It's the time of the year once again for Yona's Blog in the Yuletide season because here are the winners for the Yona Kuromatoki's Interactive Podcast Fan Favorite Awards 2025 and the Yona Kuromatoki Platform Top Cosplays Rank 2025!
But first, here are the list of winners for the Yona Kuromatoki's Interactive Podcast Fan Favorite Awards 2025:
Favorite 4F Episode
1. "SatoIro: Pretty Cure's Wonderful Power Couple!" - 50%
2. "And the Next Piece Begins" - 27.30%
3. "KaiRain, Bahay ni Kuya's Hottest Yuri Pair?!" - 22.7%
Favorite Let's La a Go!!!!! Episode
1. "20 Years of the 48G and the 'Oh my pumpkin!' Impressions" - 13.6%
2. "Absolute Warrior Divas! The Princession Orchestra First Impressions" - 9.1%
3. "Road to the 70th! The Eurovision Song Contest 2025 Commentary!" - 4.5%
Favorite Guest
1. Miguel Pacquing - 22.7%
2. OriginalFish3 - 13.6%
3. Yakuma - 9.5%
4. Marco_G99 - 4.5%
Favorite New Guest
1. Warrick Studios - 27.3%
2. Yonesobi - 18.2%
3. Biribiri - 13.6%
4. The Anime Binge-Watcher - 13.6% (tie)
And now, the moment that we all have been waiting for... the full and official tally for the Yona Kuromatoki Platform Top Cosplays Rank 2025!
Thank you so much for voting and congratulations to all the winners and the participants of the two awards! You guys are all deserve the blessings received for 2025!
On behalf of this blog, I wish you all a kirakilala Christmas and an answerable 2026! Till the next YKIP Fan Favorite Awards and the YK Platform Top Cosplays Rank, guys and vadengs!
Hallo again, YKPers! I apologize once more for not posting new content on the blog because of various ganaps for the past three months. But now we’re so back again and again, this time for the two coolest events of the year - the Yona Kuromatoki’s Interactive Podcast Fan Favorite Awards and the Yona Kuromatoki Platform Top Cosplays Rank!
Much like last year aka the 10th Anniversary fiesta, we once again internally selected 17 cosplays (an additional two from 15 in 2024), this time, that define the Filipino cosplay community’s 25th anniversary. Unfortunately, some of them are out and replaced by both new and returning ones, in addition to reigning champ Cure Majesty (Hirogaru Sky! Pretty Cure) to defend the title. As for the YKIP Fan Favorite Awards, much like 2023 and 2024, the 2025 and 5th anniversary edition will consist the last three episodes of Yona Kuromatoki’s Interactive Podcast 4F, and the first eight episodes plus three special ones of Let’s La a Go!!!!! For reference, here are the previous winners of the YKIP Fan Favorite Awards:
2023 Favorite Season One Episode: "Yona's Random Rambles 2021" Favorite Season Two Episode: "365 Araw ng YKIP x Sayonara Thirteen: The Prelude - Road to Regeneration" Favorite Part 3.0 Episode: "It's Krejza! It's Majestic! Thoughts on Our 78th Main Pretty Cure Hero!" and “The Power of JaneNella” Favorite Recurring Guest: Christian Quilala Favorite Season One and Two Guest: The Roaming Historyador Favorite Part 3.0 Guest: Philip Garcia and Andrea “Drei” Labastilla 2024 Favorite Episode: “The Power of JaneNella 2.0: Electric Bonggaloo” Favorite Guest: Nightcat Favorite New Guest: Mimi Arañez Aaand without further ado, here are the nominees for the Yona Kuromatoki’s Interactive Podcast Fan Favorite Awards 2025!
