(Note: The review below is based on viewing the You-Tube videos of the AFA'09 skits and not in any way should it be mistaken or assumed that I personally attended AFA in Singapore. Feel free comment. The usual etiquette regarding posting/commenting applies.)
This year's AFA'09 came and went, and the winner picked out and given the grand prize of a trip to Japan and a sewing machine. The winner was the Singapore Team: Gundam 00 Emotion. My congratulations to them, one of the duo being Clive Lee (aka Mirage_cld) who was a regular visitor of the Mecha Cosplayers HQ thread of FilCosplay. Again our congratulations from us metal heads of cosplay!
Its a good thing, for those who didn't have the time and money to attend AFA'09 in Singapore, someone was kind enough to record and upload them in You-Tube. So to Zerartul, i personally thank you from the bottom of my heart for your generosity. So to everyone, here is the compiled recorded skit links of AFA'09 (click here).
AFA'09 was also the second time Filipino cosplayers were represented in an international competition, the first one being the Hong Kong Gaming Convention back in 2001, where JM Chua came cosplaying as Rurouni Kenshin's (Samurai X in the Phils and North America) Saito Hajime. He earned the right to represent the Philippines by winning the AXN Cosplay Competion two months earlier. And surprised everyone (and himself) once again by winning the Hong Kong Cosplay Competition.
In AFA'09, the Philippine team was represented by the Gosiengfiao sisters Alodia and Ashley, coming as characters from Witchblade the Anime.
Watching all of the videos, at the same time chatting with some friends and fellow mecha cosplayers, I've probably seen and realized fully why the Singapore Gundam 00 Emotion team won the competition. I have a few theories, and maybe I'd email Clive if my observations were correct.
