ICEXPO 2015: Chatting with Cosplayers
"Hello! I really like you!""Can we take a photo together? Oh, a selfie?"
"Thank you for signing my poster!"
Have you ever wondered how a conversation with a cosplayer would go? Well, I don't have to wonder anymore. We all know the last Cosfest was in July, but many people did not realise ICEXPO fell on the same weekend! Frankly, I'm surprised it fell under the rader; there was an all-star ensemble of cosplayers... Well, I was slightly glad because I managed to get lots of goodies before they sold out!
The cosplayers are: Luffy, Olivie, Arisa, Misa, Siutao, Shiraga, Sakuya and Shibuki!
Siutao is apparently really popular! Myself, I'm more of a Sakuya and Shibuki fan (I've been a fan for a couple of years!) and my main mission of the day was to get their merchandise!
I decided to pay for the premiere exchange! Getting to beat the crowd and having my pick of the merchandise was why, and I was glad I did because before noon, items were already getting sold out! Speaking about merchandise, everything at the merchandise collection area was very disorganized. The order form and pre-pay system was great but the collection was not! The staff were not loud enough to be heard by the crowd, and the uncollected merchandise just kept piling up on the table, making it hard for them to find they finally need it. They also didn't follow order numbers: my friend collected hers at least 15 minutes before mine and I had to go forward to ask before I even got mine. Well, I was given a packet of postcards with the guest cosplayers though.
The irritation didn't last long though because I was finally able to talk to Sakuya and Shibuki! They were Mikazuki Munechika and Kogitsunemaru respectively from popular online game Touken Ranbu (incidentally my current favourite web browser game) and I was really excited because Kogi is one of my favourite characters!
I had an exchange with Shibuki prior to the event on Twitter and if the numerous kaomoji she uses online isn't already indication, she is really adorable in real life, and when my arm wasn't long enough to fit us into the frame, she took over! Due to the language barrier, she seemed a little shy though. I'm a little awkward with Japanese in real life (not to mention a little starstruck) so we spoke a minimal amount. She signed all my postcards and my friend's poster:
Meanwhile, I was pleasantly surprised by Sakuya's gentle and feminine voice as she frequently cosplays males and pulls of the ikemen look day-to-day as well. We also got a selfie together! I made her laugh by greeting her as Jiji, the popular nickname for the character she was cosplaying as ^_^ Since she also came out with a Mikazuki photobook, I purchased that as well. She signed everything as well~
Overall, I enjoyed ICEXPO! It was worth skipping Day 1 of Cosfest for and I went home extremely happy with my autographed merchandise! I would certainly return next year if there are cosplayers that catch my eye again, and I hope the management would have sorted out the disastrous collection area by then (although I have to give kudos to the staff for remaining polite despite the rowdy crowd).
Written by Nana
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