mezzo forte

Honestly I do not think there is much for me to say about Supanova Adelaide. In other cities I enjoy it much more (like in Melbourne), but here it just does not really appeal to me. Which is probably why I only ended up going the Friday night and Saturday. The time I spent there was not unenjoyable; I got to see my friends and on Friday I got to cosplay female Kenma, which was great for me. It was the last convention of the year and I guess after a long year I was just tired. Like Madman Anime Festival Melbourne, I did not end up cosplaying on the Saturday either. I think I only managed Friday because it was later in the day. I cannot say for sure where my motivation had gone by then, but it was pretty hard for me to find, especially in the mornings.

Onwards to the time I spent at the convention. Friday night was the usual; just hanging around and catching up with friends. I am not really interested in any of the events they have on during the opening night, it is more of a relaxed social time to see people I do not usually get to see often. I cosplayed a female version of Kenma Kozume and it was really fun, I enjoyed being able to do that cosplay. The night was spent with EI8HTBIT Cosplay, who looked handsome as heck as Franken Stein from Soul Eater. We spent our time just hanging out and having photos taken, which was a pleasant way to spend the evening. There were a few events on in the building but neither of us were all too interested in checking them out.

On Saturday, like I said previously, I did not end up cosplaying. Instead I spent my day in casual clothing, with Ehz who was looking very cute as Rin Kagamine. There were quite a lot of people at the convention, but that typically is the case when Adelaide only has two conventions. As always, this meant that there were many cosplayers who looked incredible in their costumes. Adelaide may not attract as many people as other cities, but the hard work and effort that people put into their costumes here really pays off. Aside from the amazing costumes of Adelaide’s cosplayers capturing my attention, there was not really much else aside from this one stall in the dealer’s hall where I was able to buy a LoungeFly Overwatch Mercy backpack. If I am going to be honest, I would say being able to get that (and Ehz getting a matching D.Va one) was the highlight of the day for me.

All in all my time spent at Supanova was nice, but not as mind-blowing as the conventions earlier in the year had been. I still plan to attend it in the future as an opportunity to cosplay, see my friends, and check out the artist alley, but it is not something I would write home about if you know what I mean. Anyway, this was the last convention of 2018 for me, and I will be back in 2019 for Madman Anime Festival Sydney in March!

After the long year and many conventions prior, MadFes Melbourne was my second-to-last convention of the year. I ended up going to this final interstate convention with my travel buddy of the year Fiiorei, who was wonderful to spend another weekend with as always. However, this weekend did not go exactly as planned for me.

Despite originally planning to cosplay at MadFes, on both of the days I unfortunately did not end up doing so. I have come to believe this was due to an extensive year of cosplay, conventions and travel, and by this point I was not feeling it at the time. I was disappointed in myself to begin with, but came to accept that it was important to give myself a break and enjoy the convention, and that I did.

Over the weekend I spent my time experiencing the convention as merely another con-goer, instead of a cosplayer. The place I enjoyed the most was definitely artists’ alley, evident from the amount of money I lost and the amount of fanart I gained on Saturday. I was able to find so much art of the fandoms I was most interested in finding, that being: Ensemble Stars!, Hypnosis Mic, and IDOLiSH7. Melbourne once again showcased some amazing artists and I am so glad I was able to see and purchase such talent. Another plus from my ventures through the alley was the appreciation I got for my Izanami Hifumi (aka MC GIGOLO) ita-bag.

Even though I did not cosplay, I was still able to enjoy and appreciate all the hard work and talent the other cosplayers at the convention put out there for all of us to see. Melbourne never disappoints, and it was especially nice to be able to see all my friends looking as fantastic as always. I cannot wait to see them all again at Supanova Melbourne, and hope by then I will be refreshed and back in the game with some more of my own cosplays.

A memorable experience over the weekend for me was on the Saturday evening when Fiiorei and I got to watch the Boku no Hero Academia movie. I love the series and it was great to be able to watch the new movie with one of my best friends and who is also a fellow BNHA fan. Personally, I really enjoyed the movie and thought it was amazing, and it still has me impatient for more anime content haha.

Animaga was a month ago so I apologise for not getting this out sooner! I have had a lot going on this past month but I have finally gotten around to this so let us get started.