Favorite 4F Episode 1. “KaiRain, Bahay ni Kuya’s Hottest Yuri Pair?!” (aired November 27, 2024) 2. “And the Next Piece Begins!” (aired December 10, 2024) 3. “SatoIro: Pretty Cure’s Wonderful Power Couple!” (aired January 24, 2025)
Favorite Let’s La a Go!!!!! Episode 1.“Yona Kuromatoki’s Interactive Podcast at PreCord PreCure Festival!” (aired February 2/5, 2025) 2. “Wan, Wan, Wonderful Forever~!!!!!! Our Wonderful Pretty Cure! Overall Impressions!” (aired February 27, 2025) 3. “The Rose of Versailles and the Still Relevance to Modern Society” (aired March 28, 2025) 4. “Sing, Dance and Fan Service! The You and Idol Pretty Cure♪ First Impressions” (aired April 23, 2025) 5. “Francis: Our People’s Pope” (aired May 9, 2025) 6. “Road to the 70th! The Eurovision Song Contest 2025 Commentary” (aired May 31, 2025) 7. “Yes BanG Dream! Fever at Ten!!” (aired June 27, 2025) 8. “Habemus Curatus! Cures Zukyoon and Kiss!” (aired July 21, 2025) 9. “20 Years of the 48g and the ‘Oh my pumpkin!’ Impressions” (aired August 22, 2025) 10. “Thanks for Waiting! The Kirakilala Road to You and Idol Pretty Cure♪ The Movie!” (aired September 27, 2025) 11. “Absolute Warrior Divas! The Princession Orchestra First Impressions!” (aired October 23, 2025)
Favorite New Guest 1. Yonesobi 2. The Anime Binge-Watcher 3. OriginalFish3 4. Yakuman 5. Miguel Pacquing 6. Biribiri 7. Warrick Studios
And finally, here are the 17 cosplays for this year’s Yona Kuromatoki Platform Top Cosplays Rank 2025! These guys have marked and shaped the first 25 years of the Filipino cosplay community and will battle for the top spot! BOLD - reigning winner of the previous year 2000s - Natsuko Aki (Cutie Honey) - Haruhi Fujioka (Ouran High School Host Club) 2010s - Yui Nanase (Go! Princess Pretty Cure) - Gora Hakone/Maximum Gorar (Cute High Earth Defense Club) - Reina Kousaka (Hibike! Euphonium) - Pikario/Rio Kuroki/Cure Waffles (KiraKira Pretty Cure A La Mode) - Kobayashi (Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid) - Emiru Aisaki/Cure Macherie (HUGtto! Pretty Cure) - 13th Doctor (Doctor Who) - Yasmin Khan (Doctor Who) 2020s - Takumi Shinada/Black Pepper (Delicious Party Pretty Cure) - Evangeline Burton (Birdie Wing ~Golf Girls’ Story~) - Ellee/Cure Majesty (Hirogaru Sky! Pretty Cure) - Komugi Inukai/Cure Wonderful (Wonderful Pretty Cure!) - Satoru Toyama (Wonderful Pretty Cure!) - Tomori Takamatsu (BanG Dream!) - Purirun/Purin Tanaka/Cure Zukyoon (You and Idol Pretty Cure♪)
To vote for both awards, we’ll open the Google Forms for YKIPFFA 2025 and YK Platform Top Cosplays Rank within before Halloween or after the Undas break so please watch out. Also, get your gadgets ready because the four highest number of votes in these two online polls will be crowned for all four categories. As with last year, the voting will end on December 15 and the winners will be revealed on Xmas Day, December 25, on the blog.
May among the coolest chaps and the episodes mentioned take the four grand tokens, so we wish them the best of luck!
UPDATE: The YKIPFFA 2025 and the YKPTCR 2025 online voting are now out on Google Forms, so kindly go to these sites and start voting NOW!!
May 29 is Saori Hayami's birthday, so happy birthday to one of my favorite seiyuus! And because it's her special day, here are my top 5 characters voiced by her.
Honorable Mentions
• Nino Arisugawa (Fukumenkei Noise)
Nino is the main girl of the show and its manga version, and I can't tell how much I love her so much especially how she fills for an ex-vocalist and her friend in a band that brought into unexpected stardom for her. I do also like how she helps Yuzu-kun who calls her his voice because he can't really sing at all and to talk about his family problems. Loving in NO hurry's songs and Hayamin is able to adapt the rock genre in the show.
• Ortfiné Fredericka von Eylstadt (Shuumatsu no Izetta/Izetta: The Last Witch)
The half of the IzeFine duo and ship. She's the crown princess of an alpine kingdom called Elystadt and a legit tomboy who vows to protect her country and its people from the Nazis in an alternate World War II setting, that's why she summons Izetta, who's also her childhood friend, to combat those invaders off - with the power of magic! Their chemistry is so sweet and I like how Izetta fends those fictional Nazis off with just her magic while Fine charges the command in defending the kingdom with limited armed forces around her but mixed with her graceful, humane act. The broom scene is one of my favorite moments from the show as well as how they confess to each another in a nest. Awwi how sweet! Also, lesbians beating Nazis are a win!
• Haruka Ogasawara (Hibike! Euphonium)
The president of the Kitauji High School brass club and a baritone saxophonist. At first, Ogasawara doesn't deserve the position for a then-terrible club because she's shy and doesn't have leadership experience like her vice Asuka Tanaka does, but over time she improves one step at a time while in her reign and I like how she leads the brass club in a timely direction with the help of her clubmates, and Taki-sensei being the new advisor and conductor on their road to the nationals. Episode 7 of the anime's second season makes her standout with her playing the aforementioned brass instrument which I really love.
