For the third time, the biggest comic
convention in the country is back, and just like the previous years, geeks,
artists, and cosplayers gathered to celebrate this very event.
AsiaPop Comicon was a three-day event, from
August 25 – 27, and was held on SMX Convention Center at SM Mall of Asia, Pasay
City. It features both local and international artists, celebrities,
cosplayers, movies, shows, etc. Booths for activities and merchandises are also
gathered all over the venue.
Celebrity guests were Ray Fisher (Cyborg/Victor
Stone from DC Universe films) and
Tyler Hoechlin (Superman/Clark Kent/Kal-El from Supergirl and Derek Hale from Teen
Wolf). Comic artists that were invited to the event were Alan Quah, Carl
Potts, Rodney Ramos, Stanley “Artgerm” Lau, and Whilce Portacio. Of course, The CAGE (Cosplay Authority Global challengE) brought both local and international cosplayers for the event,
Alodia Gosiengfiao, Haiden Hazard, Jin (Behininfinity), Myrtle Sarrosa, Philip
Odango, and Pion Kim. Digital Influencers, Cha Ocampo, Janina Vela, and Patrice
Vela, were part of the event for the Social Media Panel.
Haiden Hazard as Juri Han (Street Fighter)
As much as I was excited for this event, I
only attended it for a single day. I was only there on August 26, Saturday. Regular
tickets cost P600 for a one-day pass, P900 for a two-day pass, and P1100 for a
three-day pass. They get more expensive each year.
I went there at around 1pm and was in the
ticket line for about an hour. Yup, it took me that long just to buy a single
ticket. Too many people!
When I got in, I familiarized myself with the
event. I roamed around looking at booths and activities. I was greeted by how large the
Netflix area was. It took a huge portion of the venue and people were standing
in line just to experience what Netflix had to offer. I didn’t get the chance
to try their activity because of how crowded that area was. Actually, I don’t
think I tried any activity there. I really wasn’t as thrilled as I was before,
but I did watch Philippine WrestlingRevolution (PWR). I forgot who were the wrestlers were but I did enjoy
watching it live. They’re great performers.
I spent some time hanging out with Bernce, an
artist friend of mine, at his booth. He’s part of this group of artists called,
Ascendance Group of Artists. I bought a few prints of
his artworks and had some chat with him.
Most of the time, I just roam around looking
for familiar faces I could greet, and at the same time, asking taking photos of
cosplayers and asking to take a selfie with them.
I did meet Haiden Hazard, an well-known
international cosplayer. She was cosplaying Juri from Street Fighter. She was nicely entertaining event goers that wanted
to take pictures with her and asking for her autograph.
To be honest, this year’s APCC didn’t excite
me and I didn’t enjoy it as much as I did the previous years. I felt like some
things were missing. Maybe because I felt like it lack cosplayers and people
aren’t as enthusiastic as before in taking photos with cosplayers. Or maybe
because some people only went there for a certain thing only and just went with
the hype, although I do appreciate and will welcome new people in this type of
scene and interest.
I felt like it was a good decision that I
only went there for just a single day, plus tickets were getting expensive. I
still wish that they will continue doing this, and hope that next year will be
a lot better than this. And I also hope that they lighten up on the ticket
prices.
I will still continue
to support APCC, and other convention that highlights my interests, so I will
still attend AsiaPOP Comicon Manila 2018.
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