This was my first time going to Animaga, and I got to have this new experience with the lovely Fiiorei ♡ We have been to many conventions together this year and this time it was still so good to have her with me for our first time at Animaga. Thank you for putting up with me for yet another weekend, it was lovely to be able to spend this time with you.

On Saturday, I brought back my StarFes Tsukasa cosplay and it was wonderful to be able to cosplay him again; I really do love that cosplay so much and am so happy to have been able to cosplay it once again. Compared to the first time I did this cosplay in Sydney, I felt a lot more confident and I am really proud of myself for that. As for the convention itself, I really liked it! It was honestly a lot more than I was expecting and the amount of people there was incredible. Being able to see all the wonderful cosplays Melbourne has again was a real treat, as was being able to see all my Melbourne friends looking stunning. A highlight was being able to see the UNDEAD group perform in the cosplay competition and win the group category, I am so proud of them and am honoured to have been able to witness it. ♡

Sunday was bringing back another favourite cosplay, this time my RESTART POiNTER Sogo cosplay that I debuted at SMASH. It was great to be able to do this cosplay again and I was so happy that people actually recognised the character and series! I was really happy with how the costume looked, but in comparison to my Tsukasa I still feel I could improve on Sogo, so that is something to work on in 2019! The highlight of Sunday had to be going to the Maid Café; I had never actually been to a maid café at any convention before so it was my first time. Fiiorei and I went there and got to spend our time with s.inclair and tsukiii_taro, who were the twin butlers Reno and Itsuki. Their service was so good and it was wonderful to be able to spend time with them, watch them perform and get a polaroid with them! A special thank you to these two for giving us such a great experience. ♡

Overall, I would have to say that going to Animaga and experiencing it for the first time was definitely worth it. One of my favourite parts of any convention is always the artist alley, and Animaga was no exception. There were so many talented artists, and I managed to find a lot of fan art for the fandoms I limit myself to buy from. The exhibitors were also promising and I am still so excited there was HypMic merch at one of the stalls. As far as first impressions go, Animaga has definitely given me an amazing first impression and I definitely want to go back next year. This convention showed me that my confidence with both my cosplays and my social interactions has really been improving, and I am so grateful for that.

I feel I am not having to write as much in these posts with the more conventions I attend, but as I have said in the past it is probably because I always have such a great time and cannot always find the words to express just how much being able to have these experiences means to me. My next convention is this weekend, back to Melbourne for Madman Anime Festival with Fiiorei. I hope I can get the post for MadFes out sooner than I have for Animaga, but with life being hectic like it is, I cannot make any promises, so stay tuned for more! ♡

AVCon Adelaide was this past weekend and my second home-based convention. Friday night was... a bit of a mess? The con itself was not that great in my opinion, and I did not even bother trying to get in to the opening ceremony when only like 200 people could. I know it is not the fault of the organizers due to various reasons, but I hope next year we have access to the usual spaces so it is not as cramped on the Friday. Sushi dinner with the lads was a much better option than sticking around, in my opinion. Cosplaying that night? 100% better than the convention itself that night. I never really thought I would cosplay Asuka but hey, I did it and it was actually really fun! Thank you so much to Harvestsprite for trading wigs with me and making this random impulse of mine a reality. I had so much fun with the Eva squad, thank you to Harvestsprite for being Rei, Fiiorei for being Mari, and Momentai for being Shinji. You all were amazing. Would I cosplay Asuka again? I think I would like to, but with all my preplanning I do not really have time haha.

Next up was Saturday. The convention was a bit better since we could actually go to more spaces throughout the centre, and I got to go through the exhibitor's hall and artist alley a few times. To be honest, I did not actually end up buying anything at all at the convention, which is really odd for me since I usually buy something. AVCon this year just did not really have anything I wanted though. There was a lot of amazing art and I adored so many of the works I saw, but I have been prioritizing IDOLiSH7, Ensemble Stars! and Hypnosis Mic lately and I did not see anything of those, so my wallet was saved over the weekend (the one plus side?). As for cosplaying on Saturday, I had two cosplays and the first of them was Howl from Howl's Moving Castle. This has been a dream cosplay of mine for a while now, so it was such an amazing opportunity to make it a reality with my dream-partner and incredible Sophie, Harvestsprite ♡ This was the second time over the weekend we got to cosplay together and it is always so good when we do. I love you my dearest Sophie and cannot wait to do our OTP again ♡ For my personal thoughts on cosplaying Howl, I actually really enjoyed it! I was worried I may not suit him too well, but I was happy with how I looked and felt comfortable going to the convention as him. However, as for my second cosplay, I was not as happy with myself. Mid-way through the day I changed out of Howl and into Kashuu Kiyomitsu from Touken Ranbu, and while it was nice to be able to try him out, there are parts I want to improve on and do better, so I am looking forward to bringing him out again another time, new and improved.

