Pinoy Otaku Festival 2013: A Mix of New Ideas and Concepts

Psy Gangnam Style encore during Pinoy Otaku Festival 2013 which includes Rhianna Floresca, Mike Chan, Ashley Misaki, event host Antonio Santos and Dee Jocson, iDate's GM Kite and Chent aka Cosplay Prince

Pinoy Otaku Festival 2013 is a big experiment and gamble for Naruto Cosplayers PH (NCPH), Red Cloud Events and Productions and Anime Cosplay Empire (ACE). Almost all of the events conducted were based on the idea and concept honed by the group and is a contribution to the community in order to make Otaku events colorful.
Asia Music Festival, Otaku Encore Cosplay Idol, Otaku Choice Awards, Heroes Alley and Costop are all new concept though some of them are improvements of existing concepts. Pino OtakuFest last May 24-25, 2013 proved that these new concepts are indeed acceptable and well received by the community.
The highlight of the event includes Otaku Choice Awards and the Cosplay Idol Finals. The Otaku Choice Awards aims to recognize key players in the Otaku Community by way of nomination and voting from the community itself. The awarding ceremony were hosted by Animax Ani-mate Ms. Rhianna Floresca and Mr. Lie Pagtalunan of Naruto Cosplayers PH (NCPH). Each awardee received a special certification from the event organizers signifying that they had been the TOP CHOICE OF THE OTAKU COMMUNITY.

Pinoy Otaku Festival 2013 freebies from Jack and Jill

The Cosplay Idol Finals on the second day was full of excitement as nine contestants compete for the Grand Cosplay Idol. Competitors includes 4 contestants coming from the Wildcard eliminations earlier in the day: VM Hernandez, Kit Bernardo, Ashley Misaki and Aroon Ordina. The other competitors were winners of previous Cosplay Idol competitions which includes Bolen Lareza (Waltermart Sta. Maria), Izaiah Luke Buelos (SM City Baliwag), Aiza Camille Erat (SM Center Valenzuela), Chris Oreto (Bulacan State University - Malolos), and Lester Espiritu (Bulacan State University - Malolos).
Bolen Lareza came atop all the competitors with her award winning performance and was declared as the Grand Cosplay Idol with Ashley Misaki and Aroon Orduna being judges as 1st Runner-up and 2nd Runner-up respectively. Here are the winners of the competitions for Pinoy Otaku Festival 2013 Cosplay Competition:

Best Dragon Nest Cosplayer: #35 RB Cheng
Best Vocaloid Cosplayer: #33 LA Aquino
Best Pinoy Character: #45 Joana Aviola
Best Naruto Cosplayer: #12 Knievel Rosaroso
Best Game/Movie/Comics: #16 Mico Ray Enriquez
Best Mecha/Armor: #19 Christian Espinosa
Best Anime: #43 Tantin Meneses
Best Child: #7 Shan Lowel Cruz
Group Cosplay: Fairy Tail

Winner of the cosplay competition were awarded with P1,000 in cash plus Animax Premium item and a plushie from Dragon Nest. For the group cosplay competition since there is only one competitor who confirmed during the competition the group were awarded with Animax premium items and a copy of Otaku Asia Anime Magazine.

Otaku Icon for Cosplay Photography, Jay Tablante is one of the judges for the Cosplay Photo Marathon

Here are the winners of the other competitions:

iDate Dance Fest: Boys On Fire
Karaoke Competition
Battle of the Bands Champion: Hiyas
Battle of the Bands 1st Runner-up: Outfly
Battle of the Bands 2nd Runner-up: Shoujo Kurenai
Cosplay Photo Marathon - Photographer: Aaron Panlaqui
Cosplay Photo Marathon - Cosplayer: Misaki Estolas
Japanese Solo/Duet - Champion: Salvick Malaybalay (Life Goes on from Gundam Seed Destiny by Mika Arisaka)
Japanese Solo/Duet - 1st Runner-Up - Kim Nunez (The Beginning by One Ok Rock)
Japanese Solo/Duet - 2nd Runner-Up - Julianne Verzo (Serment by Mami Kawada)

An estimated 2,000 people attended the event, these includes exhibitors, guests, media, cosplayers and regular congoers. The event was co-presented by Starmall Trade Hall, Starmall EDSA Shaw, Lean and Mean Machines and Uchusentai Noiz Philippines. Event partners and exhibitors includes Gameclub, iDate Online Interactive Dating, Dragon Nest, Cherry Credits, Let's Go Legit, Sugar Free N Blue, Animax, Devagelic, Exhibit Systems Technology Corp. (EXIST), Jack and Jill's Dynamite, Presto Marie, Quake Bars, Knots, Cream-O, Javanese Massage, CS Central, Pinoy PS, Hoshi Shop, GWY Shop, Hatah-Hatah, Hero Sausages, and Octoboy. Official media partners includes Tokyo Otaku Mode,Otaku Asia Anime Magazine, Global Filipino Classifieds, Commuter Express, Anime PH, Deremoe, Genesis.ph, ZEN Otaku Honbu and Otakista.