Cosplay Mania

Cosplay Mania is an annual cosplay-centered convention organized by Cosplay.ph. It is usually held in the fourth quarter of the year in the Philippines. The convention features various events related to cosplay, anime, and J-pop culture which features rookie and veteran cosplayers and cosplay enthusiasts.
Cosplay Mania is created and hosted by Cosplay.ph, a Philippine-based cosplay website and organization.
The first event was held in Megatrade Hall 3 in SM Megamall, Mandaluyong on October 12, 2008. The theme was "Plan... Build... Cosplay!" which revolved around three main activities: Workshops, Costume Building Contest and the Cosplay competition for individuals and groups. Notable cosplayer Jin Joson and her group the Tux Team were invited to be part of the workshop tutorials as well as judge for the cosplay competition.
With the theme "Bigger and Better", the event incorporated both Megatrade Hall 2 and 3 and opened on September 13, 2009. Cosplay Museum exhibit and the Mech Cafe were also introduced.
This event launched the inclusion of an onstage LED video wall backdrop to help enhance the catwalk experience of cosplayers joining Project Cosplay. It also gave those competing in the group cosplay category the option to use digital visual effects to augment their performances.
Cosplay Mania 2010 marked the year where a few major event changes were made. First was the move to a new location, from SM Megamall in Mandaluyong, to SMX Convention Center beside SM Mall of Asia in Pasay. The second was having the event over two days instead of just one, October 2-3. The last was the change of their title brand from calendar year 2010 to Roman number X, which became the reoccurring promotional symbol to represent the move to SMX Convention Center as well as the event's theme of "A Decade of Cosplay", where the event celebrated 10 years of cosplaying in the Philippines.
This also introduced the first nationwide cosplay competition called the Cosplay Tournament of Champions (TORCH), where winners of tournament legs from SM Cagayan De Oro, SM Clark, SM Davao, SM Cebu, SM Davao and SM Manila converge for the finals at SMX Convention Center.
The event also invited International Cosplayer guests Clive Lee and Jesuke of Singapore to be part of the celebration and become part of the judges panel for Project Cosplay and TORCH.
Also introduced was a cosplay-centric activity called Cosplay Checkmate, a variation of Human Chess where participants in costumes play chess pieces in a life-size chess board, but would act out in character in a choreographed fight scene when the pieces interact. This version however has no Knight pieces.
The event's theme was "Epic" due to its major changes in its format. It was still held SMX Convention Center beside SM Mall of Asia in Pasay on October 1 and 2 but occupied 3 function rooms, namely Function Room 3, 4 and 5, making the floor area a total of over 5,200 square meters. The floor plan was changed to a new format, separating into the Stage Area at Function Room 5 where the bands and cosplay activities are held, the Fiesta Hall at Function Room 4 where dealers/sellers were located, and Function Room 3 as an open hall for visitors to socialize. The Stage and Fiesta hall had entrance fees while the open hall was free for all.
The event held its first ticketing system that involved distribution through SM Ticketing services that made pre-selling of tickets available in all SM Supermalls nationwide. This was in response to the long lines that plagued its past events when ticket sales were sold on the day itself.
This year's event introduced its first partnership with Anime Festival Asia where the winning pair of Cosplay Mania's Cosplay second Tournament of Champions (TORCH II) will become the official Philippine representatives to join AFA's Regional Cosplay Competition, performing against other cosplay teams from Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore. The Philippine Team, represented by Amado Carl Hernandez (AC) and Zhel, won this year's AFA's Regional Cosplay Competition.
The event also invited International Cosplayer Guests Pinky Lu Xun of Indonesia, YukiGodbless and JiakiDarkness of Thailand, and returning guest Clive Lee of Singapore, all of whom became judges for the event's TORCH, Project Cosplay and Costume Building Contest.
Cosplay Mania also hosted Cosplay Appreciation Day, where cosplayers are invited to register upon entering Function Room 3, in an attempt to set a Guinness World Record of the number of cosplayers attending an event.
Other notable international partnerships that graced the event included Bandai, Gunpla Japan, Crypton Future Media and CosplayGen.
This year's event is still held at SMX Convention Center beside SM Mall of Asia in Pasay, but with the dates moved to September 29 and 30, occupying Function Room 3, 4 and 5. The floor plan also retained last year's format, separating into the Stage Area at Function Room 5 and the Dealer Area at Function Room 4, both as paying areas. Function Room 3 is still assigned as a free hall.
The event will again host the finals of the Cosplay Tournament of Champions (TORCH) where the winning pair will represent the Philippines in Anime Festival Asia's (AFA) Regional Cosplay Competition in Singapore.
