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| Monique Dimanlig as the not-so-lovable Sorceress Edea of Final Fantasy VIII. Photo by Quiela Sandel |
In the world of PlayStation Gaming, who's not familiar with the Final Fantasy Series? As early as my grade school years I was hooked playing the PlayStation. I can't believe that there are games that's indescribable. Games like Final Fantasy was a total shock in the gaming industry then. Whenever I see characters like Squall Leonheart and Rinoa Heartilly, I eventually remember Final Fantasy VIII by SquareSoft the first game I ever played. Whew! I missed my childhood! It will forever be part of my juvenile years.
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| A Cosplay of Geisha by Monique Dimanlig from Otacool 2. Photo by Jon Tapalla |
Monique Dimanlig, one of the famous cosplayers here in the Philippines, brought Sorceress Edea come to life. She's a vicious villain in Final Fantasy VIII. Aside from being a Sorceress, Monique also played as a Geisha in the world of cosplay.
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| A Cosplay of Princess Fujitsubo by Monique Dimanlig from The Tale of Genji. Photo by Raisa de Pano |
Monique is a UST graduate that fell in love with the geisha because according to her they are so beautiful and she realized that through cosplay she can start to become more feminine, graceful and elegant. At the UP Anime Manga Enthusiasts convention in 2008, she won as Hatsumomo from Memoirs of a Geisha. From then on, her character was established and become a famous name in the world of cosplay. Making a character come to life is not an easy thing.
As the geisha that she is, she did intensive research about the geisha and their community. she read books, watched documentaries and video clips on YouTube how they perform so that she would know how they moved, talked, and interacted because that is really the heart of cosplay. According to Monique, anybody can wear a costume but to become the character that is really something.
Just like her fellow cosplayers, Monique was drawn to this performance art that she'll continue doing it until she's old. She wanted her future children to become cosplayers. Cosplay really influenced them and become the very reasons for them to create something not only for the people to like but also to love.
