/cgl/ - Cosplay & EGL

one of my own stories:

Arisia 2009, i was a bit overwhelmed with all the scifi and renaissance/medieval stuff being a mostly anime fan, but the way they had the con set up was great. the hotel had actual hotel rooms that were part of a block and each dealer or artist had their own hotel room set up with whatever. Lots of custom stuff from alchemy potions to chainmail to random goods, and each room felt super welcoming and there were often just small groups of people hanging out. Ended up finding a Patlabor manga and a ranma 1/2 manga for a few dollars. It wasn't overcrowded at all and the atmosphere was very comfy. Since then I havent been to arisia but ive only heard recent stories of how bad its gotten, cant say id want to see it firsthand.

>>9699444
Bumping for pictures
Found a few on Google, I love talking about old cons

do anime cons still have anime screenings past midnight? i remember old old connecticon around 2008, theyd have screenings nonstop from friday til sunday and i remember watching anime til like 4 or 5 am and then crashing with friends, since then they got rid of their screenings overnight and it sucks bc staying up late at cons is part of the fun, but ctcon now is pretty bad...

I don't have any stories, but I have a few old con photos from 2009 I can share. I have a bunch more photos from 2007 & 2008 but those were taken before I had a digital camera, so sadly I don't have them on my computer.

>>9699499

>>9699500

>>9699501

>>9699502

>>9699444
looking at this thread is so nostalgic
Makes me wonder what anime cons will be like in a couple more years

>>9699483
fanime does. not sure of any other ones.

>>9699444
Going at my first con ever.
I had a shitty ebay Alice cosplay, my friends were in equally shitty Kuroshitsuji cosplays (we loved this anime so much back then) and "lolita" dresses. I had like 55$ on me because I kept lunch money for a month to buy things there and I still have that "kawaii" peach I bought sitting next to my computer as I type rn. And off course a lacy cat ears headband (lost somewhere in my drawers) because i wanted to be a kawaii neko princess.
I had the most fun I ever had at a con. Everything seemed so new and exciting. I was surrounded by people "like me",I no longer felt like some freak that liked chinese cartoons.
We would yell "the game", play weeb music outside and people would join us to dance,sing vocaloid on the karaoke,take "random xD" pictures,group pictures,...
I also learned about new animes/mangas that are still faves today (Panty and stocking for example,their theme song was blaring at the karaoke and i memorized the lyrics to google it later)
I looked terrible,we all did actually,but it's such a good memory,you can see my little 13yo self smiling like an idiot on almost every picture.
/autistic blogpost

I’m actually tearing up a little bit looking at all of these and being overcome with nostalgia. I wish I could recapture that time period/innocence sometimes. When pocky and ramune wasn’t sold in every grocery store, when everyone knew the moves to Hare Hare Yukai, when the raves were fun, when cosplays looked like crap, but people were just happy to see the characters. There’s something so pure about all of it.

My best friend growing up and I went to cons together all the time and they are my fondest memories. I wish we’d been able to go to one more together before she passed away. We’d been talking about me going to visit her at her college town for Otakon. The last con she went to, she had a hetalia voice actor record me a dorky happy birthday video and I loved it.

>>9699618
I remember finding authentic pocky and ramune for the first time at an azn grocery store in the city and I was overly excited as if I found the holy grail. And god, hare hare yukai, I still remember it and I still recall the moves partially 10 years later.

>>9699618
im really glad you shared that story, you seem like a really nice person, i made this thread because it feels like with the younger crowd being the majority that go now arent the same and people are even more obnoxious and rude now, perhaps its just a change in generation. Sorry to hear about your friend passing, anon.

I remember my first con
connecticon 2008

i was alone most of the weekend and was super antisocial so i didnt ask anyone amything other than for a few pictures of the cosplays. Wandered around to some screenings, some artist alley stuff(met these two 30 year old girls that were super into 80s anime and were selling stuff so i bought a Ranma 1/2 poster from them for only 5 dollars (i still have this framed, thank you again comiku girls if you see this) along with some other stuff. dealers room and game room were a blast, not a lot of people crowding around and most people were just cosplaying with friends but the few panels i went to were great, no hosts that dont know how to host, very informative and open discussions. i wish i had made friends there but in my 17year old brain i was with friends all weekend. Times like those aren't something you'd easily forget, even if nothing really happened.

