In conjunction with the festival, 11 to 11 Events announced VGLKLGAMEON — the biggest regional cosplay competition with the chance for winners to walk away with cash prizes of up to RM10,000.
Contestants are required to register themselves at gameon.11pass11.com before submitting photographs of themselves as their favourite video game, cartoon or comic book character. Examples and details can also be viewed on the website, with competition entries closing July 31.
Director of 11 to 11 Events, Leslie Jeyam, delivered a speech of optimism for local cosplayers and those interested in joining the phenomenon.
“Though our cosplay scene is perceived mostly as a niche hobby, Malaysians are starting to hop on the bandwagon and the cosplay scene continues to thrive. The whole idea of costume play, or cosplay, is that it serves a creative outlet. It is not only costuming, but a very unique form of performance art.
“We are excited to bring this amazing regional cosplay competition to the music and gaming community. That’s what VGL is about — the celebration of the world of gaming and music,” she said.
With bigger events each year, such as the annual Comic Fiesta (being held this year at MIECC instead of KLCC) and the year’s earlier opening of Animax Carnival, it’s exciting times within the cosplay society.
We spoke to many of the cosplayers who were keen to express their gratitude and passion for cosplaying as a welcoming community in a fun, feel-good factor spirit.
CosPlay-FUN founder Allan Yap, dressed as Captain America, was inspired by fond memories in pursuit of his favourite hobby.
“For me, growing up, the characters I knew were all two-dimensional — in comic books or on TV in the 80s and 90s. Three-dimensional gameplay or movies is a modern thing, to me. So to see the characters come to life is just amazing.”
For others it was a personal endeavour to be part of the roleplay experience, “Sometimes, it feels really good to just be that character,” revealed Chaiki Chen, who plays Tifa Lockhart from Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children.
“Being a cosplayer, I gained more confidence as a person,” she continued. “People don’t judge you in character. Everyone’s accepted because of local interest, so whoever we dress as is simply who we want to be, and people accept us like that.”
Hui Min said the cosplay experience primarily bred friendship.
“There’s an event almost every weekend in Malaysia, whether it’s Penang, Johor, Ipoh or KL, even in Singapore,” he said.
“You can find the events on Facebook and they’re great places to make friends,” she said, standing as Lanaya from Dota 2.
The cosplayers are among the friendliest of alliances. Talking to them is such a pleasure as they’re free and open about how they got into cosplay and how enjoyable life can be feeling a part of the community.
They also talk about the issues and misconceptions. Taka Yew, dressed as Sice from Final Fantasy: Type 0, spoke about how people judge from the outside looking in. “Unfortunately there’s a lot of misunderstanding about cosplay that’s not true,” she said.
“When people mention cosplay, they think it’s to do with sexualising characters. People think because the costumes can be revealing sometimes that it’s to do with sex and it’s not. We are playing the characters we like; it’s not about sexy outfits but about having fun bringing your favourite character to life.”
Despite the poor understanding, it hardly discourages the players in any way.
Sky Fara playing Sora from Kingdom Hearts was glowing with pride.
“I’ve been cosplaying about 10 years and I’ve made a lot of friends through cosplay. It’s an amazing hobby,” she said.
“Creating the costume is arty and keeps my hands and mind busy. It’s a lot more fun than just watching TV.”
Abigail Cheah, playing Elizabeth from Bioshock, agreed, saying: “Being a cosplayer is an escape. You can escape the monotony of working life, you can become the cosplay. It’s a relief from everyday life!”
Many supporters of the community and festival cite ‘adding colour’ to the event.
Among them was Kenanga Holdings executive director Megat Mizan Nicholas Denney who said: “The general idea of all cosplayers is the way they identify themselves in costume. For VGL, the opportunity is there for music and alter-egos to converge and add colour and character to the festival.
“I hope more cosplayers come to the surface as a result of these guys. The professionalism involved with the poses and photography is something to wonder at in amazement,” he said.
The winner of VGLKLGAMEON has the opportunity to join Tommy Tallerico, cousin of Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler, onstage during the event, becoming the face of VGL Malaysia 2015.
Tallerico is the revolutionary inspiration behind the whole concept of video game music, from the “beep-boop” sounds of 1970’s pioneer video game Pong to the symphony orchestras of today’s games such as Call of Duty and Metal Gear Rising.
Tickets to VGL Malaysia 2015 are available at www.11pass11.com.
