By Koh Hui Theng

SUNDAY was the day I turned into a cat-boy demon. Please, allow me to explain.

For Cosfest VIII: A Very Happy Event, Singapore's largest annual cosplay event, I donned a suit comprising a hooded shirt, vest and apron. I then put on a pair of "cat ears", a cat's tail and a green wig.

I was in costume, of course, and my character was Konoe, from the video game Lamento: Beyond The Void. For those who don't know, Konoe is a half-demon cat-boy who's got loads of attitude.

It was my first time cosplaying and I had a blast hanging out with fellow demons, death gods and samurais at Cosfest at Downtown East, which ran last Saturday and Sunday.

The festival attracted a crowd of 16,000 - 400 of who were in costumes based on anime (Japanese cartoon) or manga (Japanese comics) characters.

There were others who weren't too thrilled with my transformation.

A kid in my housing estate turned tail and fled when he spied me in costume as I exited a lift. And all I'd done was say a friendly "hello" to him.

HAVING A BLAST: The reporter as Konoe, a cat-boy demon character from the video game Lamento: Beyond The Void.

Other people on the street gawked in undisguised shock, making me feel terribly self-conscious. To his credit, the cab driver did not blink when I plonked myself, tail and all, in the back seat.

But once I entered Downtown East, I felt right at home.

Seeing a Lolita linking arms with a warrior made me realise that I'd homed in on the mothership of weird, wacky, and kinda cool.

This year's cosplay contest, which had 80 people competing, saw Mr Lim Wei Lun, 24, winning the contest.

He wore "chest muscles" made out of hand-painted cardboard as he cosplayed comical character Alex Louis Armstrong (from the Full Metal Alchemist anime).

Mr Lim, who is waiting to enter Nanyang Technological University, had everyone in stitches with his "bodybuilder" poses.

He was the epitome of how those in costume shouldn't take themselves too seriously.

His win means that he will represent Singapore at the annual World Cosplay Summit in Nagoya, Japan, later this
month.

This year's crowd of 16,000 at Cosfest is a far cry from 2001's, when just 400 enthusiasts supported the inaugural edition of the festival. It's a sure sign that the cosplay fad has really taken off here.

And Singapore Cosplay Club, Cosfest's organiser, estimates that working adults now form 30 per cent of the cosplay crowd.

Another 40 per cent comprises those who are just entering the working world.

That means that by 2012, most office workers might be cosplayers.

And what that means for me, I guess, is that I'll have more of "my people" around - if I ever muster the guts to cosplay again.

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