Moving on to Sunday. Oh boy. I was supposed to do two more cosplays, but when I woke up that morning I just felt so exhausted and a bit sick and just not up for anything. I think after SMASH and then the first two days of AVCon, I was just so burnt out. In the end, I did not end up cosplaying and attended the convention in casual clothing. I spent my day by the side of EI8HTBIT Cosplay, helping them around the place before it was time for the cosplay competition. It was a lot more relaxing for me to be in comfortable clothing and help out a friend than worry about cosplay for a day. I did not experience much of the con outside of the photoshoot areas and competition. Speaking of the competition, it was such an amazing thing to watch. There were so many talented cosplayers this year and I loved being able to see what everyone had put together. I am also so proud of EI8HTBIT for getting male runner up, their Anduin Wrynn cosplay was just stunning and after watching them work on it for months, they really deserved to be rewarded for all that time and effort.

I would like to say the biggest thank you to EI8GHTBIT for putting up with me over the weekend and sharing a hotel room with me. I am really glad we got to spend that time together and look forward to spending more time with you when we are roommates ♡ I would also like to thank all of my friends that I got to see over the weekend, you all looked amazing and it was so lovely to be able to see you and catch up. Adelaide does not have another con until Supanova in November, so we have got a few months to prepare for that. As for me, I will be back in Melbourne in a couple of weeks for Animaga! I only have a few conventions left and then the year is done. I hope the last few months are good to me and good to everyone else too ♡ Thank you for reading!

This was my third time going to SMASH, but my first at the new location. The other two times I had been at SMASH, I really enjoyed the convention and this time was definitely no exception. Honestly, I feel that this year was a lot better for me thanks to all my wonderful friends and the lovely people I got to meet over the weekend.

Cosplaying this weekend was an absolute delight for me because I got to cosplay two of my absolute best boys in some of my favourite outfits for them. Saturday featured Judgement Tsukasa, and that was so much fun for me. Judgement was the first costume I ever wanted to cosplay for Tsukasa, so to be able to do so was a dream come true. The same goes for RESTART POiNTER Sogo on Sunday, as I had fallen in love with the outfit when the PV for the song first released. This was the second time this year I got to cosplay both my boys and I think I am becoming more confident with them, which is really nice and I am glad that is the case. I love them so much and to be able to comfortably cosplay them is just heartwarming.

I do not feel like I did a crazy amount over the weekend at the convention, but what I did do was really fun! I got to check out the artist alley and managed to buy a heap of awesome art; as always there were so many talented artists at SMASH and that will always be something that draws me to the convention. I also got to go around finding friends and seeing new people, which was neat. I am still feeling the same anxiety as I always do when it comes to social interaction with other people, but with each convention I get a little better. Everyone I got to see looked absolutely amazing in their cosplays, both people I knew and people I either just met or saw in passing. SMASH attracts people from all over the country, and even from different parts of the world, and it really was incredible to see so many talented cosplayers in one place. I always enjoy getting to see people's cosplays at conventions and that is definitely another thing that makes me love attending SMASH. On both days I also got to have my photos taken and it was really fun, I am looking forward to seeing how they turn out; I am sure they will look wonderful. ♡

The new location had its pros and cons; I really like how central it is, being in the city and so easily accessible. Rosehill was a bit out of the way, but it felt a lot bigger than the ICC, which is one of the cons for the new location. Next year, if SMASH gets more access to the centre and can be a bit more spread out, I feel that would be really helpful. It would also be nice if there was more options for photography areas, but that is something that is up to the ICC management since they have strict rules on photography. In the long run I feel that the new location is better, but there are a few things I hope they do next year and in the years to follow to make it a bit more enjoyable.

