My Anime North 2017 Experience

This year was my first year attending Anime North for the full weekend, so to say I was excited and nervous was an understatement. I was excited to be spending a weekend away from work and stress, hanging out with my cosplay friends, and feeling normal in costume for three whole days. I was nervous however, as it was my first time acting as press in a convention setting, and not knowing what to expect definitely played a role.

( I am the one on the right! )

Upon arriving at the con, I was struck by how aggressive and loud the staff seemed. They were yelling extremely loudly at people, ordering them into lines and giving instructions. While it’s normal for staff to have to speak over crowds, this made me feel very uneasy. Later that night, when I was being dropped off at the con, convention staff in the parking lot would not let my driver stop to let me out by my friends. However, due to the large volume of people and the high stress environment, it’s easy to see how they may have felt the need to be direct about their instructions.

Cosplay at this con was a bit more difficult. While I successfully cosplayed Grell from Black Butler on Friday, my Saturday cosplay of Yayoi Kunizuka from Psychopass did not pan out; the pants and jacket I brought were too big on me, making it rather uncomfortable to wear, thus I forfeited around 1:00 pm. My wig for Yayoi was also very heavy and the bangs were in need of a trimming. So Saturday became a civies (street clothing) day. Sunday, I attempted to do a casual Raven cosplay, as I had interviews do to do and needed my hands to type and use my phone, and my normal Raven bodysuit is fully gloved. The forehead gem ended up falling off after about three hours (damn you Spirit Gum!) but I bought a Deadpool hoodie and made up for it.

This year, I didn’t find many events that interested me, as I am still new to anime at this point. I attended the Moonlight Ball, which as surprisingly fun. We experienced Renaissance dancing, played games, and got our fortunes read. I wanted to attend the outdoor rave on Saturday, but I was in a lot of pain from walking so I forfeited that activity.

I purchased some great items while in the Artist Alley and Dealer’s Room, including a stuffed Pusheen eating sushi, two PopFunko’s of The Witcher III’s Ciri and Black Butler’s Grell, as well as a print of Solaire from Dark Souls, a Deadpool full face hoodie, and a Hawkeye hoodie with detachable sleeves!

Overall, I had an amazing time at Anime North, however next year I’d like to go with my very close friends and do an actual group cosplay, and hopefully attend more activites and events in the future!