The Best of Anime is happening this weekend and to get you hyped up for it, we decided to interview some of our favorite Filipina cosplayers for you to follow on social media. They usually go to different cons and events, so make sure to keep an eye out. Who knows? You might be able to take pictures with them! 😀
20 Filipina Cosplayers Share Why Cosplay Means So Much to Them
20. Mary Ann Meneses
19. Gale Mayari, 27, @galemayari
Gale Mayari has been cosplaying since 2015 with Queen Elsa from Frozen as her first cosplay. “I decided to get into cosplaying because I always felt so happy and excited when I saw my favorite characters represented in real life,” she explains. “I wanted to do that for other people.”
Aside from cosplaying, Gale loves writing short stories, mostly in the horror, speculative fiction, and fantasy genres.
18. Saryn, 24, @saryn.ein
Photo by Jipri
Saryn Ein has been cosplaying on and off for 10 years now. It started out as something that she and her high school friends did together for fun. “Cosplaying enabled us to express our love for anime and games while bonding and practicing our respective artistic trades,” she explains. Although it has already been 10 years since she first cosplayed, Saryn only got into sewing and making her own costumes in 2016. “I can only wish I started doing that sooner,” she exclaims. “It’s so fun and challenging to try bringing fantasy designs into reality.”
17. Charlene Mae “ChaMae” Cayacyac, 26, @chamaemaemae
Chamae Cayacyac has been cosplaying for more than two years now to step out of her comfort zone. “I am very conscious about myself and I tend to compare myself to those pretty girls,” she explains. “Cosplay attracted me to step into a world where you can be another person, a world where nobody will judge you based on how you look because everybody looks different, after all.”
ChaMae also likes to travel outside of the country because it’s like stepping into the world of cosplay: you’ll enter a place where you’re different, where you’re not obliged to care about what others think about you. She is also an Isko from UP, and an engineer.
16. Rachelle Tegerero, 29, @pretxhel
Rachelle Tegerero has been cosplaying since 2012. Since she was a kid, Rachelle liked watching cartoons and anime, like Sailor Moon, Cardcaptor Sakura, Akazukin Chacha, and Magic Knight Rayearth. When she went to college, she saw on the Internet that there are people who dress like cartoon and anime characters, so she did her research on the hobby and told herself that she would join that community one day. Voila! Now she’s a part of it.
Rachelle currently works as a bank teller. She also loves to sing and cook.
15. Kristah Pauline, 19, @heyitskeirara
Kristah Pauline has been cosplaying since 2013 since she really liked the cute girls in cosplay in she saw in conventions. “I decided to try it,” she shares, “though I was really shy at the time, so all I really did was just try wigs at home.”
When she’s not doing things related to cosplay, Kristah really likes to draw digital and traditional art. Sometimes, she reads books. She is currently invested in school, as well.
14. Jennylyn Castro, 29, @dolltsukino
Jennylyn Castro has been cosplaying for almost seven years now. The reason she started? A broken heart. “When I was 18 years old, I saw a picture of Alodia Gosiengfiao in a computer shop,” she shares. “I didn’t know who she was at the time, but my boyfriend at the time didn’t want me to cosplay because it was just a waste of money.” As such, Jennylyn didn’t pursue the craft. When they broke up, she remembered wanting to cosplay. “It helped me move on and become a better version of myself,” she exclaims.
Jennylyn has actually also turned cosplaying into her bread and butter, getting paid to cosplay at events, helping other cosplayers by giving them raket, and establishing a costume rental business called Princess Doll Closet, which you can visit at https://www.facebook.com/PrincessDollCloset
13. Elliot, 28, @ellimirror
Photo by Tielo Esguerra
Elliot officially started cosplaying in 2015 when she attended her very first convention, the inaugural AsiaPOP! Comicon Manila, dressed as her favorite Marvel legend: Agent Peggy Carter. However, she has gone all out for Halloween and costume parties ever since she was a kid! “I remember having Jedi robes made for me when I was 8 years old just to go trick-or-treating,” she reminisces, “so it really is no surprise I started cosplaying. I’ve been doing it before I even knew what cosplaying was!” Dressing up and stepping into an imaginary world has always been a part of Elliot’s life. When she moved here from New York, Elliot shares that she missed having the daily creative outlet that theatre provided her. “Cosplay helped me channel that passion in a new and wonderful way, and also introduced me to some of my very best friends,” she shares.