I remember my first con
connecticon 2008

i was alone most of the weekend and was super antisocial so i didnt ask anyone amything other than for a few pictures of the cosplays. Wandered around to some screenings, some artist alley stuff(met these two nice girls that were super into 80s anime and were selling stuff so i bought a Ranma 1/2 poster from them for only 5 dollars (i still have this framed, thank you again comiku girls if you see this) along with some other stuff. dealers room and game room were a blast, not a lot of people crowding around and most people were just cosplaying with friends but the few panels i went to were great, no hosts that dont know how to host, very informative and open discussions. i wish i had made friends there but in my 17year old brain i was with friends all weekend. Times like those aren't something you'd easily forget, even if nothing really happened.

>>9699483
ctcon closes at 9 pm now

>>9699622
Don’t forget the Lucky Star dance too lol. Also, I remember seeing Ramune at Kroger for the first time and rushing home (to use my brick of a 2006 cellphone yikes) to call my best friend after free calling hours started and tell her that we needed to go get some ASAP. And the first time she brought pocky to school, it was like she’d smuggled a treasure overseas.
And I’m pretty sure if pressed, I could still bust out the moves to HHY lol.

>>9699692
Thank you, that means a lot. Talking about Inuyasha in the lunch line in 6th grade was how we met lol. This was back in the early 2000s, and we would all pass around manga that cost our entire allowances at Borders. She’s basically the reason I became such a dweeb. She had a super awesome life while she was around, and I basically owe it to her to live a little bit extra for her. Cancer is a bitch.
I totally agree with you on the generational thing, though. Like, while I think this new generation is a lot more “accepting” of stuff, it’s a lot crueler, more isolated, and rude. I feel like people are very judge-y now, and I doubt I’d ever witness an impromptu hallway rave again. With so much media attention on cosplay and con culture, and so much public scrutiny (and chances to have your photo shared online), I feel like people are much more reserved with their behavior and are much more perfectionists with their cosplays. It looks better, sure, but at the cost of it only really being about photoshoots and contests now.

>>9700660
Where did my punctuation/line breaks go after I hit post?? Sorry for the brick of text.

Requesting more old con pics if anyone has them? I have a bunch I can dump if you guys want but they're super old like this one from 1970. I love seeing what cons used to be like.

>>9700677
Would a dump from 10 years ago be alright? I took some screenshots of an old con album I had on fb. Half the pictures are super blurry and embarrassing, but I feel like it really captures a specific moment in time (to my despair, someone’s even holding a yaoi paddle in one)

>>9700684
That'd be great anon!

>Goes to first con (really shitty college campus convention for anime)
>Go with my two best friends, who both had their moms make them super nice costumes
>Me looking like every emo rolled into one
>First cosplayer I see is Deidara from Naruto and I nearly faint
>legit scared the cosplayer with how I was reacting

Old me is a shame to every fiber of my being.

Commencing blurry dump from 10 years ago.

>>9700711

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>>9700724
Last one. It was when I first discovered jfashion lol. Sorry again for the blurryness—something was wrong with my lens and I didn’t notice until after the con, since I was having too much fun to check.

>babby's first con
>go with big group of friends (basically our entire high school anime club)
>dressed in the edgiest outfit my parents would allow my pre-teen ass to wear
>so hyped to spend my meager allowance on a Naruto poster and one of those solar powered keyrings with Itachi on it
>go with one of my friends to a local store afterwards so she can buy the world's most ita dress
>we all think it's the most amazing thing we've ever laid eyes on

>next year con
>huge group of friends again
>I cosplay Hidan very crappily but who cares I get to cosplay my husbando and I am so proud of making the scythe myself
>we all buy matching cat ear headbands and wear them around the con (and occasionally around town afterwards)
>friend does her first cosplay comp as Haruhi, complete with hare hare yukai skit
>start to get to know the local cosplay community

And then gradually our group dwindled, and the competition became everything so every con is stressful, and acting like a massive weebshit around town made us self-conscious, and now I walk around the con with one or two people silently judging the tacky merch and bootleg figures, and fuss over wig placement and makeup longevity and uncomfortable shoes and emergency safety pins. Those first two cons were magical in a way they'll never be again.

Going to cons 6-7 years ago.
>cosplay a character out of love and passion despite imperfections.
>get noticed sometimes but met with glee and excitement.
>having innocent bursts of fun acting out favorite moments.

