Coslandia 2019: Japanese Pop-culture Extravaganza

Before Coslandia 2018, I haven’t been attending cosplay events for years. While I was a regular at Toycon and Asia Pop Comicon, events such as Cosmania, Best of Anime, and even the Ozine events were no longer that appealing to me.

My current apathy to the hobby doesn’t mean I no longer like it, it’s just that I no longer actively follow it. There was a point in my life when I was really active in following Alodia, Jin Joson, and countless others who helped make cosplay big. It’s just that, at 36 years old, it no longer held my interests like it once did.

Covering last year’s Coslandia 2018 didn’t exactly reignite my interest in cosplay, but I did like the promise it presented. As a start-up, Coslandia was very small, but had the backbone of what could be something big. It had Cosplayers, gamers, and more importantly for me, idol groups. But its promise can only be fulfilled if it grows into a proper event.

Such is the aim of this year’s event. Coslandia 2019 is a three-day Japanese culture (J culture) festival jam-packed with activities, entertainment and guest artists showcasing the latest J culture in the field of idols, manga, anime, cosplay, e-sports and gaming. It will be held on November 1 to 3 at SM Aura SMX Convention Center, Taguig City.

Spearheaded by Hallohallo Entertainment Inc. (the operators of MNL48), the event aims to bring Japan closer to J Culture enthusiasts in the Philippines by making them experience Japanese pop-culture including its food, entertainment and fashion.

To kick off this year’s event, the initial lineup of idol guests was revealed which includes MNL48, 1-Girl, Reverse Tokyo, Samero, Hazuki Tsubasa, Yuasa Michiru and Gracorex.

MNL48 will also unveil their 5th single which will also be the theme song of Coslandia 2019. The Coslandia Facebook page also announced the official MNL48 Janken card game app. Make your own card selection and battle against players all over the world. Users can also access exclusive MNL48 photos and videos through the app.

The MNL48 card game app will be available on mid-September 2019 from the App Store and Google Play.

Fans of the manga series ‘Seikamatsu Blue’ will get a chance to meet the comic creator himself, Shintaro Hirota, together with the director, Tetsuya Hashi, and the cast of Seikamatsu Blue’s film adaptation for a special activity and appearance.

Other exciting Coslandia updates and major announcement such as sponsors, partners, exhibitors, talents and activities are expected to be unveiled in the coming weeks. These include idol performers, anime voice actors and theme song singers, international and local cosplayers, manga and anime artists plus e-sport tournaments, video game events and many more.

Tickets are now available in all SM Ticket outlets nationwide or through www.smtickets.com for P600 (one day ticket), P900 (two day ticket) and P1,200 (three day ticket), and early birds can get P200 off if they buy their tickets now until October 15, 2019.

For latest updates, announcements and other details visit Coslandia 2019 official website (www.coslandia.com) and follow @CoslandiaPH on facebook, twitter and Instagram.