This event is enormous, much larger than I would have imagined to be. So when in doubt do what the Japanese do, I started thinking and planning what I wanted to cosplay. I finally came to the conclusion of dressing up as Saya from Blood-C.
We went down to Otome Road in Ikebukuro hitting up the street of cosplay gear. There is everything there! (Wigs, full outfit, contacts, make up, construction supplies, accessories, weapons and even cosplay cafes where people dress up in full gear) People in Japan don’t really do anything half assed. So after doing some homework online I found the outfit that I wanted and we were on the search. After going into the stores I was starting to think that we weren’t going to find the costume, there were just so many. Suddenly in one shop Alex was able to just pull it off the rack, I tried it on and there we go that the was the exact outfit. She constructed a sword for me over a three week period, I dyed my hair and ordered contacts. We were pretty much ready to go! I was really excited to see what the final product would look like when we finally put it up all together.
Time to head to Odaiba – Big Site. (Tickets were only 1500yen, of course you can get the line skip for double the price) Knowing how big the line up is now I think if I go again I would spend the extra cash and buy the line skip pass.
So the four of us headed out, we stood in this massive line that consistently kept moving so it didn’t feel like we were just standing there. I think we were in the line for approximately 45 minutes. It was like a giant sea of people, I was told at a later date that there was about 10,000+ people on one day and this is only a two day event!
When we stepped in I was overwhelmed with how much there was to look at. Of course we had our main stops but this kind of convention is totally different to the ones I have been to in Canada. Instead of having a fanfare corner or artist avenue there were kiosks set up by the producers and sponsors. Bandai, Sunrise, Aniplex etc. Every place had their own theme whether it be their new anime or celebrating 50 years of old ones. I was at a loss on the vast variety that I wasn’t familiar with. I couldn’t believe it, I thought I watched a lot of anime but now I know I hadn’t even touched the surface of it. Then again watching series/movies that are only subbed in English limits the selection we have available to us in North America.
Of course for the cosplay section there is a huge market even the stands have their own cosplay girls promoting each individual kiosks. You can register and change in the designated cosplay area for 500yen giving you a registered number. I believe for a future contest maybe just to have your name on the website if you are really popular. From there you can model indoors or outdoors of your choosing for as long as you like. This is the part that I found a bit creepy since there are the girls with a large cue of men standing in the line with huge cameras.
Of course they all have their own styles! Even I was at a loss when I saw some of them!
There was a lot more there to see of course, they had anime on the big screen where I was able to watch Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood (they only played one episode of each show) On top of all of this I was interviewed too!
I was really happy that I was able to experience this large event! 8 hours of serious otaku-time.
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