Going to cons today.
>too shy to cosplay Xcharacter because of the body isn't 100% accurate.
>just another head in the crowd.
>literally cannot function without getting drunk.
>logistics for a hotel room is next to impossible for old stopping grounds.
I want to go back...

ooh boy about to age myself here super hard. I've been going to con's on and off since 2003. Those early/mid 2000's were such a magical time of meeting new people, learning about new shows, premier events at cons, and good times being a nerd, without the need for alcohol.

The first con I went to was an Ohayocon, which I remember not being at the convention center it is now. I was awed by peoples costumes, took hundreds of pics on a normal camera, and went to the masqurade with friends. We laughed at some of the skits, with one involving Mr.Satan acting a bit like The Rock standing out.

Man I could tell dozens and dozens of little stories from those days, even into about 2012... I feel like that's around when the changes really sunk in.

Maybe i'll try to find those old photos, which i know i have stored somewhere, and scan them or have them digitized. I've just always been to lazy to do so.

>>9700660
Nayrt but I think cameras and camcorders brought a bad element. Even regular nightclubs you cant let loose. So everyone is trying to be seinfeld.

The lack of obesity in these pics.. Man I miss old America.

>>9701834
Anon Im seeing plenty of fatties in those pics both in cosplay and just people standing around in the backgrounds.

>>9700986
Glad there's someone older than me in this thread. My first con was Sugoicon 2005. I have very fond memories of Ohayocon, including watching the Spoony Bards take requests for video game music at 4 AM, discovering AMV Hell, and the very last time I went, I ran into an old friend that went with me the first time 10 years prior.

>>9700660
hello again! i remember inuyasha all the way back to like 2005/2006 when it used to air on [adult swim]! that was definitely around the time i was most excited to watch anime, when it was this generally unknown thing where you had to break the rules and stay up late to watch. i feel so nostalgic when i bring up [adult swim] to people, back then it was the biggest thing to me and i became a part of their online community and stuff. I think as a whole people that went to cons who were still growing up, decided that their own crafts and costumes werent good enough and they just progressively took it more and more seriously, it seems like everyone did that in some way and cons became less of a passion event. i remember in 2006 making a paranoia agent cosplay of lil slugger, i spraypainted my roller blades gold and drew buttons onto my hat and went around my neighborhood rollerblading as him. its a silly memory but i wish i could do it again, all of it. Sorry for the longish post. Would love to trade more memories if you'd like.

Just want to say thank you to everyone sharing in this thread. I'm writing a novel that takes place at three different weekend anime cons from 2006, 2008, and 2012 and have been working so hard to try and capture all of what you guys are talking about here, and this thread has been so helpful.

>>9701871

Oh man, i remember those 3-4 AM con fun times. I would meet random people playing games, or the events still going and just participate or ask to join in. The first few AMV hells blew my mind, and honestly i went to a lot of the Midnight weird shit for years, until it didn't really seem like it was a thing.

To give an idea of the atmosphere I remember, One Otakon, 2004 or 5, our entire anime club went, and a large number of us all did a big group cosplay from naruto. All home made, in retrospect, many of which weren't that good, but damn did we have a blast.

We met tons of other Naruto fans at shoots,and hilariously almost all broke off into groups with people from the shoots and hung out in those. Some of the people cosplaying the teachers all got lunch, a bunch of the kids in teams hung out and did shoots around the con, it was what i see as the greatness of cons in one memory. I don't feel like shit like that could ever happen now. People seem so scared of strangers, either doing something to them, or saying that they did something to that person. Idk, i feel more bad for the people now, then sad or angry.

>>9701912

Actually i found a few pictures from this con. So it was def 2004. What stands out to me is how NOT CROWDED the fountain area of otakon was then,and it seemed like such a big crowded con at the time. Jesus if only i knew.

Fanime 2006 was my first major con.

It’s amazing how much they’ve grown. My favorite things about cons back then is all the late night hangouts. It was my graduation weekend from high school so I went to the con in between graduation practice and the ceremony and went right back to the con again and since I hadnt planned ahead for a hotel ended up staying awake at the con non-stop playing cosplay chess, watching Survive Style 5 and A Bittersweet Life in the asian film room, seeing Eureka 7 and being pumped with that OP, stopping in for Yakitate marathon, attending the dance, even attending what was the equivalent of the 4chan panel there.

