from Ikemen Vampire.

In his interview segment, Morishii shared his impression of the Philippines being a very warm country both for its weather and the people. He also stated that the Filipinos are very easy to talk to and very approachable.

Morishii shared some of his memorable experiences as a voice actor with him landing the roles of Ushikawa in Bikkurimen and Opera Kobayashi from Tantei Opera Milky Holmes: Alternative. He also shared his challenging experience as a voice actor with Rio Kikuyo from ARGONAVIS where he had to practice for three months for their first live performance and had to play ten different songs which was also his first time during that period.

Morishii also shared about his old career path of being both a programmer and a nurse before pursuing the path of a voice actor. He also gave three different pieces of advice for all aspiring voice actors: first, you must love anime, second is that you must have a strong will to be the character you want to voice, lastly to be a voice actor you must try a lot of things in the field and you must do what you want.

Shuta Morishima was very happy to see all his overseas fans over at CosMania ’23.

Nano‘s panel started at 4:35 P.M.. Nano is a Japanese-American singer and lyricist who is currently managed by HoriPro Inc. and is signed under the Flying Dog label. Nano is well known for her music from different Anime series which include, “Bull’s Eye” from Hidan no Aria AA, “Now or Never” from Phi Brain. Puzzle God, “No Pain, No Game” and “Exist” from Btoom!, “Savior of Song” (ft. My First Story) and “Rock On.” from Arpeggio of Blue Steel, “Born To Be” from Magical Warfare, and “Dreamcatcher” from Magical Girl Raising Project.

In her interview segment, Nano shared about her journey in her musical career which includes her various musical inspirations including The Beatles which her mother was a huge fan of, Green Day, Asian Kung-Fu Generation, Man with a Mission, Burnout Syndromes, and more J Anime Artists with whom she was grateful to share a stage from various concerts.

Nano also shared that Anime is a huge part of her life, with it being the reason for her to be able to travel to various countries and connect with people from all over the globe through her music. She is also grateful to her overseas fans for being so passionate within the community.

Lastly, CosMania ’23 would not be complete without its Cosplayer Attendees and Cosplayer Exhibitors, the All-Star Avenue which can be located at Function Room 4 on the 2nd floor of SMX.

We also got a chance to interview New Game+‘s very own “Vera Mare Cosplay”! You can check our interview with her here.

Overall, CosMania ’23 is a very jam-packed event with tons of activities, stage events for both the EX and SP hall, and one of the largest rest areas during day 2. Of course, the long-awaited JAM Concert was the highlight of the 2-day event.

We at Setsu-Ani are grateful to Cosplay.PH for being one of their media partners to help cover CosMania ’23. Look forward to their remaining events for the half of the year with the upcoming CosMeet this October 28-29, 2023, and Cosplay Matsuri ’23 this December 28-30, 2023. Thank you as well to Cosplay.PH and Cosplay Mania for the pictures that were taken during the panel stage and JAM Concert. You can check the rest of the pictures from Cosplay Mania‘s Day 1 and Day 2 Album and Setsu-Ani’s Album for Day 1&2.