This year's roster of invited International Cosplayer Guests include renowned Japanese cosplayers KANAME☆ and Reika as well as returning Singaporean guest cosplayer Jesuke. A Premium Pass was introduced that would give visitors the opportunity to attend Kaname and Reika's Meet and Greet closed-door activities. The limited sales of the passes is separate from the regular convention ticket sales.
Cosplay Mania will again host Cosplay Appreciation Day, where cosplayers are invited to register upon entering Function Room 3, to again attempt to set the Guinness World Record of the number of cosplayers attending an event.
New activities are being introduced in this year's event:
Notable supporters of the event include the Department of Foreign Affairs (Philippines), The Embassy of Japan in the Philippines, All Nippon Airways, Toei Animation Philippines and SGCafe.
With the event theme "Overdrive", this year's event is still held at SMX Convention Center beside SM Mall of Asia in Pasay, on October 5 and 6, occupying Function Room 3, 4 and 5. The floor plan also retained last year's format, separating into the Stage Area at Function Room 5 and the Dealer Area at Function Room 4, both as paying areas. Function Room 3 is still assigned as a free hall.
The event will again host the finals of the Cosplay Tournament of Champions (TORCH) where the winning pair will represent the Philippines in Anime Festival Asia's (AFA) Regional Cosplay Competition in Singapore.
Cosplay Mania '13 Guests
This year marked the event's most number of guests invited, with 10 guests featuring Jesuke, Vic, Starpolaris Reiko and Viospace from Singapore, Pinky, Orochi and Shinji (Endless Illution [sic]) from Indonesia, and returning Japanese cosplayers guests KANAME☆ and Reika, with a new guest Goldy Marg, a well-known mecha and armor cosplayer from Japan. All of them were introduced weekly in a series of Guest Reveals presented on Cosplay Mania's Facebook page.
The Meet and Greet Premium Pass were available to KANAME☆, Reika and Goldy with a limited sales of 100 passes per guest is separate from the regular convention ticket sales.
This year introduces the application of Cosplay.ph's CRS, or Cosplay Ranking System, where cosplayers who will join the event's contests are required to apply. This system would help designate the beginner and veteran ranking as to improve fairness in Cosplay.ph held competitions.
Returning activities are being introduced again this year:
New activities being introduced this year:
This year's event marked several new changes which coincide with the theme "Evolution" and held at SMX Convention Center beside SM Mall of Asia in Pasay, on October 4 and 5, occupying Function Room 3, 4 and 5.
Prior to the event, two cosplay events were held which promoted Cosplay Mania '14, dubbed "Road to Cosplay Mania" and the "Cosplay Mania 14 Preview Event". They were held in SM City Clark, Pampanga and SM Southmall in Las Pinas.
The event will again host the finals of the Cosplay Tournament of Champions (TORCH) where the winning pair will represent the Philippines in Anime Festival Asia's (AFA) Regional Cosplay Competition in Singapore.
New Logo
Cosplay Mania logo is known to incorporate elements that portray the event's varied themes but still retain its usual font and general shape. This year, a new logo was launched that incorporated sleeker, more modern-looking lines but retained the corporate colors of the event.
New Mascot
Cosplay Mania also introduced their new mascot Cosima Karin that would represent the event's fun-loving ambiance and cosplay-centric atmosphere. She is accompanied by DotPeach, the official mascot of Cosplay.ph, the company behind the convention and who had long since represented the event.
Cosplay Mania '14 Guests
Ten guests were invited, with returning guests featuring Jesuke Jes and Vic Kumiko from Singapore, Pinky Lu Xun from Indonesia, Orochi X from Australia and Japanese cosplayers guests KANAME☆ and Reika. New cosplayer guests to arrive are Inui Tatsumi from Japan and Linda Le (Vampy Bit Me) from the US, the event's first guest cosplayer invited from the west. All of them were introduced weekly in a series of Guest Reveals presented on Cosplay Mania's Facebook page.
The Meet and Greet Premium Pass were available to KANAME☆, Reika, Inui Tatsumi and Vampy, now with two sessions available for KANAME☆ and Reika. Inui Tatsumi will be partnered with Orochi X to share one session together, while Vampy's two sessions will be accompanied with Jesuke and Pinky respectively.