The con itself was certainly alot smaller and the AA itself wasn’t even near being fully tabled, but just those vibes and feelings of being surrounded by so many other anime fans. idk I’m rambling, just memories

>>9701927
>>9701912

>>9701912
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>>9701933

last one I actually have uploaded. I know somewhere are pics from 2003- 2005 cons. man even this area of otakon was super crowded last time i was there.

>>9699483
Anime central does

>>9700986
if you have any old pictures you're moe than welcome to post them here! old con photos are everywhere but when they come from someone firsthand with a story it really paints a picture.

>>9702761

i shared a few, and actually have been organizing a few of them i had forgotten about. Now moving the ones i have that are actual photos from 2003 onto the computer may be a huge pain. will see if the thread sticks around by then.

>>9700713
>ParaPara Paradise
Fuck yeah. thank you for sharing.

MTAC...2007 or 2008. I forget. I figured I'd try going to the rave but that was a mistake. They had set it up in this windowless auditorium with poor ventilation. In the end I think someone passed out. I remember setting foot inside for a moment to see what it was like. The noxious fumes that smacked me in the face are a memory I'll never forget. All kinds of funk from every armpit and groin seemed to meld into a cloud of disgusting soup that could gag a goat.

I retreated from the rave but it was shut down shortly after. I believe the fire chief came as well.

Another rave suffered a similar fate in anime weekend atlanta....or some such place. I forget the name. Someone kept smuggling booze onto the dance floor which you couldn't do because MUH MINORS so they shut everything down. I saw a guy running really fast up out the place. I think he was the one who was doing the booze smuggling. I'll never know though.

My first cons were Fanime and AoD in 2003. They were pretty small back then, which was probably a good thing since there were less witnesses to my embarrassing weeb-ness. Me and my bff cosplayed as Chii and Freya from Chobits in costumes hand made by my mom, with ears I ordered from a cosplay accessories maker with their own geocities site. I'm pretty sure I had to mail them cash and they shipped the ears to me, lol. I wore a Party City wig and my friend didn't wear a wig at all, so we were only really recognizable by the ears. We also had no clue how to do makeup beyond like pencil eyeliner and lipgloss but were super kawaii uguu~ anyways. We just ran around the dealer's hall buying manga and pocky with our allowance money until her parents got tired of chaperoning us after like one hour and we had to go home. I bought this Gundam Wing book (that I still have to this day) because Duo was my husbando and even though it was all in Japanese I could still look at the pictures. I guess all this would have been more cute than embarrassing since we were in middle school, but still wtf that our parents let us read Chobits let alone cosplay it. And we thought we were so much classier than the weebs who ran around glomping and hitting each other with yaoi paddles.

Found a packet of AB 07 photos so shitty scan dump incoming.

>>9699444

My first con was Acen 2002... Have gone every year since, lmao! Back then the dealers room was where they have the masquerade, and the game room was where they show anime and stuff now. It's been interesting to see how it's grown, and how my attitude towards cons has changed too. I still look forward to it every year, but my group of friends and I enjoy going outside of the hotel and doing stuff in Chicago too.

>>9705463
Damn that Shin Chan is actually really good.

reading about how great the older cons were makes me a bit sad, since i was too young and didn't really know what anime was. don't know if after 2010 counts but here it goes,

>be 13
> at Anime Expo 2012 with just my mom, had no friends to go
>wearing shitty Rena Ryuguu costume I begged my mom to buy from Milanoo for me, then I bought her wig because i thought my hair was okay to use
>also a shitty made machete out of cardboard and markers
>get free tickets but can only access the dealer's room all day
>didn't care, got to see all the weeb shit and cosplays
>bought an Inuyasha plushie that got eaten by my dog
>a random dude said my cosplay was nice

i would love to go to another con again, but i want to attend one without my 500+ lb roommate waddling her way.

>>9705459
I was there!

>>9699499
Damn if these are all the con I think it was, this was my first con ever! So crazy to think it's been that long, those photos looks like they're old but also somehow like they were from yesterday.

I participated in a glomp circle and won a sick DVD set of an anime I'd never watch at the karaoke contest. Good times.

>>9705524

Greetings, fellow acen veteran...

Whatever happened to Sailor Bubba?

