CJ has the news from the con while I post pictures of cosplay. Again, I was happy to be part of a cosplay group from my anime club this weekend, so I wasn’t bored all the time. Also being in pictures means I don’t have as much time to take them all day. So there are fewer, but my album is only one of many on the Net anyway.

Can you spot me?

I’ll have to rave most on my anime club’s group of Gurren Lagann cosplay. Not all of us dressed up from that series, but 6 is a pretty good number. We had a good Solid Snake among others. So I played Rossiu for its ease and my slight resemblance to him (just the Asian part, really). Also I am more of the general con-goer type, so I don’t have the passion to spend hours on a costume. Thankfully I already had the boots and sweatpants, so it didn’t take a friend long to make the simple cloak/capelet, so I was set. A little bit of fake hair for the ahoge and ponytail, and I’m set. If I do cosplay, I promise to do the best job I can and not just throw something together (rant later on).

The greatest fun was at the large photoshoot outside, where our Kamina and Yoko finally receated the kiss scene early on in the series. We geniusly asked a Simon to take part in the hiding-in-the-bushes part, but a Viral decided to tag along, too. Who knew.

Across from us was a Metal Gear group. They were a bit upset that our Gurren Lagann group came in and stole their thunder, but eventually they were cool with it .. especially when the lot of us responded to their jokes (cardboard boxes, etc.) and saw that most of us like MGS, too.

Lovely CLAMP group.

If you’ve never been to a con before, this is what the crowds of people with cameras can sometimes look like. It’s fun being in the spotlight.

D.Gray Man for CJ.

Crossdressing Fate.

Lucky Star’s Konata, Miyuki, and Tsukasa. I think all three attended the con separately, but who knows. I was not able to find a Kagami anywhere. :(

In addition to new cosplayers, I always enjoy the classic characters. Here, Tenchi Muyo!’s Washuu and Ryo-Ohki charm the photographers.

Classic Breath of Fire.

One of the most adorable things ever. Coincidentally next to AWA was a convention for mothers and babies, so I do wonder what those attendants thought of us crazy anime folk running around in costume. Whether or not the mother of these girls also attended that convention, I don’t know. But that would have been awesome for her — knock out two interests all at once, and get your girls dressed up all cute. Tiny Snow Fairy Sugar is one of my secret favorite series, so this is just too awesome. The girls would give away little paper cutout hearts to all who took pictures of them. My friends wanted to take them home.

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About that rant… I’m particularly tired of seeing people cosplaying L from Death Note. It seems … such a cop-out. And it looks terrible, too. Jeans, white shirt, messy black hair, and eyeshadow? I would not consider that cosplay, and do the people realize how ugly they look? Worse, I see people who look like L in real life, sadly enough. Anime cosplay is for escaping reality and role-playing a real fantasy character. Being L just for the sake of “Hey, I cosplayed,” really isn’t worth it. I mean, if you want cheap and easy like I did for Rossiu, pick someone a little more unique .. or someone with a little bit better style. Go as the big-eyebrows guy from FLCL. All it requires is a business suit and two things taped on your head. It’s just as simple as L but looks so much classier.

This is a Google’d pic, but the AWA ones were even worse; ugggghh..

But aside from other oddities like a Man!Faye and another crossdresser from Touhou, I enjoyed the con. The dealer’s room was disappointing only because I’m so picky of what I want to buy — and I just want to buy the latest moe stuff, but the vendors have only more mainstream stuff .. or things few people want anymore. There are SO many Saber and Rin figures from fate/stay night. Not that they’re unpopular, but I think their time has passed, or all the fans already own figures. There are also figures from anime or eroge I’ve never heard of before, so they just sit and take up shelf space. One other booth is trying hard to sell their Haruhi dakimakura, but it looks too generic for the experienced otaku to want. I think most buyers are first-timers or anime fans who have little exposure to what goodies and items Japan actually produces, so they jump on whatever unique thing they see.

But I don’t care for satchels or keychains or simple t-shirts. I’ve kinda grown past the endless supply of trading figures since I save up my money for the 1/8 and 1/6 scale PVC figures. >_> And then there are the manga and DVD dealers. Shelves full of stuff; I think a lot of it is out-of-print stuff, hence the possbile demand, but the books don’t sell like hotcakes for some reason. Maybe because people think “Oh I can just get it at the bookstore later.”? Or they didn’t come to spend all their money on just books. Or you can’t just buy a manga series without researching it first.

Artists’ Alley was really nice. AWA introduced a new thing called Artists’ Alley Marketplace, in which tables could be reserved in the Dealer’s Room instead of in the normal Alley. Benefits include supposedly greater traffic and greater security. But I think the actual traffic ended up being less than at AA, so perhaps some dealers got a bit upset. I think the Marketplace could have been located in the center of the Dealer’s Room rather than at the side. Or maybe closer to the entrance. Maybe there won’t be a Marketplace next year after the bad reception this year…

The con staff were nice; I didn’t have any problems with them, unlike the stories I’ve heard about A-Kon staff. The con never really smelled that bad, and most areas were kept really clean. I also greatly appreciated the free ice water located at several stations in the hotel. It kept people hydrated and healthy. The con badges look nice, too.

I leave this entry with Kamina-ko, one crossplay which I found really cute. Not sure who she’s stabbing with the flag, though.

~Crisu