#concentions

The major convention in my corner of the world is Akon. It happens annually during the summer. I've gone on several occasions, often just to be around the the world of Anime and Manga. The Cosplay has always been outstanding, and the events and food have always been unique. Out of everything that's been put on hold because of the pandemic, I think I miss Anime conventions the most.

Festivals make me feel alive. There's an energy there that just can't be duplicated. When so many people are all focused on the same purpose, commonality is easy to come by. And they mean so much to me.

As your Uncle Hokage, I remember when Anime in general was hard to come by. We used to have to spend $20 on a VHS tape that had only 2 episodes. When DVD's came around and had 5 episodes, we thought we'd died and gone to Soul Society. As a result, I'll never take for granted having a constant flow of Anime at my finger tips. I laugh out loud that we have the luxury to complain about the effectiveness of an Anime streaming service when we never had the concept of an "Anime Streaming Service" at all. It's a beautiful world with marvelous creations and endless possibilities.

I recently re-watched Neon Genesis Evangelion on Netflix. Back in the day, my friends and I purchased the series in 2 episode chunks at $20 a piece. So we're talking $260 just to watch the show. Don't you see how crazy that is? Of course that all faded away during the advent of Scanlations and Fansubs but I'm just truly grateful to the world we live in. And Anime Conventions represent to me the world I always wanted to live in when I was a kid.

So being older now, I don't quite participate in all of the activities. Rather I stroll through the events proudly, hands clasped behind my back while I survey the most beautiful moment I even witness; every single year.

I can't wait to get back to those times.

Sincerely,

So, for those of you who may not be in the know, Syfy has released it's lineup of new shows for the year.  Among them is a show called "Cosworld".   Here...let me show you what this show is all about.

Cosworld is a tantalizing six-episode docuseries that lifts the veil on the imaginative world of cosplay competition. The series follows some of the hottest cosplay stars as they make a splash at comic book conventions around the country. The show dives deep into their lives, following their process as they create extravagant and visually arresting costumes each week. These individuals will constantly defy odds and race against the clock to transform themselves into amazing fictional characters that push the boundaries between fantasy and reality, all in hopes of impressing the convention judges to win a cash prize and the chance to become a cosplay legend. 

Oh, and to make it better?  It's brought you by the same people who brought us the ever so amazing "Flavor of Love" on VH1.  Just the right type of people I'd want to make a reality show about my hobby!  What could possibly go wrong?  I mean it's not like we haven't been treated as weirdos by mainstream reality shows before, right?  Riiight?

This show, surprisingly enough, upsets me and it just perpetuates things that I feel are negatively impacting this hobby.  Yes, that's right I said hobby.  Because that's what cosplay is, you know.  It's not just the sewing and pictures and cons; that's what cosplay needs.  But what it is, what cosplay really is...is an escape.  A hobby.  A way to forget about your boring mundane life and let loose some stress.  To meet others like yourself and make friends, to share your passion with others.  It's not about the competitions, it's not about the facebook likes or money or becoming a "cosplay legend"...it never was. The mainstream ideal of the "professional cosplayer" doesn't exist and it saddens me to see so many people using that title to refer to themselves now.  It's an almost statistical impossibility to be a professional cosplayer.  You cannot make a permanent living off of it, even the most "famous" of cosplayers have day jobs.  This is our past time, not our job.  Do not forget that.

The rise in the ideal of the professional cosplayer, however has turned this hobby into something else, something driven by the almighty facebook like or dA views.  We base our worth and the worth of our friends by the number of likes they have.  We treat those with more likes as "celebrities" and those with less? They're completely unlikely to get any recognition no matter how impeccable their costumes or how passionate they are.  The girls who dress up in skimpy clothes get called attention whores and sluts, people who do have a high amount of likes and even those who don't are bashed and dragged through the mud,  people have to legitimize themselves as real fans, while others are called liars as people sip their haterade and say "She doesn't even make her costumes!".  People get possessive over character costumes and bash anyone who attempts them, I've seen friendships ended over cosplay.  What in the world is this cattiness?  Do we NEED this attitude that we have to be the best, that we need more facebook likes, that we must become a "rising star"?

And even then there are thousands in this hobby.  Thousands, how can there be a "rising star" when at any given moment half the hobby doesn't know who they are?  I can name possibly three people who just about every cosplayer knows.  Three.  This hobby is impossibly huge that we can't possibly have the culture that the mainstream media is trying to define us as. I know, I know you might be saying right now "But Robin, you're just jealous because no one knows who you are" and you'd almost be right about that, I do have some recognition even if people don't know me by name.  I've just been in this hobby that long.  But I've got friends with nine hundred likes and friends with ten THOUSAND likes, I've also got friends who only have 20 or even none at all because they don't have a page.  I have friends who make their own costumes, friends who buy them and friends who modify them because they can't sew and it doesn't matter to me.  Why?  Because they're my friends.  And that's really why I started this hobby to begin with.  Because it sounded like fun.  Because the moment I walked into Dragon*Con all those long years ago with my messy curly hair, cut off and fraying corduroy pants and oversized jacket I bought from a thrift store, I met some of the most amazing people in my life.  I met friends who I talk to to this day (Who I am incredibly depressed I cannot be sitting with talking about this tonight.  :<) and friends who have changed my life.   I found a place I could truly be myself without being judged.  I'm an entertainer at heart, I love seeing other people smile.

I'm tired of seeing people scared of joining this hobby or doing things that they find uncomfortable because they feel that cosplay is about becoming a legend, or being in the skimpiest costume or the first to do this costume or that so that they get the likes and then they just end up miserable and sewing costumes at the con for that photo shoot they paid for while sniping at others anonymously on websites.  Or they're buying their costumes and lying about making them because they feel they have to.  They're not having fun, and it doesn't have to be that way.  You don't have to lie guys, honestly no one cares if you sewed it yourself, your mom made it for you, you bought it or you thrifted it.  As long as you're honest people won't care.  You don't have to take on fifty new costumes a con, you don't have to stay up all hours of the night three days before the con and make yourself cry.  Or wear that skimpy bathing suit costume even though you're uncomfortable wearing a belly shirt.  Don't do things that make you uncomfortable because you think you need those page views, you don't.