Anime North, 2008

I wish I could find pictures from 2004, the first year I went.
God bless my mother for walking my weeb ass around and sewing me those horribly planned costumes.
>Sweaty old dude volunteer yelling up and down the entrance line
>that wrestling ring
>watching the con I loved become a shit show

>AnimeNEXT 2009
>First con for me and best friend
>too poor for hotels
>we'll just sleep in the car
>worst idea in June
>friend offers to let us crash with her squad
>go to room, open door
>hey do you want jungle juice?
>goth kids
>regret.jpg
>16 at time, refuse drink
>one of room member's ex crashes the party
>drinks half a bottle of Everclear
>tries to jump out window screaming he wants to die
>ex-girlfriend is crying
>he vomits everywhere and passes out
>best friend quiet the whole time staring at his DS
>friend traumatized
>never goes back to a con

Incidentally, I've come to enjoy the drunk hotel life too much.

>>9705597
idk he was replaced by Ladybird?

>>9705467
>that kikyo family cosplay with little rin

i wouldve died if i saw that, oh my god thats so great

Finally back from Thanksgiving. Found some old Otakon 2006 pics i'll post up.

>>9706345

Man I used to go through tons of disposable cameras at cons... don't know why I don't really feel the same urge any more to take pics of random cosplayers.

Hi yes thank you please I met my wife earlier this year at a con
I have tried to find her to tellher she is my wife but to no avail
If you have seen here please let me know
Thank you please

Idk if i've just noticed less groups in the recent years, or if there are less of them posing and doing stuff for pictures outside of their set photo times/shoots? i always thought it was really cool to see a bunch of people do stuff like that.

>>9706354
>not in blackface
DROPPED

It's weird seeing this area of the convention center not crowded beyond belief like it was the last few years there.

I wonder how much shit old cosplay would get now adays?

Although it's good to know weird cosplay mixes or puns with the cosplay are still a thing even today.

I wonder how many of these people still go to con's or cosplay this many years later.

I wonder how many of these people still go to cons, or cosplay this many years later.. Any way all my Otakon 2006. pretty sure i have a small amount of of Ohayocon 2007, and trying to figure out how to get all my 2004 stuff up.

I wonder how many of these people still go to cons, or cosplay this many years later.. Any way all my Otakon 2006.

As far as con stories go, If i remember correctly, this otakon they did a premier showing of the Chromartie High live action movie. It was packed, but me and my friends managed to get in, and it was great times. The entire audience seemed to love it, and everyone was having a great time. I remember and kind of miss those big premiers at cons, when they were they place to see something first.

I have a small dump from Katsucon 2002. I actually just found these photos that my family had taken at the con since I was too young to go on my own then. A lot are candid hall shots but maybe someone would find it interesting.

>>9706391

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>>9706399

>>9706401

>>9706399
This is kinda interesting. I wonder who this person is?

>>9706360
GIRUGAMESH

>>9700986
>>9701871

I'm from 1998 guys.
When I started Sailor Bacon was a thing and wigs only came in 5 party colors. Our digital cameras used a floppy disk.

>>9706399
>>9707531

Are you messing with me? That's TristenCitrine. She was one of the founding members of that SeraMyu dance group. They had super good outfits. IIRC, she was an exotic dancer, got a boob job, decided to cosplay, got popular, got married in an orange and white Rosebride outfit, got divorced at some point, lost a lot of weight, gained it back, now works for Funimation.

>>9706389
My dream cosplay, but no one would recognize it today.

> found pic on Google but I remember this group being there they were probably the largest

My first con was ayacon 2005. I had no idea what I was doing, I had a shitty tokyo mew mew cosplay, but I had so much fun! I met people I'm still friends with now 12 years later but more importantly I met the love of my life and we've a lovely daughter together. I remember sitting in the bar upstairs as a barely legal teenagee who was too young to drink but still had a vodka cola (it's the uk everyone underage drinks). I remember being in this little room with my brother in the room next door to look out for me as my legal guardian. The masquerade was just basically people walking around in terrible costumes, the games room was a million miles away from everything else and I never found it, and for some reason there was a tonberry strapped to an RC car. Oh and someone set fire to some manga on the last night in the middle of the plaza.

Good times

my first con was Otakon 2009 and that Silent Hill photoshoot is still one of my favorite ever con memories
pic related, I'm the Pyramid Head

2006, managed to meet yaya without her yayas, pretty nice lady.

I would show pics except my first con was otakon 2005 and I couldn't get a digital camera it was a disposable.

My oldest photos are on a locked photobucket account. Otakon 2008 is the earliest I have but I grabbed some that kind of captured the end of the era.

>>9708204

>>9708205

>>9708206
For the lolitas it was also a simpler time.

