Conventionally Unconventional: My History at Kami-Con

I remember it all too clearly, seeing an Instagram post from two of my favorite voice actors announcing their upcoming appearance at a local Japanese pop culture convention called Kami-Con.  At the time, my awkward freshman self somehow had no idea what an anime convention was, but I was willing to attend if it meant meeting these voice actors in person. With my goal in mind, I set out on a Saturday some time in February 2017, the busiest day of the con, and cluelessly wandered around the convention center until I found the entrance.

I was instantly captivated by the crowd in the main hall, most wearing costumes to look like characters from TV shows, animes, and games I had never seen.  Spaces called the “vendor room” and “artist alley” were teeming with people, all scoping out the layout of the room so they could find and purchase some new posters and keychains of their favorite character before other scouting eyes noticed.  In another room, arcade machines blasted Japanese electronic music while con-goers in colorful wigs eagerly waited to break a sweat on the Dance Dance Revolution platforms. By the end of the day, I had waited for almost two hours in line when I finally met the two voice actors, both of whom were incredibly kind and allowed me to take photos with them.  Of course, once the convention was over, my curiosity compelled me to return in February 2019.

Instead of going simply to find a number of celebrities, my focus redirected itself towards the attendees in extravagant costumes and wigs.  These people, the “cosplayers,” aim to bring fictional characters from their favorite media to life, and clearly spend months perfecting their character’s look down to their eye color, altered with color contacts in order to appear bright and doll-like. I had a newfound appreciation for cosplay as an art, with the cosplayers themselves acting as canvases. I couldn’t help but compliment one person on her cosplay of a character from the movie Coco, her face painted as a skeleton as she wore a beautiful red sombrero with glowing tealight candles on the lining. While standing in line to meet another cartoon personality, I admired someone who seemed to be a spitting image of Dr. Robotnik from Sonic the Hedgehog from afar. Everyone was specifically dedicated to their character for the day, notably including a girl I met who had fascinatingly cosplayed as a working clock and another person masquerading as the innocent-looking antagonist Monika from the popular horror-related visual novel Doki Doki Literature Club.  This was the first time I had ever asked for a photo with anyone in cosplay before, and I can still remember my excitement while posing together with the cosplayer, specifically because they were dressed as one of my favorite characters. After attending the convention a second time, I was intrigued by the surrounding crowd and was finally able to analyze and enjoy all the elements of the convention. By the end of the convention I knew I wanted to make my own cosplays, but I also understood something new about it I hadn’t taken into account before.

Cosplay is an art meant for anyone interested in becoming their favorite characters and bringing them to life.  Of course, anyone who participates presumably finds it fun and enjoyable, but I came to the realization that cosplaying can also be an attempt at performing as a changed and improved version of yourself.  It is a means of escape from reality, concealing your imperfections with contact lenses, heavy layers of makeup, unnaturally vibrant wigs, and appealing costumes until it first seems palatable to you and then to others.  It can even represent both personal and skill-related growth, and based on my plans to return to the convention this year, that’s what I would like to see it as. I’m no longer the same quiet freshman from February 2017 who kept to myself and wore a plain sweater that faded among the colorful Kami-Con crowd; instead, I can see that I’ve become a better and happier version of myself, one more confident in my interests as well.  After months of waiting for the next convention and finally beginning work on my very first two characters to cosplay, I’m beyond excited to return to Kami-Con and to see all the surrounding faces through new, cartoonish eyes.