Tabi basa & greetings everyone. In this post, I’d like to share about my recent emcee job for a cosplay dinner called NSFW Cosplay Gala, where NSFW here means Night of Surprise, Fun and Wonder.
WHAT IS A COSPLAY?
Cosplay stands for Costume Play, and it is an activity where the participant dress up as a character from a work of fiction, usually superheroes or from anime.
In cosplay, a good cosplayer (or coser) should know about the character they are cosplaying as and they should wear a costume as close to the original one.
If the costume is not readily available, then a true cosplayer will go to great lengths to create that costume. In terms of character immersion, one should know at least the basic story about that character.
WHO AM I COSPLAYING AS?
I am cosplaying as Uchiha Itachi, a member of Uchiha clan that has visual prowess called Sharingan (copy wheel eye) and natural battle prowess. They are the one of the founding clan of Hidden Leaf Village (Konohagakure) in the Land of Fire.
Itachi is a tragic hero because as a child prodigy, he matures ahead of his age and wants to bring peace to the world without any means of violence. However, conflict between his clan and his village means an inevitable war, and he took a drastic measure (along with certain someone) to prevent it, but that leads to him becoming a missing-nin, and joins Akatsuki – the cloak that he is synonymous with in the large part of the story.
After awakening his Mangekyou Sharingan, he acquired few unique justsus, including Amaterasu (black, unextinguishable flame), Tsukiyomi (one of the most powerful genjutsu in Naruto-verse), and Susanoo (Itachi’s strongest technique, a giant humanoid construct made of chakra, capable of defending and attacking).
Although he is perceived as a villain, in the end, he is one of the key person that stops the Fourth Shinobi war in Naruto Shippuden.
EMCEE FOR COSPLAY GALA
Now, let’s talk about my experience of becoming an emcee for a cosplay dinner. How does it feel like? Well, it is fun and exciting! If I am not doing emcee duty, I would capture the images of everyone who is wearing those nice cosplays.
But as an emcee, I am playing a core duty as well – where I will be facilitating the whole show, along with the help of Gran Torino, Ceaser and Pocahontas, with Flintstone at the laptop.
These coordination is important. Sometimes I ask Nezuko-chan for some inputs during the night.
As an emcee, the fundamental is the same. You have to be alert. Basically, emcee makes or breaks the event. In a way, it is similar to emergency management. You have to be prepared for all eventualities.
The audio didn’t work? You have to do something.
The performer is not ready? You have to fill in the gap.
Music didn’t play as expected? You have to talk.
For those who is not experienced enough, those unwanted items are nightmare. But for the experienced one, it is something that they really enjoy.
The differentiator between a good and great emcee can be seen when their handle emergency during an event.
That’s why some event organiser is willing to pay extra so that their event is in good hands.
LET’S TALK ABOUT ENERGY
It is important for the emcee to be much more energetic than the audience. In the scale of 1-10 (with 1 being the least energetic and 10 being the most energetic), an emcee should be 2 scales higher than the audience. If the audience is already at the scale of 10, then emcee doesn’t have to do as much.
But if the audience is at the energy scale of 1, then emcee should be around 3. Too high, it will make the emcee looks out of place.
For cosplay event, it is expected to be around 8-10, depending on the crowd.
CHALLENGES IN MANAGING COSPLAY GALA
Aside from the usual challenge, one should be well-versed with anime. For example, the common one that I saw is Naruto, Bleach, One-Piece, Chainsaw Man, Genshin Impact, Jujutsu Kaisen, Kimetsu No Yaiba (Demonslayer), Rurouni Kenshin (Samurai X), My Hero Academia etc, though I did a photoshoot for Hell’s Girl once with a Miri cosplayer by the name of Felly.
For those who is a fan of those, it is easy to emcee a cosplay-themed event.But even if you are not familiar with that anime, you should stay curious and do your own research before that. You will thank yourself later for doing that because that will save you from a lot of awkward moments and potential embarrassment.
For the NSFW Gala, it is a laid-back and chill event, with a lot of fun and cool peoples. So, there is nothing to worry about. Too bad I was not able to take pictures with everyone, including those from Roman Empire, Samurai X, Minions etc.
The main challenge is no time for me to eat properly. I can only eat bit by bit as the dinner goes by.
SPECIAL EVENT FOR DATIN SALWA
TEAM COSPLAY PERFORMANCES
As you can see here, there were a lot of cosplay performances. Some chose to sing, while there are some who did a reenactment of drama. Some, chose to dance. Those fun variety really makes the event lively.
A decree was issued by the Roman Emperor which contains these two words: sub rosa.
The winner of the Team Cosplay is Oh My Yellow Pitch, followed by Battle of Superheroes. It was a close battle though but in the end, majority of the votes goes to
INDIVIDUAL COSPLAY COMPETITION
Now, it’s time for male and female cosplay competition. For male category, it was a fight between Elsa and Ketua Penyamun. Initially it was draw at Menti, but to make it fun, there was a cosplay duel between the two of them.
First was introduction, followed by talent show. Finally, it was voting time, where Ketua Penyamun Wins.
For Female Category, there was no fight: Harlequin wins, beating Zorro with Kuda Kepang and Roman Female Warrior.
THE END OF THE GALA
At the end of the Gala, once Joker & Charmander claimed the iPad and iPhone respectively, it is time to say goodbye. Gran Torino Iban-Bidayuh sang Biar Bekikis Bulu Betis, while Itachi sang Mr Sanuh.
With that, the gala officially ends.
Thank you to the organising team for entrusting me to emcee this event. Looking forward to the next event.
Your Tukang Rantek,
Claudius
Emcee / Photographer
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