COSPLAY was flaunted at its dramatic costume best at the AFA 09 Regional Cosplay Championships last Saturday.

Six finalists from Asia, namely Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Philippines competed for the prestigious title of Top Cosplayer of Asia.

To qualify, the teams of two or more dressed in costumes adapted from various Japanese anime serials and manga, and performed self-scripted skits.

Looking shiny and larger-than-life, their elaborate outfits detailed delicate cardboard pieces, stuffed animals and even blinking, coloured lights.

Since costume bore the heavier percentage of points, it came as no surprise that a large amount of time and money were spent on accurately portraying their characters' roles.

Popular cosplaying team, Witchblade: Alodia & Ashley, from the Philippines dazzled the crowd with skin-tight, revealing cat suits and fibre glass weapons with battery-operated lights.

Alodia Gosiengfiao, 21, was shy to reveal the exact amount the sisters spent but said "it was roughly 5 digits in Philippine pesos".

Their team was the last to perform during the two hour show, but with kittenish, high energy gymnastic moves and strong fight scenes, the pretty Gosiengfiao sisters drew loud cheers and lingering wolf whistles.

Other finalists like ST Revolution from Singapore received strong compliments from judges when they sang their song live - the only team who did so while others used pre-recordings.

But it was 00 Emotions, also from Singapore, who were crowned winners for their Gundam Seed themed costume and performance.

They swept both the grand and special prizes in the Top Cosplayer of Asia and costume categories.

Kaname, a famed cosplayer and guest judge at the event, gushed about Gundam and that 00Emotions' emotional song and fight sequence were reminiscent of the original series.

The judges praised 00 Emotions' dedication to their difficult costume creation and ability to execute their performance with fluid ease.

Consisting of 15 separate pieces of structured and painted "machine gear", complete with massive weapons and green light bulbs for eyes, Clive Lee, 30, said that a good costume does not have to be expensive.

The managing director of a game development company said: "My outfit is made from plastic - the $3 kind that you get from Popular bookstores. They are actually sturdier and lighter than cardboard!"

Such a delicate and intricate costume would definitely involve much hard work.

"I sacrificed two nights without any sleep to complete it. Along the way, I was close to breaking down as the costume got crushed when I was transporting it around in the rain, and the next day was the competition!

"Yet, since so many nights had already been spent on the costume and I had persuaded my fiance into joining the competition with me, we had to salvage the situation and go through with it."

Alodia and Ashley also faced her fair share of sacrifices. She laughed and said: "I actually missed 3 days of class for this and my shoes hurt my feet!

"But we are happy even though we did not win. We are going for ice cream with the other contestants and then have a good night's rest!"

Text by Michelle Tay and Stephen Vergara of Republic Polytechnic.

This is a final-year project by Republic Polytechnic students in conjunction with AsiaOne.