cosplay – The Casual Otaku

From Wandering the Exhibit Hall to Finding My Community: Twenty Years of Anime Conventions

Twenty years ago, I walked into Anime Expo with no plan, no convention experience, and apparently no understanding that there was anything to do besides wander around the Exhibit Hall.

It was not exactly an auspicious beginning.

In a recent post, I mentioned skipping Anime Expo after a lengthy streak of consecutive attendance, in favor of a couple of bucket-list experiences. While that streak came with a lot of great memories, it is only one chapter of my convention story.

I’ve been attending conventions for more than 20 years now, and at this point I’ve honestly lost track of how many I’ve been to. Somewhere in the 50 to 60 range seems about right. In that time I’ve experienced everything from small local conventions to massive events like San Diego Comic-Con.

Anime Expo and Anime Los Angeles make up the bulk of those memories, but there have been outliers such as Sakura-Con 2015, my first out-of-state convention, with Dragon Con in just over a month set to become my second.

More Than Just Picking Costumes

Long before I start packing for a convention, I’ve usually spent weeks refining my cosplay lineup. If you’ve ever wondered how my Dragon Con cosplay lineup can change so many times before a single costume makes it into a suitcase, you’re not alone.

I wrote in an earlier post that this year marks 15 years since I started cosplaying regularly and shared some of the lessons I’ve learned along the way. One thing I never really expanded on, though, was my planning process. More specifically, how I decide what my next cosplay will be and how I put together a lineup for each convention.

One of the biggest surprises after 15 years of cosplaying is that I spend far more time deciding what not to wear than what actually makes the final cut. Choosing a cosplay isn’t just about accuracy anymore, it’s about making sure the costume enhances the convention experience instead of becoming the convention itself. If I’m being honest, the planning process can get a little obsessive and occasionally borders on overthinking.

More Than Cosplay: Why My Dress-Up Darling Resonates With Me

If there’s one consistent thing about me, it’s that I have a handful of passions that I always seem to come back to. Some interests come and go, but others become part of who you are. On the anime side of things, nothing has had a bigger impact on me than Love Live!, a franchise that’s been a constant in my life for years as I wrote about in another post.

Over the last couple of years, though, another series has quietly worked its way into that same conversation: My Dress-Up Darling. When I first heard about My Dress-Up Darling, I honestly didn’t think much of it. My anime watchlist is always several series deep, all competing for the same limited amount of free time, so it takes something special to jump to the front of the line. Somehow, this series managed to do exactly that. What started as “I’ll watch a couple episodes” quickly turned into binge-watching the entire first season in a single day. By the time the credits rolled, I completely understood why so many people had fallen in love with it.

15 Years of Cosplay, Questionable Wig Decisions, and Learning the Hard Way

Lost in the shuffle of planning Dragon Con and my upcoming Japan trip is a milestone that completely snuck up on me.

A special anniversary. No, not a relationship anniversary…well, not in the traditional sense anyway.

This year marks 15 years since I started cosplaying regularly, which is honestly wild to think about. Somehow a decade and a half has gone by since I decided to jump headfirst into one of the most fun, chaotic, and occasionally wallet-destroying hobbies out there.

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Dragon Con: Chaos, Costumes, and Questionable Decisions

In my last post, I casually mentioned that I’m finally going to check off a bucket list item with my first trip to Japan. You know, the one that could potentially end with me attending a once in a lifetime concert if the lottery gods work in my favor? Yeah, that one.

Well, what if I told you that about a month and a half before I even board that flight to Tokyo, I’m crossing another item off my list?

Not a “that would be nice someday” item. A core memory loading item.

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