APCC Manila 2015 Round-up

Manila hosted the first ever Asia Pop Comic Con last September. The inaugural Pop Culture event featured guests from Hollywood Celebrities such as Paul Bettany (Avengers: Age of Ultron), Nathalie Emmanuel (Game of Thrones, Furious 7), Colton Haynes (Teen Wolf) and Jeremy Shada (voice actor of Finn the Human from the Cartoon Series: Adventure Time).

International Comic Artists Whilce Portacio, David Yardin, Leinil Yu, Mico Suayan, Marc Torres, Stephen Segovia, David Mack and C.B. Cebulski were on hand to provide insights and tips on how to break into the comics industry.

Alec Gillis and Tom Woodruff Jr, co-founders of ADI (Amalgamated Dynamics Inc.) demonstrated how puppetry and animatronics work during their panel sessions.

World renowned Club DJ from Japan DJ Tekina//Something aka Yuyoyuppe entertained fans in attendance with his signature Pop/Techno/Rock beats during the event.

For fans of Vinyl Toys, Sculptors Amanda Louise Spayd, Chris Ryniak, Jesse Yu aka J*Ryu and Simone Legno (Founder of TokiDoki) exhibited their unique collection of toys. They showed a glimpse on how to give life on the vinyl sculptures with hand-painted colors.

Speaking of toys, life sized Lego versions of Star Wars characters were exhibited at the Lego booth. There also statues of Star Wars, Marvel and Alien vs Predator character on display there as well. Singapore based Comic Cave Studios featured a 1:1 scale Hulkbuster where fans can have their photos taken while “wearing” the suit.

Celebrities Paul Bettany, Nathalie Emmanuel, Colton Haynes and Jeremy Shada grace the panel sessions to interact with fans and get to know more about the Hollywood celebrites.

Internet Personalities ComicBookGirl19, Commander Holly, Octopimp and Strawburry17 got to meet and greet their Pinoy fans.

One of the highlights of the event was the exclusive screening of the official trailer of Captain America: Civil War.

Of course, the APCC wouldn’t be without a Cosplay competition.

Filipina Cosplay Goddess Alodia Gosiengfiao, International Cosplayers, Vampy Bit Me, Monika Lee, LeeAnna Vamp, Props & Costume Maker Bill Doran, Cosplay Photographer Jay Tablante, and Model Allison Harvard were the judges for the first ever CAGE or Cosplay Authority Global Challenge.

At the CAGE Finals, Nathalie Emmanuel and Colton Haynes were on hand to personally award the winners Open Category and Kids Category.

Winners of the Kids Category are: Meredy Carlos as Mikasa Ackerman (Best Reenactment), Bolen Lareza as Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn (Fan Favorite) and Ashley Misaki as Batman (Best in Show).

In the Open Category, Guy Singzon was crowned CAGE Champion. He won $10,000 USD and the right to represent the Philippines in the CAGE Competition at APCC Abu Dhabi on December 3-5. Izaiah Buelos was awarded 1^st Runner up while Christian Umali placed 2^nd.

The APCC wrapped up with a live performance from Jeremy Shada’s band Make Out Monday.