25 Years of Philippine Cosplay Series: The Lack of Themed Conventions
I'll be doing these OP-ED pieces at the end of every quarter. So the next post will be scheduled on June 30th.
With that out of the way, let's get to the main topic of this piece: themed cosplay events. More specifically, themed cosplay events in the Philippines.
If you check the calendar of events on this website or the one at Cosplay.ph, you will notice that most cosplay events here in the Perlas ng Silanganan are catered to the general audience. You will also notice that of the few themed cosplay events, most, if not all, are based on certain franchises or characters from said IPs.
Only a select few events in the Philippines are based on specific fandoms. There's ToyCon for the toy collectors, Baguio City's RenFaire for those who love Renaissance faires, retro gaming events, and the recently finished Spice Erocon for the gooners.
The question lingering now in my head is this: "Why aren't there more themed events?"
I don't have all the answers, but let me list my opinions on why organizers won't do more events based on specific themes.
1. Money
Yes, money. As an organizer, themed events cost more time and money than regular events, and you get less bang for your buck. For one, you have to choose your guests wisely, and those guests might demand more moolah from the organizers.
Let's use Spice Erocon as an example. Big names in the 18+ entertainment world, like Maria Ozawa or Maria Nagai, can and would demand talent fees only people with loaded pockets can afford. That's not all, you also have to pay your staff and other less-famous guests the fees they deserve.
Another thing to consider is the event places themselves. Still using Spice as an example, some building owners might refuse outright to have an 18+ convention at their halls, so the choices for where to hold the convention are now limited. Those willing to lend their spaces for an event celebrating the marriage of cosplay and erotica now have the power to charge the organizer rent fees higher than they usually do because they know the organizers have a limited set of buildings they can choose to hold the event.
Another thing to consider is the event places themselves. Still using Spice as an example, some building owners might refuse outright to have an 18+ convention at their halls, so the choices for where to hold the convention are now limited. Those willing to lend their spaces for an event celebrating the marriage of cosplay and erotica now have the power to charge the organizer rent fees higher than they usually do because they know the organizers have a limited set of buildings they can choose to hold the event.
On the other hand, the event holders will have to expect their event to gain less revenue than if they held a general cosplay event. Not everyone will choose to attend something that doesn't tickle their fancy.
2. A niche's popularity
Certain niches, such as professional wrestling or model kits, do not have viable fan bases for organizers to conduct events for. Hence, only a few conventions are held for these sectors of the Philippine nerd community. If they organized such events, they would know that only a few people would attend.
Entities like Day Night Explores (DNE) and Pinoy Retro Gaming can organize gaming tournaments in the Philippines because they know the hype surrounding fighting games like Tekken and Street Fighter, and the audience surrounding the games. However, they also know that not all Filipinos are updated with the latest trends in gaming, so most of the time, you will only see familiar faces in said events.
3. The lack of suitable venues for said events
Going back to a partially discussed element of organizing cosplay events, organizers must carefully check if the venue they chose is suitable for the event they're organizing. This is why RenFaire is always held in Baguio City, because it has the venues and set pieces to conduct a Renaissance faire. You cannot and will not be able to organize an event like RenFaire in Tondo.
In conclusion, these are the key reasons, in my opinion, as to why only a few organizers are daring enough to conduct themed cosplay events.
How about you, dear reader? What ideas do you have as to why this is such a thing? Do you have an event for your favorite niche? Let me know in the comments section, and let's talk.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
John Carlo Rayas is a longtime anime fan and convention goer for more than a decade. Aside from writing for OtakuPlayPh, he also hosts his own site where he talks more about stuff not involving the local anime and cosplay community.
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