Good Times
I am pleased to report that my sister and I had a blast at Colossalcon!
I was sort of worried that, since I've sort of lost my interest for manga, it wouldn't be as much fun as it would have been, say, a year ago. But the first thing we saw walking up from the parking lot was none other than a Finland and a Sweden! Hetalia was everywhere. I was quite pleased. It's the only thing I still obsess over. There were quite a few cosplayers walking around, and I was thrilled to see so many artists on Artist's Alley offering Hetalia works.
They even showed the anime. Unfortunately, that was the day before. It would have been nice to give my sister some idea what I was sorta giddy about, especially before I dragged her to the 'Ask A Nation' panel. Luckily, with the characters being countries, she could understand a lot of it. The cosplay group did a good job, too. Their France and Prussia were hilarious. And I'm proud of the audience for refraining from asking too many 'shippy' questions. My sister was completely lost as to why Belarus acted the way she did toward Russia. Not exactly something I could explain in a quick whisper.
It seems I didn't need to worry at all about my sister having a good time. She thought cosplay looked like fun. Turns out she's into steampunk fashion, too. We played with tiny hats and goggles at a couple of merchandise kiosks. We 'ooh'ed and 'ahh'ed over various items related to the only manga series she's ever read and kept our eyes open for decent cosplays from it. (Not much luck there.)
The official merchandise was too expensive to actually buy. The only official item I bought were some Angel Sanctuary stickers. Art from the artbook, which I already own, but they'll make great icons once I get them scanned. And I don't have to tear my book apart.
I also bought some fan-made Hetalia bookmarks and stickers.(Apparently, I still love stickers as much as did when I was a kid. XD) The bookmarks are really quite nifty. They had an impressive selection of characters, too. (Sadly though, no Estonia.) They were terribly cheap, though not cheap enough to get all my favorites. I had a rough time choosing, believe me. (If anyone wants to see, I can upload some scans.)
We ended up staying the whole day, and even watched the masquerade. Hetalia took top places for cosplay and performance. While 'Hetalia Is A Little Bit Racist' really was the best performance, I'm not sure Pirate!England deserved the trip to Japan. Sure, it was a fantastic cosplay, but there were quite a few others that must have taken so much more effort. Guess the judges aren't into mecha and armor.
You know, I've always thought, looking at pictures on the internet, that cosplay was kinda...creepy. It's really not in person. I made her take quite a few pictures, mostly Bleach and Hetalia, including Pirate!England. I'll post them as soon as she sends them to me.
I should probably stop rambling incoherently. I'll just sum up by saying that cons are awesome, and I hope I'll be able to attend next year.
I was sort of worried that, since I've sort of lost my interest for manga, it wouldn't be as much fun as it would have been, say, a year ago. But the first thing we saw walking up from the parking lot was none other than a Finland and a Sweden! Hetalia was everywhere. I was quite pleased. It's the only thing I still obsess over. There were quite a few cosplayers walking around, and I was thrilled to see so many artists on Artist's Alley offering Hetalia works.
They even showed the anime. Unfortunately, that was the day before. It would have been nice to give my sister some idea what I was sorta giddy about, especially before I dragged her to the 'Ask A Nation' panel. Luckily, with the characters being countries, she could understand a lot of it. The cosplay group did a good job, too. Their France and Prussia were hilarious. And I'm proud of the audience for refraining from asking too many 'shippy' questions. My sister was completely lost as to why Belarus acted the way she did toward Russia. Not exactly something I could explain in a quick whisper.
It seems I didn't need to worry at all about my sister having a good time. She thought cosplay looked like fun. Turns out she's into steampunk fashion, too. We played with tiny hats and goggles at a couple of merchandise kiosks. We 'ooh'ed and 'ahh'ed over various items related to the only manga series she's ever read and kept our eyes open for decent cosplays from it. (Not much luck there.)
The official merchandise was too expensive to actually buy. The only official item I bought were some Angel Sanctuary stickers. Art from the artbook, which I already own, but they'll make great icons once I get them scanned. And I don't have to tear my book apart.
I also bought some fan-made Hetalia bookmarks and stickers.(Apparently, I still love stickers as much as did when I was a kid. XD) The bookmarks are really quite nifty. They had an impressive selection of characters, too. (Sadly though, no Estonia.) They were terribly cheap, though not cheap enough to get all my favorites. I had a rough time choosing, believe me. (If anyone wants to see, I can upload some scans.)
We ended up staying the whole day, and even watched the masquerade. Hetalia took top places for cosplay and performance. While 'Hetalia Is A Little Bit Racist' really was the best performance, I'm not sure Pirate!England deserved the trip to Japan. Sure, it was a fantastic cosplay, but there were quite a few others that must have taken so much more effort. Guess the judges aren't into mecha and armor.
You know, I've always thought, looking at pictures on the internet, that cosplay was kinda...creepy. It's really not in person. I made her take quite a few pictures, mostly Bleach and Hetalia, including Pirate!England. I'll post them as soon as she sends them to me.
I should probably stop rambling incoherently. I'll just sum up by saying that cons are awesome, and I hope I'll be able to attend next year.