Coslandia 2019’s biggest draw was never without question. The overwhelming majority of the event’s attendees came for MNL48 that it is pointless to insist something else.

The centerpiece of MNL48’s attendance in Coslandia is their mini-concert slated for the second day. It is their first performance in SM Aura, in a convention. But as is becoming the norm, there was a catch to their appearance: it will be a separate paid event. To add salt to the wound, it was announced mere days before Coslandia started.

Many MNL48 fans are admirable for their resilience. They still managed to get enough money to pay for the extra ticket. But it still effectively shut out a huge number of fans who weren’t so lucky or were simply outraged at the thing.

If it affected the girls they didn’t show it. They were aware, of course, but they still performed as if the hall was filled to the rafters. It is difficult to focus on your work if there are so many distractions knocking you from what you need to do. And knowing that a lot of your fans are outside the hall, unable to or wouldn’t come in, is surely a big distraction for any performer. But they did it anyway.

Being an MNL48 member is hard especially if you’re not one of the favorites. You do not have first dibs on being sent to events, you’re never even in serious consideration for senbatsu. There’s even rumors that they haven’t received their allowances sometimes for months.

Sometimes I feel as if a lot of the girls are only staying because of their fans. They wanted this life, and their fans supported their dream. Much has been said about fans switching to another girl (called oshihen), fanboys falling in love with the girls, and fans fighting for the girls’ attention. But those things happen because there are people emotionally invested in them – however inappropriate because you’re not supposed to fall madly in love with them – and there are people willing to go to great lengths for them.

I would be assuming much, but I could see that for some members, their fans is literally the only thing making them stay. And as much as we, the fans, are fearful of losing our oshimen’s attention, they too are worried about losing our support.

Anyway, that’s enough rambling for now. Please enjoy the pictures. These are mostly taken during the mini-concert but there are several shots that were from the first day.