For Elliot, cosplay is fun, an escape, a celebration of all things good and geeky, and a way to inspire! “There is something truly special about the opportunity to become the heroes you admire and to meet people, especially little kids who love the character as much as you do and believe in what they stand for,” she shares. “I think it’s important for people, young and old, to know that anyone can suit up, wear the mask, wield the shield, and be a hero, too.”
Elliot is a theatre actor, voiceover artist, geektivist, history buff, and vintage fashion enthusiast with a particular passion for the 1940s! She wears and collects vintage clothing, and loves to introduce people to fashion and makeup history through her wardrobe and personal style!
12. Maronne Cruz, 27, @maronnecruz
Photo by Francis Lumahan
Maronne Cruz has been cosplaying on and off since she was high school. “I’ve always been expressing myself through clothes and costumes since I was a child,” she shares. “I was a big Halloween lover, already wanting to bring my favorite geeky characters to life from a young age.” She actually had a Queen Amidala costume and even a costume of Hsien Ko from Darkstalkers at the age of 8! However, she didn’t formally know about cosplay until she attended one of the first ever anime conventions in the Philippines. There, she saw cosplayers dressed as all of her favorite anime characters, and she felt like she was meeting them for real. “Back then, the right wigs were very hard to come by, so I remember seeing heads of pink hair made out of yarn and very resourcefully made costumes on very pretty people,” she recalls. “I instantly fell in love with the craft and aspired to be able to do it. From there, the rest is history!”
Maronne is a full-time performing artist for theatre and TV/radio/print ads. On some weekends, she performs as the same characters she enjoys cosplaying for kids’ parties or corporate events. She also runs an advocacy that ties geek culture in with social responsibility! Check out https://facebook.com/aheroscallph
11. Riese Guilian Paoule Luna, 26, @OvahRiese
Riese Luna has been cosplaying since 2013 when her friend finally urged her to pursue her dreams of doing so. Aside from cosplaying, she really loves to collect Sailor Moon items, as well as watch anime, KDramas, and movies. She currently works as a court stenographer.
10. Awie De Guzman, 26, @awiesome
Awie De Guzman just started cosplaying very recently – in February 2019. Awie admits that cosplaying wasn’t really in her plans before because she didn’t have the guts to do it.”I like to stay behind the camera and I’m very shy,” she explains. That was until she was hired to appear for a movie premiere. “I knew it was my chance, so I decided to take it,” she exclaims. Luckily, a lot of opportunities came after that.
Awie has also been discovering her love for photography lately. She is also a digital creator, doing the collaterals for her social medias and usually shooting and editing both Prince De Guzman’s YouTube videos and her own where they upload their makeup transformations and cosplay journey! You may watch her videos on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/AwieDeGuzman
9. Georgette Herna, 23, @georgetterna
Photo by Mr. Rocky Howard
Georgette Herna has been cosplaying since 2013 because she loves the art and fashion style of anime and game characters! In fact, she says she would love to cosplay everyday because it’s her aesthetic and she loves the feeling of bringing a character to life. “It also relieves my stress in the real world,” she adds. “Going to conventions has given me something to look forward to, and I get excited knowing that I’ll get to see my friends from the North. Sharing the same passion gives me happiness.” Georgette is also into commercial modeling and gaming. You may check out her streams on Facebook.
8. Foxrots, @foxrots_
Foxrots has been cosplaying as a hobby for about six years now. “I think cosplay was sort of an inevitable direction for me to take,” she shares. “Growing up I was a huge geek; I loved comic books, superheroes, video games, a little bit of anime, even! I was also a theatre kid who loved dressing up as characters and getting to be them in front of a crowd. I used to dress up in costumes and merchandise for movie premieres years before I started cosplaying!” After Foxrots saw cosplayers online a lot, it didn’t take long for her to decide to try it out. After all, it was a marriage of her two greatest loves – visual arts and performing arts – while being a love letter to the pop culture media that she admired.
