by Chua Wei Ling and Samantha Lee
Campus Magazine was down at the media preview night of ICEXPO last friday, which was part of the Shine Youth Festival that was happening along Orchard Road over the weekends.Organised by COSMO Youth Parade and International Youth Summit, the annual event is a celebration of youth passion and talents in the area of Cosplay and pop-culture. A few of the regional cosplayers and Harajuku fashion idol – Junnyan – were present at the conference as well. Unfortunately, due to bad weather and flight delay, representatives of the Hong Kong cosplay community were not able to attend the event.
Here’s what we got to see:
Kicking off the evening was Tengoku Parade with their WOTAGE performance, which is a form of dance involving glow sticks and usually performed during concerts. Paired to the fast-paced song, Hikari e no Countdown, the 4 guys put up a really energetic performance to the beats of the music. The ladies of Pika Pika Meido Cafe, which is a mobile cafe formed in 2013, followed next, with a dance choreography that was upbeat and adorable.
The band Ryuusei, despite having the whole band there, had only their vocalist singing for the night. With a rendition of Sobakasu by Judy and Mary, they closed the night for the performance preview that were to happen for ICEXPO.
The performances were then followed by a Q&A session with the guests, which includes Harajuku fashion representative, Junnyan, and guest cosplayers from Japan, Sakuya and Shibuki, as well as from Taiwan, Misa and Shiraga. Light-hearted questions regarding their daily lives as well their source of inspirations were raised, giving the media a deeper understanding of what goes behind the scenes of their costumes, fashion and makeup.
Campus Magazine would be giving away posters signed by the guest cosplayers soon! Do follow us on our Instagram and stay tuned.
