Having attended the past four cons, I decided to go for a different experience this year. I volunteered as a marshal.

Not only do we get to attend the convention for free, we also get the nice theme shirt (the design of which could have been better, in my humble opinion) and the coveted marshal ID. We get free grub and the occasional freebie too.

D-Minus
I immediately sent an email the moment the information about volunteering was available. It took about a week to get an "unexpected" reply.

As I came home late in the afternoon after an "exhausting" 2pm job interview in Makati, I decided to check my email for anything. There was mail telling me to attend the briefing later at 6:30pm. Since it was around 5pm that time, and the place is more or less an hour and a half away (that time of the day would further lengthen the trip), I scurried up to the venue and made it in time, partly due to "Filipino Time". (events normally start much later than scheduled)

During the event briefing, I met "Gina", a fellow volunteer and "Viktor", a marshal senpai. Gina, as I found out, graduated from UP-LB with a degree in Forestry, a government employee (is the government the only group willing to pay people concerned with nature?), a "Bleach" + "One Piece" addict, enjoys taking photographs and a resident of Dasmariñas, Cavite. Viktor, on the other hand, has been with the con since 2004, a Computer Science graduate with a desk job in a local government office in Laguna and has VERY noticeable chap-free, pink lips (lip balm, I think.). It also turns out that this person has a LOT of issues. Annoying issues.

After around 2-3 hours of waiting, we finally met our recruiter, "Azrael". We were told that instead of becoming normal, generic marshals, we are to become PAs (Production Assistants) whose job is to make sure that the program runs smoothly in order, attend to the needs to the stage performers and do some errands. A good thing about it is that we get practically the best seat in the house, right in front of the stage. Unlike the other marshals who roam around, we just sit there near the audio system to enjoy the show unless we had something to do. Fairly easy.

A day before the event proper, we reported to the "Day Zero" briefing. There I met an addition to our team, "Pao". Pao is also a Computer Science graduate three years my senior from a Makati school, a resident of Laguna and has a VERY striking similarity with a kouhai from the 'org back at the university.

We were briefed on what to do and expect during the convention, as well as the "go-to" persons in case there were some problems. Concerns and issues were ironed-out afterwards. Marshals were divided into two groups - the "General Purpose" (General Patronage, as one of the brass jokingly put it) and the Cosplay Marshals. (since the con prides itself with having the biggest cosplay event in the country) Cosplaying has gained a cult-like following here in the country and I think it will only be a matter of time before it can be considered a national hobby. During the briefing, Viktor kept on telling me bad things about these cosplay marshals, about them being boastful, arrogant, "hydrocephalous" (malaki ang ulo) among other things. He probably has a standing issue with these guys and he wants someone with him to hate them too. At first glance when you look at them, yes they look a bit proud, but I think he should just shut up and accept the fact that everyone is unique, that what they do is entirely up to them and not to his own standards and there is nothing he can do about it. I don't think commenting on what other people are doing is included on the job description... You are better off minding how you should work on your own job. And since he whispers bad things every now and then, I can't keep my mind on briefing... It's really annoying...

There were some familiar faces from previous conventions as well. For starters, there were these people from Kyoudo, who assisted us with our own anime convention and cosplay at the school a year ago. Of course Kuya Archie, our supposedly 'org sponsor had a booth too. As for the rest, I've seen them before but I just don't know their names. I met a fellow Thomasian alumnus from Muntinlupa, "Boyet", who had brought up the issue after seeing the college shirt I was wearing. We were more or less a decade apart, but it was nice to hear about a college brethren in the same hobby.

Just before dismissal, Azrael arrived. He just gave us a short talk about the activities and gave us some rules that overrode the ones we were previously told. We no longer have to report to the "Grand Marshal", and we can come and leave at any time we please. I jokingly talked to Gina and Pao about giving our team a name and they laughed it off. We were still under GP, but we were answerable to only the organizer himself. No one else can order us around too. GP no Tokubetsu Kogeki Tai. LOL.