>>9708207
Do people even do this anymore? I feel like the older days had more "con shenanigans"

>>9708209
Pic related

>>9708211
Caramelldansen was still hot

I love all this, it's hitting my nostalgia hard core.

2010 is the oldest I still have photos salvaged from dead hard drives, but I can share some if it's old enough for the thread.

To my 16 year old mind this was the funniest shit

>>9708214
Eyyy is that Kumoricon? I cosplayed a shitty Tsubaki from Soul Eater that year.

>>9708233
Yes it is! Last year they were at the old hotel.

>>9708234
Thank you for helping me remember my cringe from 2009-2010; those were dark times.

>teeny tiny con around while I was in middle school
>Only went once because weird shit happened
>Christmas themed con, so a bunch of people are wearing christmas versions of their costume
> Went with my gf of the time and some other weeb friends
>Sitting Around drinking Bawls soda because xD Bawls it's like balls but not!!!!!!!
>Some scruffy looking guy sits himself in our little group
>"I LOVE BAWLS TOO. I ALSO LOVE BALLS. IM GAY."
>Wow sugoii an irl yaoi!!
>We immediately take to him, he's probably 20, 25 and we're all 15 so we think he's a cool older guy into yaoi
>My friend is really into him, starts hanging off his arm
>Ask him to buy us yaoi for us, he actually does
>My dad sees us hanging around some weirdo buying us porn and gets us tf out of there

The con after, my dad chaperoned us everywhere. He was a really good sport honestly. He dressed up as Speed Racer, and was even the header images for a con website for a while. One of the yaoi booth guys tried to get him to buy a yaoi paddle. Sorry Dad. I really appreciate you.

>>9708239
>Wow sugoii an irl yaoi!!

> "Fangirl and Fanboy Etiquette" panel
> Basic things like ask before glomping and take showers
> Panelist runs out of content with 20 minutes left
> Ask who likes yaoi
> These two random cosplayers who have never met before and are both men chime in
> Somehow??? this leads to them making out in front of the room of teenage girls who cheer and take photos
> My father was at this panel with me
> He took this photo
> (before they actually started mackin' obviously)

>My first con was over a decade ago
>The weird Homestuck Meetup at my local botanical garden where I made out with a stranger and got stung by a bee was 5 years ago

>>9700714
>Yaoi paddle
>>9700716
>Anbu cosplay
>>9700724
>Free hugs sign
Where has the time gone?

>>9708195
Wow! Back when she was attractive and actually put effort into cosplaying, and not just promotional modeling. Once she got the huge inflatable chest her work began declining, her looks suffered, and her reputation became a joke. Worst of all, she's not even on con-slut level - not remotely bangable.

>>9699592
OMFG!!! The fucking game!!

Its 5:30 a.m. where I live. I think all my high school friends need a mass text right about now.

My first con was in 2007. I don't know how but for my first anime convention I begged my parents to buy me an overpriced cosplay on eBay, and i remember seeing lucky star, bleach, death note, ouran high host club, vampire knight, naruto and some others.. I would get like $30 to spend so I had to choose what to buy very carefully, one year 2008? I bought an out an high school umbrella, I still have it, it's so wrinkled. I don't have any photos of my first cosplay and it makes me pretty sad, even though it was hideous (haha)
It was a really great time for me, there weren't many kids my age around so I really remember just looking at everything wide eyed, being really impressed at the artists and drinking ramune. That was a really enjoyable time.. the entry was only like $10..

I think I went to my first con about... 7 years ago? Which might not seem like much but in my country the con scene has only been expanding in recent years.
I remember it was the first 'big name' convention held in my city, and there was a lot of buzz around it. I went as 'cute' Thor, and made my hammer out of a tissue box base. I used a normie blue dress with a shitty dollar store tutu underneath, and used duct tape to make the armor components to stick on the front. I was so damn proud of my duct-tape head piece and my shitty eBay wig.
We waited almost an hour to get in at opening time, and I remember the line peaked at about 3 hours a bit later in the morning after we'd gone in. I'd had all of 20 minutes sleep the night before because I was so excited, and my friends and I just stayed up all night talking.

A bunch of people took my picture and complimented me in the line as well as in the con, and for some weird reason multiple people thought the wig was my real hair. If I wore that exact cosplay to a con today i'd probably get posted here and have the shit ripped out of me, haha.