• Shirayuki (Akagami no Shirayuki-hime)
A court pharmacist under the Wistalias, Shirayuki is a girl who has the passion to face a destiny she can't escape off and almost succumbs into the fool Prince Raji. With nowhere to go, she cuts her hair and goes into the neighboring kingdom called Clarines and meets a boy named Zen, who happens to be the prince of that kingdom. Their chemistry is both sweet and fluffy plus those kissing scenes in the anime sequel made me fangirling squeal. Also, the two opening themes performed by her seiyuu are wonderful and very pleasure to the ears.
5. Miyuki Shiba (Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei/The Irregular in Magic High School)
Miyuki is Tatsuya Shiba's biological sister and the Mahouka fandom's main heroine whose nickname are the Blizzard Princess and the Ice Queen, and is armed with the Casting Assistance Device to perform various abilities. To me, I know how she really cares about her brother yet with a very facade aura. Nevertheless, Miyuki really does have feelings with Tatsuya which has an incendiary implication.
4. Kokoro (Darling in the FRANXX)
One of the Squad 13 members who's the secondary pilot, or the pistil, of the FRANXX Genista, Kokoro is a sweet, kind and soft parasite who also lends a hand to those who need. The biggest shocks of the show were when Mitsuru switched places to Kokoro from both Ikuno and the poor Futoshi, having some lewd moments and the crashed wedding when the troops caught her and Mitsuru separately. Also, I got emotional when they gave birth a baby, and the years after epilogue when their daughter and her siblings grew up together with the remaining parasites which is why I also love Kokoro as much as I like Zero Two and Ichigo.
3. Haqua du Lot Herminium (The World God Only Knows)
The most intellect among the Runaway Spirit Squad, Haqua can be described as both a role mode and friend to Elsie and a quite brash to the things she stands for. My impressions on her is really good since the first time I saw her in season 2 and I remember how she erupts the students in Keima's school, making her reckless. But also her scythe is so cool that can slice bad demons. Moreover, her two character songs are so beautiful and Hayamin takes the opening theme for the Goddesses' Arc season, which is the longest full audio in terms of length but very godly too like the first two openings.
Our badass flower fairy who's basically the adorable surrogate daughter to Mirai Asahina/Cure Miracle and Riko Izayoi/Cure Magical, Ha-chan or Kotoha was born from the Linkle Smartbook yet her existence was a mystery where she came from until she actually inherited her powers from Mother Rapapa. Anyway, she's very clever, sweet and cheerful and ready to defend others whether in both forms. I like how she inherits Mirai's curiosity and Riko's hard working skills which she bears of and similars to. Not gonna lie, every moment with Kotoha in the season are just pure wholesome even the emotional finale episodes. But feels aside, it's an honor for Hayamin to be part of an iconic franchise like the Pretty Cure series which will go down in the history books.
1. Shouko Nishimiya (Koe no Katachi/A Silent Voice)
Shouko Nishimiya is breaking barriers and stereotypes of having disability characters in the otaku universe, something we should celebrate and honor everyday. Despite being deaf and bullied by some twerps around her, she uses it as a good opportunity to accept about who she really is, gather a proper circle of friends and to at least have a romantic love with Shouya Ishida, which later the two are a romantic couple. See? Love knows no boundaries and for me, Nishimiya and Ishida have just expanded that line even further.
And that's my top 5 and honorable mentioned characters voiced by Hayamin. Who is/are your favorite character/s voiced by her? Comment down here or @goddessyk13 on Twitter.
Hooray, hooray! Welcome to my Pinoy Otaku Festival highlights part 3 and let's take a trip down memory lane of its 2018 edition entitled "Ai," or love in Japanese!
Speaking of themes, it was also my first time that an old and a new cosplay to be lined up at the same time in the same con and these were Reina Kousaka (Hibike! Euphonium) and Nishikata (Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san), plus my personal lineup theme would be the school setting coz it was a week before the new academic year began in PH at the time so I chose this.
Like the previous year, the con had more new activities including workshops, the Cosplay Championship League, the battle of the bands and the subs of its karacon - the Japanese translated and the Tagalized Star contests - aside from the YCSF.
Besides the Darling in the FRANXX appreciation rally, this marked the 1st time for Colony Drop Cosplay made their Asian con tour although it was also the 2nd time for Ms. Lorelei anyway, and they had a panel.
The 2nd day of POF also coincided with the MNL48 First Generation Fan Meet and I wasn't able to attend the latter due to sked conflicts, but my elder nii-san became my proxy for it.
Speaking of karacons again, I sang "Shinkyou Projector" by Chika Anzai aka Reina K.'s seiyuu for the YCSF and did a Filipino-translated rendition of "Himitsu Dolls," the ending theme of the Strawberry Panic! anime series originally performed by Mai Nakahara and Yui Horie. I won the latter as the champion of the Tagalized Star karacon and gosh, I just couldn't believe that I finally had another token for the first time in 2 years (until I bagged another one, this time in Coslandia, more than a year later as the 2nd runner up)! 😭❤ Super unexpected but that more than 3 month preps were really worth the wait.