Finally, IDs were issued and we were given our "uniform". Since the theme of this year's convention was about "Transformers", we had a fan-draw jeepney mecha armed with a kampilan and a shield with a Philippine flag design printed on the front of a black shirt. We walked around the mall for a while after a brief day zero photo shoot with the exhibits. Sice it was payday, I don't have a job and they were feeling really generous for some reason, my dinner was on Gina and my bus fare home was on Pao. We talked about a lot of things and I found out the reason that Viktor "redirected" the talk to me was that they kept on ignoring him. "He should not burden other people with his problems because we already have problems of our own", an annoyed Pao puts it. I couldn't agree more.

We called it a day.

D-Day
I arrived in early at 9am and before long, Azrael was there and I was told to sit down near the audio equipment and await orders. Pao was unable to report due to work and Gina arrived late in the morning.

The event went pretty much smoothly, and being Filipinos, the slight delay was given. I was relegated to errand work, buying things, taking messages and handing prizes to the emcees at the stage. Pretty simple, but can get pretty tiring really... The venue was twice the size this year (two joined MegaTrade Halls instead of one) and running around breaks a sweat. Not to mention the heat generated by the crowd, (which prompted the ticket booth to close at 4pm, the venue could no longer take in more people) as well as spending extra calories maneuvering through them.

"Jill-Kaicho", the 'org president during our senior year was there to cover the event for "Hero TV". She had found work at the anime TV station soon after graduating. "MP" (who only a few hours earlier drafted his entry for the orichara design contest), "Julette-nechan" (clad in an unusual hot pink anime-ish attire, "It's a legal, perfect time to look weird!" - quoted, upon being asked on why was she sporting such garb), her boyfriend and their cousin (whose names I forgot) were there too. there too.

Moving on to the late afternoon events, the reason why people come to the convention - the cosplay, finally started. For the day, the individual cosplay was scheduled. There were arond 165+ cosplayers and the segment ran for about 3 hours. The famous cosplayer, "Alodia Gosengfiao" was one of the hosts too. The view from our place was nice, well except every time the people in front of us stood up to take pictures or whatever, which prompted some of the guys at our table to throw something at them to get them to sit down. I hear there was a mother who got into a fight with a photographer in the front row because of it.

A lot of nice cosplayers this year for the most part, though I fear that "Man-Faye"'s influence has spread here. We have a "Man-Sailor Venus" instead. If your physical qualities can actually pass as a "normal" female then I guess it's not that bad but if you've developed "obvious" secondary male characteristics (we all studied puberty and its effects on both sexes back elementary school) already then I think it's NOT a good idea.. He did it anyway, and we were all treated to a panty-shot that we did not want. If there was anything to admire about it, it was his guts to try and pull off that act.

As for the "real deal" nice ones, there was this "Suzumiya Haruhi" (we aptly named "Haruhi B") who paraded around the stage dressed in a sexy bunny-waitress suit. She should have been the winner I think. First she fits the clothes perfectly, (thus yielding generous amounts of the type of fan service we like and love) and she puts out that high-pitched spirited anime girl voice. There was "Christie" from "Tekken 4" too. What's neat was before the cosplay we saw her play that dance machine game with "unusual" choreography. She pulled off some capoeira stunts at the stage, the movements of which had a fortunate fan service side-effect.

Since the con was not just about anime, there were other things as well, including a "well-fed" "James Bond". There was "Mr. Javier" from our club as an early WWII Filipino Infantryman, complete with webbing, equipment, .45 M1911, bayonet and the dough boy-style helmet. There were two others with him dressed in Philippine Revolution clothes and they performed sabre/bolo drills. I for one find it nice that there are history buffs, but the people around me burst into laughter.

Last performer was something really interesting - cosplaying as "Wikipe-tan". I'm very glad to know that net characters are finally starting to get noticed here. We just need to find a nice girl with long hair to dress up as XP-tan.

