Beginner Cosplayer, First Time At An Event (Part 2- The Last Half)

 

 

 

See Part 1 here

 

I had finally decided to participate in my first cosplay event. The first item on the list was to talk strategy with my friend who had been to this event many times. In addition to the many places around to take pictures such as the hall inside the building, the outdoor plaza, and the local surrounding streets, it seems that there were also arcades and eateries that had opened their doors to cosplayers as well. Wait… isn’t that overly nice to cosplayers? In any case, we decided to take a look around the hall and then head out to the street after grabbing some lunch.

 

Looking around, I saw magical girl characters from my childhood chatting with modern anime characters from the latest seasons as well as smartphone popular game characters bustling around in groups of 2 to 30 people. Needless to say, my eyes couldn’t keep up with everything going on around me and since I have never really seen live cosplay before it made sense. As an anxious friend took my hand and tried to lead me away toward the end of the hall, a shadow fell upon me…

 

 

 “Excuse me. Can I take a picture?”, a man holding an SLR asked timidly. I’m pretty socially anxious when I first meet someone and of course because of this I froze. Wait… was it okay to take a picture? All I could do was nod to the person. I mean… I never thought that someone would want to take a photo of me…! And so, we decided to have the photos taken in front of one of the many designated panels set up around the hall.

 

I was worried that having a big lens pointed at me would make my expressions and poses stiff.  But I really didn’t have anything to worry about. The sounds of “You look great!” and “I love it!” and the camera shutter, the smiling face of my friend posing next to me and most of all the feeling of becoming the character, is a moment that brings me joy. Yes! I am the 2D idol character that I longed to be. I felt like I have become part of the work I love so much. It’s just like the many times I cosplayed at home and with this the edges of my lips started to curl upward. Ah! Cosplay is SO FUN!!

 

 

 We parted ways with the photographer and headed outside for a bit. Maybe it was because the weather was so nice but the plaza is like Shibuya Crossing. There are dozens of dazzling cosplayers with weapons taller than themselves outside which allowed them more freedom than indoors.

 

Just as I was becoming overwhelmed, I heard the chime of a Twitter notification from my bag. It was a message from a cosplayer I knew saying that they wanted to meet up. Apparently they were in the same plaza, but the place was so crowded and the cosplay that my friend was wearing was so popular that I could see many people with the costume. It was like playing a real life version of “Where’s Waldo?” Right when I began to lose hope I thought, “No! You can’t! This is your chance to actually meet the person on the other side of the screen!” And with that I am re-energised! Looking at the selfie they took, I used facial features, the costumes in the background and the reflective strap of their shoulder bag as clues to find them. Finally, with the help of my friends and after walking around for a little over ten minutes, we were able to meet up.

 

My acquaintance from Twitter spoke with me in such a friendly manner, that it immediately melted away any social anxiety I had. I abruptly took a look around and there were cosplayers here and there smiling and taking selfies just like us. There was a warm atmosphere of “I am so happy to see you!” and “It’s so great to finally meet!”. It was like an otaku alumni meeting was being held. Allowing myself to take it in, I began to feel at home.

 

From there my friends took me to do a whole bunch of different things. We went out on the town, lined up at a taiyaki* shop which is a cosplay event-goer staple. We also took purikura** and played crane games at the arcade. The cosplay shop I usually frequent even felt like a totally different place to me being there in cosplay.

 

*a fish-shaped, pancake usually filled with redbean

** booth-style sticker pics

 

Before we knew it, it was the evening. Walking down the street with tapioca bubble tea in-hand we figured that we should be heading back to the changeroom when suddenly we heard a voice exclaim “Mom! Look! It’s A-chan and B-chan!!” We looked back and saw a little girl with stars in her eyes. Our cosplays were from what people would call “anime for little girls”. It’s not a surprise that we were recognised, but when you’re referred to by the character’s name you somehow feel surprised, shy and happy at the same time. It’s… a weird feeling but not a bad on at all! The girl’s mother asked if she could take a photo as a souvenir, so we squished in with the little girl between us to fit into the frame on the screen of the smartphone. Even though you’re only dressed as the character there are still people who get so excited. Cosplay is amazing!

 

We made it back to the changeroom without any trouble. As I removed my wig I felt the tiredness hit me. “You have to be pretty physically fit to cosplay outside” laughed my friend with a bit of glue still stuck on their face. After changing back into our regular clothes, we headed to a family restaurant to eat dinner and basked i the afterglow of the day. 

 

Although the transformation was done and I had changed back, the excitement of it all stayed firmly within my heart. Cosplay events are places where you can express your love for the hobby with the people around you using your entire being and fall even more in love with cosplay. I feel that as a beginner cosplayer, that’s exactly what I did that day.  

 

 

 

 

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