Otaku Pop Fes brings best or Japanese pop culture to Manila

With J-pop idol performances, anime showcases, cosplay contests, and more, OPF promises to be one of the best anime cons in the Philippines.

With J-pop idol performances, anime showcases, cosplay contests, and more, OPF promises to be one of the best anime cons in the Philippines. Image: CBZN Perspective

Last January 29, 2026, CBZN Perspective, organizer of game changing pop culture conventions and events, gave influencers, creators, and the media a first look at their first event for 2026, the first-ever Otaku Pop Fes, which is touted to be the grandest celebration of Japanese pop culture of its kind in the Philippines. This event is scheduled to take place April 25 and 26 at premier luxury casino resort Okada Manila, particularly in Cove Manila and at the Grand Ballroom. The event aims to bring fans of anime, j-pop, j-idols, manga, and vtubers together under one roof, with showcases of fan favorite shows, performances from Japanese idol groups, and cosplay competitions. This event will be spread out across two venues in Okada: The Cove for cosplay competitions, games, and the live concerts, and the Grand Ballroom for immersive anime experiences including photo ops, fanmeets, and anime screenings. In addition to members of the media, they also invited some of the movers and shakers of the Philippines’ growing cosplay community including Charress, Een Mercado, Prince and Awie, and Myrtle Sarrosa.

Cosplay influencers grace the press conference of the Otaku Pop Fes. L-R: Myrtle Sarrosa, Roxhane Kho, Zackt, Prince De Guzman, Awie, Charess, and Een

The Otaku Pop Fes promises to be different from other anime cons in the country, as organizers CBZN has joined forces with Japanese company Cyber E, part of CyberAgent, a company responsible for anime licensing and production, game development, and digital marketing in Japan. Thanks to that partnership, there will be appearances and fan experiences bringing to life some of the most popular anime on the air today.

Interactive experiences based on Dan Da Dan, Naruto, Tougen Anki, Tokyo Revengers, and Witch Watch will delight visitors to Otaku Pop Fes

Among the animes that will be receiving their own immersive fan experiences at Otaku Pop Fes are Dan Da Dan, a supernatural action-comedy series with paranormal themes, Tokyo Revengers, a sci-fi series dealing with time travel, Witch Watch, a fantasy romance series, Tougen Anki, a series deeply rooted in Japanese mythology, and the fan favorite and legendary series Naruto. At the time of this writing, these five series are confirmed to have experiences at the event and more licensed Japanese anime getting showcases at the event will be announced in the weeks to come.

Fans of Shadowverse and Umamusume are in for a treat at OPF.

Japanese games will also be represented at the event, as shown by two games which will be showcased there. These are namely Shadowverse: Worlds Beyond, a popular digital trading card game and Umamusume: Pretty Derby, a virtual horse training game which is gaining tremendous popularity in the Philippines.

The event will also have some good representation of Japanese popular music. The Cove at Okada will be brimming with exciting J-pop energy throughout the event. Headlining the music festival component of the event will be idol group UNIS, whose members are made up of Japanese, Korean and Filipinos with hits such as “Superwoman”, “Curious”, and “Butterfly’s Dream”. Other key Japanese music artists set to perform at the event include Hiroshi Kitadani, known for his themes to One Piece and Eir Roi, best known for “Ignite”, the theme for Sword Art Online season 2.

Ticket sales commence today, January 30, 2026. The ticket tiers are as follows: Event Only with one day pass for P600 and two day pass for P1000 and as the name suggests grants access to the event but does not include the live concert. The Event + Music Live pass costs P3,500 for one day and P5,900 for two day includes event admission and standing room admission at the concert. Event + Music Live S passes are P5,500 for one day and P9,300 for two day allow for event admission and assured seating at the concert.

Osaki Akinori, representative of Cyber E/CyberAgent stated that “It’s very rare for official Japanese companies to hold an event like this in Manila” and expressed his excitement for bringing some of the finest anime and Japanese talents. “Many anime fans in the Philippines have been waiting for this kind of event”. He also noted that this event coincides with the 70th anniversary of Japan-Philippines relations, and the event, by uniting Filipino fans of otaku culture holds much significance during this anniversary commemoration. After his speech, he gave some interviews in which some of the media and influencers asked about possible appearances from vtubers, voice actors/seiyuu, and manga writers at the event. To that, he said that they are in talks with some Filipino vtubers on possibly appearing there, and also if some cannot show up at this event, they can also be brought in to other events as well.

Some of the cosplay influencers also expressed anticipation and excitement about the coming event. Een Mercado hopes for some One Piece representation. Charress is very excited to see UNIS live in concert along with fellow influencer Rebyczko, who is also a huge fan of UNIS. Zackt is excited for the live concert, and Myrtle Sarrosa is hyped to see the Pinoy anime community gathering together and the experience of big time Japanese anime IPs being represented. 

If this media event alone is a gauge for how big this event will be, I’m willing to bet that the Otaku Pop Fes will turn out to be the grandest celebration of anime in the country. Based on CBZN’s track record in doing events with the Philippine GameDev Expo (PGDX) which I have attended and had fun at as it brings indie game developers as well as the Philippine Game Show which is a showcase of the fandom and players, I would say that the OPF will certainly be a big one in my books.