After the cosplay as expected, people started leaving and we finally had time off. I took the chance to look to find something cheap to buy. One particular figure I was eyeing, a "Kanako Ohno" figure from "Genshiken" was at 33% discount, but it was still way costly. One store had a lot of trading figures to chose from, but the were quite expensive compared to the other store who had one or two choices but were at buy-one-take-one. Being a jobless poverty-stricken fool wanting a souvenir, I took home a "Tsukino" and a "Kuguru" figure (from "Yakitate! Japan" and "PetoPeto-San", respectively. I read that the "PetoPeto" heads actually are compatible with "Pinky" bodies) MP on the other hand, got two Tsukino figures (in different attires, thank goodness) and two character busts from "Last Exile". (which unfortunately was the same character) Gina bought a ton of "One Piece" Lego-like toys and some "Bleach" key holders.

We bid goodbye to our leader and to Jill-Kaicho, then we went our separate ways.

D-Plus
I was in the same time as yesterday, but the boss wasn't around until an hour later. I sat idly near the sound equipment until Jill-Kaicho showed up and gave me a friendly punch at the back of the head. Pao is out of the con, Gina will be arriving late in the afternoon. MP came in earlier after lunch.

Same task, only more demanding.. Azrael is quite upset about the delays.He's also quite mad at some of the events people.

Today the fan made films were shown. A lot of them were based on the popular "Konami" game, "Metal Gear Solid". Then I hear Viktor commenting about the film being the worst MGS depiction yet.

Later the group cosplay started and there was this "Seigaku" team from "Prince of Tennis" acting out on the stage. As a part of their play, a girl from a different series comes out and does her stuff. Viktor then comments that the girl is way too ugly for the role. Maybe true, but if we have nothing good to say about it then can we at least keep our comments to ourselves? Or try to see it differently then, like admiring the effort? Ever heard of "generous with praise, cautious with criticism"?

It seems that he is also mad at Gina and Pao, accusing them as "freeloaders", taking a marshal ID, the free shirt and a meal ticket without doing their duties. As usual, I get full transmission of all the bad things he can think of about those two. He doesn't know half of it... Those two have jobs, have family duties, have other business to take care of. What's more annoying is that every time I use my phone he asks me on who am I communicating with, on where am I going every time I move, on what Gina is saying, etc. What are you, Big Brother?

I took the last hour to look around for something to buy, bt in the end, I only got a few cards. MP, who was well-funded that day bought a "Nishiki Ropponmatsu" figure from "Excel Saga" character figure from the "Yamato Story Image Figure!" series. Gina bought yet again, a ton of "One Piece" key holders and soft plastic figures. On notable finds, we saw a "Kaname Chidori" + "Tessa Testarossa" from the "Monsieur Bome" figure line. There was a "Pinky St." booth too, but we couldn't get close to it because there were a lot of fan girls and E.G.Ls taking their pictures next to the toys.

We then took our defeated contest entries and bid goodbye to Jill-Kaicho and Azrael. I was given a free bird plushie (that "Oishii" mascot) with a severed leg. Am I a lame PA then?

Aftermath
After the event, Julette-nechan was there with hey boyfriend and we got treated to free bowling games. It was my first time to play, and my wrists + fingers hurt. Still have to work the proper form... It was fun though, specially the comfy bowling shoes. I got a free half-way trip home too.

Overall, the job was fun. I'm looking forward to volunteering again, and I'll be looking forward NOT working with a badmouthing senpai.

Turns out that I ate something bad during the event.

We have decided to work on possible contest themes in advance just for fun, so that when the time comes we can just pick one of our creations and compete with them.

The optional skirt from this Kuguru-chan figure that I got does not fit quite well and as a result of force snapping the attachments, loose red pigments from the skirt stained the pearly-pink panties.

I've splurged most of my year long savings already. I need a job.

No Mecha-Musume". Bummer.

Now that I am done with "Genshiken", I want this and these ones, with that figure I said ealier.

Do any of you Med students need a living guinea pig for your tests? I am negotiable.