This was my second year attending Anime North at the Toronto Congress Centre and I am falling deeper and deeper in love with fan conventions. The more I go to the more I dream of going back in time to high school me and shake him while screaming “THE OPINIONS OF THESE BASTARDS DON’T MATTER! DO WHAT MAKE YOU HAPPY! THERE ARE PEOPLE LIKE YOU OUT THERE!” Of course the subsequent jail time for assaulting a minor in the early 2000’s would of course ruin the rest of my life but I would like to think that alternate timeline me would live a much happier (be that much poorer – money wise) life. The things we learn.
I have learned that lesson now though so I am diligently applying to the rest of my life. The people who accept my weird fandom/don’t care continue to be my friends (even though, I assume, they get a little lost and uncomfortable whenever I fanboy too hard). The ones who look down on me for my fandom are not worth my time. The ones who fanboy/girl with me (to which I am finding more and more people – Thank you Internet) make the experience that much richer. The conclusion of this long winded introduction is that I really enjoy convention and cosplay. I will continue to do it in the future with much vigor. Which horribly segways me into: Anime North 2014.
As I said this was my second Anime North and my third cosplay. I had a blast as always. I still haven’t gotten super fully engrossed in the full convention yet. It was mostly walk around, take pictures, go to photo shoots and look at the vendors and artists. Next year though I have big plans, stay tuned to later posts for more details on that later. Those plans include the various seminars, talk, panels, social events that happen all weekend. I want to become more engrossed in the whole event and meet some more like minded people.
My favorite part of the convention though is the cosplay. I spent three weeks, between rehearsals and full time work, working an hour or two a night to complete my cosplay. And It came out a lot better than I expected. (Not having put it on all at once until convention day was not one of my stronger ideas.)
I got “Ninja Turtle” a few times. Which is fine, the ninja turtles rock and my cosplay wasn’t necessarily a to-the-book portrayal. For those of you still guessing: Samurai Caterpie. There were a few people who got it and that’s all that matters. They were the one’s who were all “Oh my god! Caterpie Samurai! That’s awesome!! And your sword is made of string! Can I get your picture?” For the record one person got that my sword is made of String Shot which my me feel SO VALIDATED! All of this culminated in the Pokémon photo-shoot where the like minded fans all got to appreciate each others hard work and dedication and as the sole representative of bug Pokémon there I was happy that so many people were excited and kind about my own fandom. I mean I have a bog with Caterpie’s name on it so… ya… I’m a fan! This year was awesome and I am determined to make each year even better!
Banner Image: Anime North
Me and Caterpie 