Come, See Toys: International Cosplay Day Singapore 2015

For the consecutive weekend I found myself at a cosplay event. This time I was at the International Cosplay Day Singapore (ICDS) 2015 which was held at SCAPE. The event was bigger this year. It was held over two days and had a packed stage schedule.

I got there early to buy a ticket. I think only a thousand tickets were available each day at the door and I didn't want to take any chances. You could purchase them online prior to the event but if you're a "cheapo" like me you'll want to save on paying the additional dollar on administration charges. I didn't need it but the first hundred could also receive a ticket for priority access to guest signings and selfies opportunities.

Don't let the doorman fool you. While he may look mild and meek he's actually well trained in assassination techniques. Just ask Koro-sensei.

The guest for this year was Jin (behindinfinity) from the Philippines. To be honest I thought she was a guy. I went through photos of some of the characters she cossed. There were Nagisa from Free!, Naruto, Rurouni Kenshin, Howl and of course Hiro from Big Hero 6. All I can say is well done! Your costumes and make-up are amazing and very convincing!

She cossed as Howl on Saturday and Hiro on Sunday at the event.

She did a short panel on both days. She touched on how she did some of her photo-shoots, most notably on Big Hero 6. The Baymax model she used was life-sized and they had to come up with ways to hold the arms in position. The cafe scene was impromptu. Her team happened to pass by the location and went ahead with the shoot.

She also spoke of having the scene in mind and the concept and style of how you want the shots to look like. The below are examples of a portrait type and cinematic style.

We got to know a little more about her during the Q&A. Naruto, Hiro and Rurouni Kenshin are among her favourite characters. She likes to draw, paint and also cook. She loves video games and is looking forward to Kingdom Hearts 3 where it'll crossover into the world of Big Hero 6. On how she keeps the passion going she says there are always new things coming up to keep up her interest. She looks forward to meeting new people, going overseas and learning new things in crafting and photography. She rates Hiro's armoured costume as her most difficult to date. The whole costume was self made and she incorporated a wire system in order to move the fingers.

Moving on to some of the exhibitors. The folks from GameStart, which takes place from 13 to 15 November 2015 were promoting their recently launched official game. It's a retro type side scrolling game. It's kinda like a mash-up of Mario and Contra. You go around jumping and killing stuff. You start out using Alyse, who is the mascot for GameStart whose main attack is firing a weapon. There are other characters which you can unlock and they each have different abilities. The guy I spoke to said there will be a special level available at GameStart and there are prizes to be won. I've downloaded the game and have already defeated the Geek Culture boss. It's pretty fun I must say.

The game is free to play and is available on the AppStore and on Googleplay. You can download it here.

Here's something interesting. 3D printed props. They looked great and felt good to the touch. I can only recognise Starlord's gun and Frostmourne which should be bigger. There are limitations to what you can make yourself at home, one of them being size. The guns have good size though.

The Doujin market could be found at the Treetop on level 5. The entrance was rather narrow and there was a jam at times. It was quite spacious inside.

Here's a sample of what was available.

The team from FightSaber were back and they had on display an assortment of custom built stunt sabers which they use for performances. Fans of Sword Art Online (SAO) may have noticed the Kagemitsu G4. It has a really nice feel to it. It is a little heavy to wield due to the light tube. It gives off a brilliant purple though. I wonder if Mace Windu would be interested. Lucky for us we don't need to be a Sith or Jedi to own one of these. You can simply check with Kit Sabers. You can ask them to build a custom design of your own as well.

FightSaber performed for us on both days. They are always entertaining to watch.

They also conducted panels. In the first one they talked a little about how they do their fights. There are basic patterns they follow when attacking. This could be a square or star shape for example. They throw in variations and combinations so the fights do not always look the same. The experienced performers will do jumps and rolls. The second panel focussed on the type of character you want to portray. An aggressive type will use more force, lock sabers and grunt, maybe also swing wildly when approaching his opponent. There's also the flashy type who shows off his skill.

The stage segments now. The Cosplay Runway was held on Saturday. We got to see a number of fantastic costumes. Here's a couple of them:

The Cosplay Talent Showcase featured four teams who all gave wonderful performances. There was song, dance and action. A note for future contestants, if using stage ninjas have them wear masks.

I love the Fiddlesticks costume. And I'm sure many others were wowed by it as well. The coser was standing on stilts and constantly moved about in a towering, creepy way. A really superb performance.

The League of Legends team took the Best Craftsmanship prize. In a surprise move, the judges also awarded them the Judges Choice Prize as well. It was thoroughly deserved I think. The Best Stage Performance Prize went to the Show by Rock!! team.

The annual Cosplay Chess did not disappoint. It was tons of fun to watch and big credit must be given to all involved for putting up such an awesome show! This year's match pit Beatrice from Umineko no Naku Koro ni against Nicol Bolas from Magic the Gathering (MTG). MTG had a booth promoting and demonstrating the game so Nicol Bolas's involvement is a nice inclusion. The pieces this year include assassins, "little girls", "dwagons" and the ever popular Deadpool. He apparently can be hired for a can of "Gabu Gabu", an ice-cream soda drink which I'll avoid for at least a couple of months. I think I had one too many cans of it. Lol.

In addition to characters using their unique abilities, there were dance battles, song showdowns and even a modelling contest. The dialogue was great, as were the sound effects. I highly recommend watching the official video when it comes out.