Ang Bagong Libro

STEPPING OUT: A LITERARY COSPLAY COMPETITION

When: September 2, 2007 (Sunday)
Where: Manila International Book Fair (World Trade Center)
Organized by: Read or Die

Guidelines for Qualification

- All characters portrayed must originate from literary works. Characters that have originally come from anime, animated cartoons, video games, table-top games, television shows, and movies — even those that have book adaptations or novelizations, are officially disqualified.

- Costumes must be tasteful and cover appropriate areas of the body. Absolutely no live weapons will be allowed as props. Fire works and messy props (i.e. confetti, fake blood, smoke bombs) are also not allowed.

- The competition organizers reserve the right to disqualify any entry that they consider to be unsuitable, inappropriate, or irrelevant for any reason.

- Failure to comply with any rule, as well as disregarding written and verbal instructions from the Cosplay Team and the competition organizers, will result in the disqualification of the participant from the competition.

Guidelines for Registration

- Contestants must register on or before 14:00 (2 PM) at the READ OR DIE booth. Participants will be asked to provide all information required in the registration forms, as well as sign the release and indemnification agreements at the back of these forms.

- Participants are also asked to bring four (4) full-color full-body photos, print-outs, or photocopies illustrating the character they will be cosplaying. If none can be found, please bring photocopies of the text where the character’s description has been provided in the book or other printed material.

Competition Proper

- Cosplayers will be pre-judged immediately after they have completed the registration process. They well be escorted by the Cosplay Team to the Judging Area, and then escorted out once the process is finished. The competitors are then free to explore the main exhibition space, but are requested to remain in costume for as long as possible.

- At approximately 18:00 (6 PM), the top ten Cosplayers will be asked back by the Cosplay Team for the final judging round, which will commence promptly at 19:00 (7 PM). Competitors who have qualified for the final round but have already left the venue or have shed their costumes at this time will be excluded from the final round.

Criteria for Pre-judging and Judging

- Accuracy: 30% (How closely the costume follows the original design of the character portrayed.)

- Craftsmanship: 30% (How well the costume has been made, the level of difficulty involved in creating the costume, and the creativity employed in materials and construction techniques.)

- Characterization: 30% (How well the contestant portrays the personality of the character they are cosplaying.)

- Over-all Impact: 10%

Competition Awards

- Winners will receive specialty goodie bags containing books and other prizes from the Manila Book Fair, Read or Die, and our Sponsors.The Grand Prize is a brand new iPod Nano courtesy of Vibal Publishing. The top ten finalists will receive special gift packs from Powerbooks and Anvil Publishing. 

Others

- All cosplayers will be responsible for their own safety as well as the safety of their belongings. Neither the staff nor the organizers are responsible for any injuries and/or inconveniences resulting from their participation in the competition.

- At any point, the competition organizers reserve the right to cancel the contest and put on hold the distribution of prizes. However, this will only occur under extreme circumstances.

- Information given is subject to change by the competition organizers without prior notice.

Notes

- The head of the cosplay committee is Rotch Dumlao so please contact her at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it if you have any questions. I’m redesigning the website of Ang Bagong Libro (again) because our activities are kind of packed.

-Yes, Harry Potter is allowed.