25 Years of Cosplay Series: So, what have we learned?

We are now at the final stretch of the Philippine cosplay's 25th year. There's only one question that I wanted to ask each and every one who participated in this community. 

"Have we learned anything?"

No, really. Have we learned anything from the past 25 years?

Did anything change between 2000 and 2010? How about between 2015 and 2025? 

What lessons did we get from the first five years? From Alodiamania? From the various cosplayer scandals? From the online conventions of the COVID-19 era? From the fanservice fad of 2022?

You already get the point. After everything we've been through as a community, the more things change, the more they stay the same.

In short, we did not learn that much from the past.

We still have the same old problem with convention spaces. I don't know the situation in Visayas and Mindanao, but us here in Luzon? We're still beholden to the almighty behemoth that is the SMX Convention Center.

Just this Cosplay Matsuri, while I was heading towards the event, I passed by the World Trade Center. You know what events the WTC used to hold? Nothing much, just the Hataw! Hanep! Hero! series. What I'm saying here is that the major cosplay event organizers should look outside of SMX. 

Other than that, it seems that the community itself hasn't learned from the controversies of the past. We still have perverts and pedophiles roaming around convention halls. Unscrupulous MTO stores are still active. Hell, we still have people posting their personal issues in public!

"You're so negative!" you might say while reading this article. I get it. I might've gotten a bit more cynical about the state of this community after 14 years. The negative things that have been there since 2011 are still there in 2025.

Do I expect things to radically change in 2026? No, not really. Unless divine intervention happens, we will still face the same problems until the end of time.

Anything positive that the "coscom" did, you might ask. I say yes, the cosplay community did some positive things throughout the past 25 years.

First and foremost, the cosplay community adopted multiple niche communities into its circle. From tabletop gamers to wrestling fans, the anime cosplay community accepted them into the fold.

They were also the ones who let idol groups perform on stage. Due to the initial success of MNL48, multiple idol groups came out of the woodwork. You know who gave them the platform to showcase their talents and hone their craft? The "coscom."

Cosplayers also tried reaching out to the outside world through various means. They do hospital visits, donation drives, and other acts of goodwill. They also appeared on media guestings such as various game shows, radio interviews, and such.

Also, within the past 25 years, and largely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, new event organizers sprang up. Each organizer also brought with them unique ideas and concepts. One of them would be Joey Josh Leonard's "Idol Rock Pro" that would bring a mix of rock and pop with their first "Aidoru Rokku" back in March. 

See? Not all the things I see in the community are negative. The otakusphere can and still generate positive vibes every now and then.

If there is any single lesson that we, as a community, can take away from this, it's that we have survived on passion, but it's not enough for us to thrive. Yes, we have changed some things for the better, like the abundance of smaller regional events, and we gave these smaller idol groups a stage to perform on.

However, as I've said earlier, the problems that were prevalent back when I was still a coscom virgin are still there. In fact, it might've gotten worse after the pandemic. Maybe we need to ramp up the self-policing in this space.

Anyways, thank you for tuning in to my quarterly series about the 25 years our cosplay community had endured. Mabuhay ang coscom!