With each of these posts I feel like I keep on saying the same thing, that I had a great time and feel so blessed to have been able to have the experiences I did. Honestly though, all of the conventions I have been to have been like that for me so you will have to forgive me for being a broken record and saying that the same thing goes for my time at SMASH. It is definitely my favourite convention I have attended and I am even more excited to go again next year after the incredible weekend I had. I really look forward to seeing how next year goes!

As always, I would just like to thank everyone who I got to see and talk to or take photos with over the weekend. You were all so lovely and nice and I was honestly blown away by how fantastic everyone looked in their costumes on both days. It really does mean so much to me to have been able to be there and see you all, whether it be again or for the first time. I hope everyone that went to SMASH had as much of a great time as I did! As for everyone reading this, I hope you enjoy the conventions you are attending throughout the rest of the year; have fun and make the best memories you can. Thank you all for reading, and I will be back next week with my AVCon post! ♡

Back at it again with the lovely Fiiorei going to an interstate convention, this time Supanova in Sydney. It was my first time going to Sydney Supanova, and Fiiorei's second. As always I had a great time being with her and I would just like to express how grateful I am she went with me and put up with me over the weekend, a true blessing ♡

Let us start with cosplays. Friday was a bit of a mess for me, to be honest. We caught the first flight out in the morning because I was foolish and did not book us to leave on Thursday, so I did not sleep and went to Sydney in my female Kageyama cosplay already. The cosplay itself was super comfy and I really enjoyed being able to do Kageyama; I am keen to do him again, both as a girl and a boy. However, on the flight over I was dead and nodding off so I had to take out my contacts, which is why the only photos of that cosplay are plane selfies. But hey, they were cute and I got through the day so all in all I believe it was a success.

Saturday was when the fun really started. On this day I got to cosplay my best IDOLiSH7 boy for the first time. WiSH VOYAGE Sogo is one of my favourite outfits and being able to cosplay it was so nice, I cannot wait to do him again next year with improvements. The costume itself was so nice and so pretty and I am really happy with how it looked. I need to actually have the right shoes next year and I might remake the earring but for a debut I am happy with how Sogo went on Saturday.

Lastly was Sunday, aka cosplaying my best Ensemble Stars! boy. Starfes Tsukasa is honestly such a beautiful card so I had to cosplay it. I did not know how I would feel about it before doing it because I wanted to do him justice, but I cannot express enough just how much I enjoyed that costume. It was so nice and looked so good and I get to wear it again at Animaga which makes me too excited. Hands down one of my favourite cosplays. I was also pretty happy with how I looked as Tsukasa too! I am still new to crossplay so I am not all that confident, but compared to my first costest my Tsukasa has improved (or so I think). I even liked it so much that I kept the wig and makeup on after the con when we went to town for dinner haha.

As I have experienced with the other conventions I have gone to this year, the people I have been blessed enough to meet have been so lovely. I got to talk to some great artists and great cosplayers, and even though I felt nervous and awkward it was still such a lovely experience. I am still trying to work on my confidence when it comes to talking to people I have not met before, but the more I do it I feel the more it helps, especially when everyone is so nice and wonderful to talk to. Having a friend there with me helped as well, and I do not think I will ever shut up about how much I enjoy being able to go to so many conventions with Fiiorei.

Moving on to the convention itself. Too be honest, I was not blown away with it. The vibe I got was actually quite similar to Adelaide Supanova? Of course it was bigger and better and there were so many amazing cosplayers I was blessed to see, but I am gonna be honest and say I felt it lacking on the anime side, which is why it felt more like Adelaide. Personally, I enjoyed Melbourne Supanova more and will be going back to there again instead of Sydney. For Sydney, I think SMASH is most definitely the convention to fly over there for. Again, this is just my personal opinion and how I feel about it. I am really glad I got to have the experience however, and am in no way disappointed in what I paid for. It is just about my own personal preferences. I got to cosplay characters I love and saw so many fantastic cosplayers, and did all of that with one of my best friends, so I could never be unhappy when something like that happened.