Foxrots it also an artist. She is actually a Graphic Designer for an Esports events company here in the Philippines, so her geekiness is evident in both her day job and her hobby.
7. Maria Buvelle, 25, @sillykonpeito
Maria Buvelle has been cosplaying for around six to seven years now. She has an affinity for theatrics and despite being an introvert, she was quite active in theater orgs back in high school and college. Maria also loves anime, spending sleepless nights trying to finish a season. In her second year, she decided to marry these two loves of her life and thus started cosplaying.
Maria also participates in singing and dancing contests. She also does runway and fashion modeling. On top of being a cosplayer, she is also a gaming streamer under NEXT Talents and works as a campaign strategist under The Loop Digital Marketing by day. “I’m a bit chubbier compared to other cosplayers,” she claims, “but I want to encourage everyone that no matter what your size and shape is, you can cosplay and be what you want to be! You just need to put your time and effort into something you really love and it will show.”
6. Angeline Rodriguez, @lilmisswonderwoman
Angeline Rodriguez only started cosplaying a couple of years ago, but she has always been interested in the art ever since she went to a ‘Star Convention’ in Germany (a comic convention for Star Trek and Star Wars fans) back in the 90s and saw just how much fun it could be. Being a massive geek since she was a child, cosplaying came rather naturally to her – after she lost 45 pounds and gained the confidence to, that is.
Angeline is also a writer, a bookworm, a gamer, and an anime and KDrama fanatic. Netflix is her one true love.
5. Miles Semblante, @mais.conheyo
Miles Semblante started cosplaying back in 2007 because a friend of hers told her that her big eyes would suit cosplaying well. Miles then looked it up and everything just fell into place. She hasn’t stopped cosplaying since!
“One thing cosplaying has blessed me with is working with big brands – locally and internationally,” she shares. “Being offered to be one of the the ambassadress for GIGABYTE Aorus has been a dream come true.” Miles also streams during her free time. She currently works as a graphic artist after having left her profession as a pastry cook. She has also started shoutcasting at local MLBB tournaments, as well as hosting.
4. Ross Diong, 28, @rossdiong
Ross Diong has been cosplaying for almost seven years now because of her fascination with the craft, the art, and the cosplayers. Ross loves dancing to KPop and is actually also part of a KPop cover group. She also loves crafting costumes, usually making her own if she can. She is also a part-time English tutor.
3. Aya Ezmaria, @ayaezmaria
Aya Ezmaria has been cosplaying since 2014. Since she used to model so, she shares that it was a nice change of pace playing characters she has an affinity with. “It’s not just about dressing up, but also playing a role – which I find fun,” she exclaims.
Aya is currently a game streamer under AMPLFY, as well as an events host. She is also an airsofter under Team RedWing and an amateur traceuese (parkour practitioner). She has also added Muay Thai to her weekend pastimes.
2. Myrtle Sarrosa
Myrtle Sarrosa gained popularity after becoming the Big Winner of Pinoy Big Brother: Teen Edition 4. Aside from being a cosplayer, she is also a video game streamer, host, singer, and songwriter.
1. Alodia Gosiengfiao, @alodia
Known as the Cosplay Queen, Alodia Gosiengfiao is a Filipina cosplayer model and artist. She is recognized for raising the profile of cosplay in the Philippines and is the founder of an international cosplay community named Cosplay Circle. Alodia started cosplaying in 2003 at the age of 15 by joining various competitions in Metro Manila. Her popularity began in 2003 when she won in an event called the C3 Convention in 2003 as Gun Mage Rikku of FFX-2. Since then, she has cosplayed over 40 anime, video game and movie titles, appearing in various local and international conventions as a participant, performer, judge, or guest.
In addition to her cosplay activities, Alodia is also a blogger, performer, pianist, figure collector and BJD enthusiast.
Who’s your favorite cosplayer?