Tearjerkers aside, POF 2018 had a whooping 7000+ attendees which was a 3k more than the previous year. But considering the space and other circumstances, the organizers had decided to move in a more spacious venue beginning in 2019. Nevertheless, it was another blast despite various flaws. If you want to take a look on the 2018 edition, check out my vlogs posted on my page.
If you're currently watching the anime Hibike! Euphonium, you might get noticed that after recapping the previous episode then you'll see the show's logo moving as well as you can see the interior of the Kitauji High School's Music Club, the serious face of its main heroine Kumiko Oumae (voiced by seiyuu Tomoyo Kurosawa) and the OP sequence progression from the three other main gals like Hazuki Kato, Sapphire Kawashima and Reina Kousaka to a performance of the Kitauji High Ensemble in unison then showing Kumiko's eyes got sparkling followed by the external of the school and the silhouettes of the cast at the end of the sequence. Speaking of which, I am talking about one of my only 3 favorites (the other two are Show by Rock!! and Nisekoi 2) for this year's spring anime lineups as well as one of the most popular anime songs of 2015 and of all time that is "DREAM SOLISTER" by TRUE.
Official CD covers for "DREAM SOLISTER," the regular (above) and the anime (below) editions| Lantis
The song was written by Miho Karasawa, with the composition and arrangements by Yusuke Kato. It was released last April 22, 2015 under the record label Lantis. The regular edition contains two discs (the audio CD and the DVD) which in disc 1 includes the full-length audio version of the song, "SAKURA CONCERT," "Swag!!" and the instrumental version of "DREAM SOLISTER." Disc 2 includes the official MV* of the song as well as the making of that video behind the scenes. The anime edition on the other hand, was adding the TV sized version of the song used for Hibike!
If you want to sing out loud to this song, here are the romaji lyrics in full and TV size versions:
Romaji (Full):
Kanaetai koto ga afureteru kara Tachidomatteru hima nante nai yo ne Mune ni himeta akogare wo full volume de todokeyou Ikou crescendo no mukou e
Tsumazuitemo ii hamidashitemo ii Kimi no neiro wo bokutachi wa matteiru
Hibike umaretate no yume tsumekonde Ooki na sora e ima tabidatou Hirake egao wo mikata ni tsukete Hanasanai akirametakunai Genkai sae mo hanekaesu yuuki de DREAM SOLISTER Bukiyou de sunao janai tokoro mo Ganbariya no kimi no kosei dakara Sugao no mama de mou ichido omoi o kanadetemiyou Yume no takuto wa jiyuujizai
Hitori ja dasenai oto ga aru koto Kidzuita kara mayowazu sing hijikeyou yo kagayake swing Sorezore no kokoro kasaneaeba ima hajimaru Seishun no prelude
Todoke sekai wo makikomu hodo atsuku Owaru koto no nai asu wo egakou Hitotsu futatsu to fueteku melody Oide yo koko made oide Tanoshimanakucha madamada fortissimo DREAM SOLISTER
We gotta swing, we gonna make you swing We gotta swing, so ever free
(repeat)
Marude itszuragaki mitai na melody Rikutsu janainda ongaku shiyou
Hibike umaretate no yume tsumekonde Ooki na sora e ima tabidatou Hirake egao wo mikata ni tsukete Hanasanai akirametakunai Genkai saemo hanekaesu yuuki de DREAM SOLISTER
Hitotsu futatsu to fueteku Oide yo koko made oide Tanoshimanakucha madamada fortissimo DREAM SOLISTER
La la la la la, kimi no koe kikasetehoshii yo La la la la la, owaranai ongaku wa tsudzuiteyuku
Romaji (TV Size):
Kanaetai koto ga afureteru kara
Tachidomatteru hima nante nai yo ne Mune ni himeta akogare wo full volume de todokeyou Ikou crescendo no mukou e Tsumazuitemo ii hamidashitemo ii Kimi no neiro wo bokutachi wa matteiru Hibike umaretate no yume tsumekonde Ooki na sora e ima tabidatou Hirake egao wo mikata ni tsukete Hanasanai akirametakunai Genkai sae mo hanekaesu yuuki de DREAM SOLISTER
To purchase, it's still out via online shopping or buy (if living or visit in Japan) at record outlets. Or rather, digital download via this site: http://funime.forunesia.com/2015/04/dream-solister-true-hibike-euphonium-op.html
Well, this is my first post for "The Duchess' Royal Playlist." So next time, I'll be do the same thing again so feel free to get comments. But for now, let's enjoy the serenity music from the Hibike! Euphonium anime by leaving a line from Kumiko had said at the end of each episode:
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