Cosplay Mania JAM Concert
As part of the evolution theme, the event introduced JAM (Japanese Anime Music), a two-day concert held at Function Room 5 which starts at 7pm. The concert featured Japanese singer Aya Ikeda, who sang songs from the anime Pretty Cure, and Loverin Tamburin, a band that covers a variety of anime songs but best known for "Aishitageru" (愛したげる), the opening song for the anime Makai Senki Disgaea. The concert will also be accompanied by local anime cover band Moonspeak and Ninja Tuna. Japanese cosplayers KANAME☆ and Reika will be having collaborative singing performance with Moonspeak. This would be KANAME☆'s first ever singing performance in a convention.
Aya Ikeda also had her own Meet and Greet session prior to the concert, but also held her own handshake and merchandise selling session after her performance on Cosplay Mania JAM Day 2. Loverin Tamburin also initiated their own Meet and Greet but free of charge, giving away free posters for signing as well as the selling of their music CD's.
Ticketing System
Cosplay Mania improved on their ticketing system by providing more options for con-goers on how they will customize their convention experience by introducing the following ticket tier system:
The Titanium tickets have long been sold out since August of this year. However one ticket will be given away at Cosplay Mania's Early Bird Raffle.
All tickets are available for purchase at all SM Tickets outlets.
Notable supporters of the event include Japan's Haneda Music Festival, Magic: The Gathering, Doraemon and even the appearance of the official Pikachu mascot which was recently named by Japan as the official mascot for the 2014 Brazil FIFA World Cup.
This year's Cosplay Mania has increased their floor space to include Function Rooms 2 to 5, and Meeting Rooms 2 to 9, occupying over 7,000 sq/m. The layout has also been reversed, with the Exhibitor Hall occupying Function Rooms 4 and 5, and the stage area occupying 2 and 3. As a result, the Exhibitor Room, dubbed as Hall Ex, has over 200 exhibitor booths ranging from game booths to assorted merchandise. The stage are, dubbed Hall S, was smaller in size than last year, but has enough space in allowing audiences to comfortably enjoy the cosplay competition and the JAM concert. The meeting rooms are still assigned for Meet and Greet activities and merchandise selling.
Cosplay Mania Roadshow
Months prior to Cosplay Mania, Cosplay.ph had intensified their promotion by creating events and partnering with other organizations, both in cosplay and Japanese concerts. Most notable are Cosplay Carnival, NexCon, TORCH series, Meet and Greet Madness and the LISA mini-concert held at SMX Aura.
Cosplay Mania Cup
The Cosplay Mania Roadshow created a series of Individual category cosplay contests in each of their events that would culminate in the final showdown during Cosplay Mania. The winner receives the Championship prize. This is separate from the Cosplay Mania's own Cosplay Solo Showdown, also an individual category cosplay contest.
Tournament of Champions (TORCH)
The activity has been delegated as part of the Cosplay Mania Roadshow event, and finalists from 8 cities have participated at the grand finals at Cosplay Mania. The winner of this year's TORCH was Team Ban x Kai, a team known to have joined TORCH continuously since 2010. They will represent the Philippines at Anime Festival Asia's Regional Cosplay Contest in Singapore.
Cosplay Mania '15 Guests
Ten guests graced event, with cosplayer celebrities KANAME☆ from Japan, Ying Tze from Malaysia, Jesuke Jes from Singapore and Hana and Baozi from China, and JAM performers Itsuki Akira, Ladybeard, Loverin Tamburin, Aya Ikeda and Pile (singer).
Ticketing System
Cosplay Mania maintained last year's tier system but with an increase of their prices. All tickets, except for Platinum and Titanium, can be upgraded:
All tickets are available for purchase at all SM Tickets outlets.
Notable activities
Cosplay.ph has partnered with NHK with a Japanese Karaoke contest called Asia Karaoke Nodojiman, whose winner was announced the same day and won a free trip and accommodations to Japan.
Notable partners
This year the event has partnered with Daiichi Kosho, Japan International Broadcasting Inc. and Daisuki.net.
Cosplay.ph, the organization behind Cosplay Mania, has announced the date of next year's event as October 1 and 2, 2016 at SMX Convention Center beside SM Mall of Asia.
It occupied the whole function rooms 1-5 and features more interactive games. Guests artists, voice actors and cosplayers from Asia are also invited.
The decade-old convention returns to SMX Convention Center, September 29 & 30, 2018.
In their 10th year, the convention featured big names as special guests:
Cosplay mania was never held due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
After two years of hiatus due to the pandemic, Cosplay Mania was back in SMX Convention Center, October 1–2.
Guests included voice actor Nozomu Sasaki, the VTuber group Yashin Live, Hololive Indonesia VTuber Kureiji Ollie, among others. The Philippine branch of Bilibili was touted as among the sponsors for the year's event.