Filipino Cosplay Queen Alodia Gosiengfiao was recently listed by Mashable among its list of 7 Cosplayers to Follow on Social Media feature. Gosiengfiao is a noted personality in the eclectic cosplay community in the Philippines and has broken into mainstream media trying her hand in TV hosting and appears in a supporting role in the Chinese film Cosplay Nation.
The term cosplay is a portmanteau of the English words “costume” and “play”. The term was coined by Nobuyuki Takahashi of the Japanese studio Studio Hard while attending the 1984 Los Angeles Science Fiction Worldcon. He was impressed by the hall and the costumed fans and reported on both in Japanese science fiction magazines. The coinage reflects a common Japanese method of abbreviation in which the first two moras of a pair of words are used to form an independent compound. Costume becomes kosu (コス), and play becomes pure (プレ).
It is a type of performance art in which participants don costumes and accessories to represent a specific character or idea. Cosplayers often interact to create a subculture centred around role play. A broader use of the term “cosplay” applies to any costumed role play in venues apart from the stage, regardless of the cultural context.
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Favorite sources include manga and anime, comic books, video games and films. Any entity from the real or virtual world that lends itself to dramatic interpretation may be taken up as a subject. Inanimate objects are given anthropomorphic forms and it is not unusual to see genders switched, with women playing male roles and vice versa. There is also a subset of cosplay culture centered around sex appeal, with cosplayers specifically choosing characters that are known for their attractiveness and/or revealing (even explicit) costumes.
The Internet has enabled many cosplayers to create social networks and websites centred around cosplay activities, while forums allow them to share stories, photographs, news and tips. The exponential growth in the number of people picking up cosplay as a hobby since 1990 has made the phenomenon influential in popular culture. This is particularly the case in Asia where cosplay influences Japanese street fashion and popular culture.
As of this writing, Gosiengfiao has 1.1 million “likes” on her Facebook page putting her among the rarefied roll of A-List social media celebrities who had accumulated their fan base through modern social networking sites. Cosplayers who make their own costumes are the best among them and command a particularly venerated place in their community of followers for the authenticity and originality that they bring to the craft.
[NB: Parts of this article were lifted off the Wikipedia.org article “Cosplay” and used in accordance with that site’s Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License consistent with the same license applied by Get Real Post to its content.]
benign0 is the Webmaster of GetRealPhilippines.com.
In the earlier days of her stardom in cosplay industry, I really like her but when she entered mainstream, cosplay industry became horrible. The essence of appreciation of cosplay ruined because flips made it “baduy” by making it beauty pageant plus they consider japanese animation (anime) as for kids only in spite of some of them are for matured audiences; hence cosplay in the Philippines is doomed.
So, she’s the most popular among people who dress up like cartoon characters? Wow. That’s an achievement.
Don’t you just love social media? 😉
Does Mashable do any stories that are not like this?
I’ve followed them twice on Twitter and both times I had to unfollow because they tend to flood your timeline with so much retarded info.
In a world where a half Mexican teenager who has never been to the Philippines can show what Pinoys are capable of, I will let this whole cosplay thing slide. Once it becomes front page on Inquirer I will be the first to ridicule it.
For people who are concerned with outward appearance more than anything, it’s a big thing.
Actually, it is.
Imagine a hardcore trekkie becoming a household name for being a hardcore trekkie.
Even more ironic is that in this culture, appearances are everything, watching animation is strictly for kids, even if that show has tons of blood splattered around or has really bad language.
Well, in fairness to Alodia she constructs her own accessories and designs the dresses herself (she outsources the execution of the base costume to a professional tailor, of course). Cosplay is her expression of art, and as far as art and artists go, she’s an achiever.
Too bad we seem to be excelling only in the arts.
its easier to trash others who have numerous followers than to make something of your life so you actually have your own followers. mollusk alert! just my 2cents
Oh “murdering” again? Ooh I’m scared. “Kill” harder moron.
Only anti-intellectual EMO pricks like you would do that.
You sir, are a product of our dysfunctional society.
Gosh. Fame through cosplay is an “achievwement?” Dafuq is that kind of reasoning?
She’s fiine as hell!! Thats all I care about. Would love to date her.
That’s great if she can carry a conversation. I wouldn’t want to date anyone who can’t talk about anything other than themselves, makeup, or wigs.
Good luck bro!
Just wanna come out and say this. I enjoy watching anime when I was a kid and still enjoy it now. It’s not all “for kids” as the general populace perceives it. This viewpoint is starting to change, but we still got a long way to go.
As for Alodia, I’ve heard some unsavory rumors about her both in and out of the cosplay scene. Can’t deny she’s prettier than the typical filipina gal though.
Unsavory rumors is the typical Pinoy appendage to popularity.
Alodia. Mashable. *Troll smirk*
Alodia, the Pambansang Cosplayer.