Thank you for reading yet another reflective post. I will be continuing these for the rest of the year since I have many more cons I will be attending. I would like to say again a huge thank you to Fiiorei for coming to Sydney Supanova with me and making the experience so amazing, I love you ♡ A big thank you to all the people I got to meet as well, and thank you to everyone that supported me on Instagram and liked my photos (they got more than I was expecting which is a nice confidence booster aha). I will be back with more content soon for SMASH, and then a week later with AVCon. I hope everyone is as excited as I am! ♡

This past weekend I attended Madman Anime Festival in Brisbane, this time with the wonderful Fiiorei ♡ This was my second time at Brisbane Madman Anime Festival and honestly it was really great to be back, especially with a friend this time. Last year was really great but I feel like this year was even better.

I will start off by talking about my cosplays. In total I pulled out three different cosplays and they were all such fun to do. Senbonzakura Luka was my first of Saturday and I loved that costume. The shoes were worrisome and started to break but they can be easily fixed with some hot glue. Apart from that the cosplay was super comfortable and I am really glad I got to wear it; 10/10 my favourite Luka cosplay I own. Since the shoes were not holding up I did a mid-day change into my surprise cosplay of Kanan, therefore completing all the Aqours third years. I really, really enjoyed being Kanan! I did not think I would love cosplaying her as much as I did and it just reinforced my love for her. She was a great way to end the day and I really, really want to bring her out again sometime in the future. Sunday was full-day as Mao Isara from Ensemble Stars and my first time crossplaying at a convention. To be honest, when I was walking to the con I felt so much anxiety about crossplaying since I had never done it in public before. However, the anxiety I was feeling quickly disappeared after people recognized the character and asked for photos. There were not many Ensemble Stars cosplays or fans in Brisbane that I met, but the ones that I did were so lovely and it was fantastic to get to meet them all and made me so glad that I did Mao there. I am not completely happy with my cosplay (the wig was not as good as I would like it to have been), but I do not regret it and would not mind doing him again either.

As for the convention itself, it was really good! Really busy, busier than I remember it being last year, but that just means it is being supported more which I am happy about. The exhibitor stalls had some great merchandise and I even won an A prize at the Ichiban Kuji stall which was a highlight for me (and the second time it has happened, bless my luck). The artist alley was also amazing, I loved being able to see all the amazing artists that turned up, they were all so talented. I even got some Ainana and Enstars fan art which was fantastic because I love finding artists that are in those fandoms. Something about the convention I really enjoyed was the Australian premiere of Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms. It was such a good movie and even though I did not want to ruin my makeup, it ended up making me cry so much anyway. I definitely recommend people see it because, in my opinion, it is a must watch. This was my third Madman Anime Festival, it continues to be one of my favourite conventions and I am keen to go to Melbourne for it in September. I am really grateful to have been able to be there. The convention was great, and the people I met there were so lovely. I even made a new friend and that was really nice for me.

I do not have as much to say about this convention but maybe that is because it was just so enjoyable. I had fun cosplaying both days, really liked the convention experience, and am grateful to have met amazing people once again. I would like to give a special shout-out to Fiiorei; thank you so so much for accompanying me on this adventure, it was great to go to Brisbane with you and I am so excited for the other cons we will be attending together. Next stop: Sydney Supanova! Thank you all for reading this far even though I ramble so much ♡

On Saturday I attended Pop Con as my first home-based convention. It was my first time attending the convention (was it the first time the convention was held? I am not sure) and it was a nice experience. Compared to all of the other conventions I attend, it was much smaller but that it because it is still very new. It was interesting to see a convention still in its early days, as I have only been to conventions that are well established.

I was supposed to cosplay but did not feel up to it in the end, so I went in casual clothes instead. My friends cosplayed and looked fantastic, as they always do, and it was quite relaxing to be there as myself as opposed to being in cosplay. For the first Adelaide convention of the year, I feel it was a great way to kick off the year here at home. The location was just outside of the city and parking at the Brickworks on the opposite side of the road made it easily accessible for someone driving in.

There was not much to do due to how fresh the convention is, but there were some stalls selling things that I had a look through, and a small artist alley with some lovely art that the artists were selling. I did not buy anything but it was good to be able to browse. The stage had a bunch of things happening over the day, and I sat and watched the cosplay competition and parade. There were a lot of people in cosplay and it was great to see a lot of them strut their stuff on stage!