I just remember it being such a pure and fun experience. I thought I looked amazing and I remember just crashing on the car ride home because I was so exhausted.

Nowadays that same con is just another standard fixture in the yearly lineup. It's pretty crazy thinking back to how big it seemed that first year.
I have to say, I did lose that 'magic' feeling of going to cons for quite a few years, but i've rekindled it recently as I've found some really genuine friends through cosplay, and i'm excited to go to cons and just have fun again.

>sage for blogpost but i'm feeling warm and nostalgic now

>>9708211
I still want to do one of these cosplays

>>9708207
It was a better time

My first con was Acen 2009. I went as Italy from hetalia (I was really into hetalia then) and my gf was Germany. I was 14, she was 17. At the time, I don't know if they still do this, but there used to be hetalia makeout circles where a bunch of hetalia cosplayers would clump together in a circle and play "truth or dare," which was just an excuse to make out with each other. My gf got trapped in one of the makeout circles and made out with a bunch of people for several hours and I was left alone because I didn't want to kiss strangers. I went and sat in a corner and cried because my gf was making out with other people and a group of older Naruto cosplayers noticed me and sat next to me and talked to me. They were really nice and invited me to come along and hang out with them, so I did and ended up having an amazing rest of the con. Whoever you are, older Sasuke and Itachi, you have my undying gratitude.

>>9699618
I'm sorry for your loss anon, I went through the same thing.

My friend was the only one who liked anime in my school that I know of, and was the only one who talked to me in our small town since I wore a hijab (forced to by my crazy parents).

We saved up for a whole year and her older brother helped us drive out to a con for a day in 2007, we were only 13. I'm crying remembering this, she passed from Hodgkin's three years ago. I'll never forget those times.

>>9706355
I think people are too self conscious to do group stuff because one of their friends might not be as "put together", which kinda sucks. I feel like cosplays use to be a group effort, now it's like every man for themselves

Some of these cosplays look terrible but they look like they're having SO much fun. I would rather look mediocre and have fun than be as good as I am now and barely have fun anymore.
I miss those years.
Remember when there wasn't 12544 wig colors available and you had to do with what was the closest to the character's color and ended up with some super bright shit? Or people going an extra mile and dying/styling their real hair (which rarely looked good) ?

>>9700719
Oh my god yaoi paddles! I remember when those were a thing and it was hell if you were with an obnoxious hyper fujoshi who would spank everyone

>>9709770
What's the origin story behind those? Like I'm a fujoshit but it's not like wood paddles are just everywhere you look in yaoi. Is it even a thing among Japanese fujos? I feel like I would have seen it in one of those anime about otaku at this point if it were.

>>9709783
I'm in the same boat as you are. Absolutely no idea.
My ex gf was a fujoshit,had fujoshit friends,...and they didn't know either.

>>9709783
It was some promo thing some artist or vendor did at a con and it caught on because of yaoi fangirls. They're banned at every con now because girls would run around and smack guys and random people

Kind of like how they will still make creepy comments to guys and ask male cosplayers to kiss for money

>>9706389
>saikano cosplay
holy shit, I've never met anyone who's heard of saikano, much less seen the anime

>>9709783
I know the person who "invented" the yaoi paddle.

It's a dude. He does woodburning for his artist alley table. He's woodburn anime characters and what not into boxes and color them with markers and sell them. At a local craft store, he found a wooden paddle and burnt the word "Yaoi" into it. He made it as a joke for a staffer (possibly a con chair) at a midwest convention.

It just kind of took off from there. He never intended it to be anything more than a silly joke gift.

>>9711891
>much less seen the anime
meant Much less a cosplayer

I actually have a bunch of old Fanime DDR contest DVDs. They were filmed way before I started going to Fanime (or even any con) - 2000-2004.

I'm not even a fan - my uncle, who cleaned out closing stores, happened to find them in a DVD rent/buy/sell place.

It makes me nostalgic, for some reason, even though I've got zero interest in DDR or rhythm games.

>>9708207
I've got some shit. I recently found a cd full of old Otakon pictures and there's some lolita in there. But then again, I can't tell if it's cosplay, aside the few series I remember.

Lots of people back then handmade everything and wore it to cons. I wasn't active in it back then but I took pictures of everything. Literally, everything. This was what you did when you realized you could take unlimited photos with a digital camera instead of disposable ones! Now I don't take shit but selfies and occasional friends or group pictures.

>>9711897
>midwest
Is it this dude?

>>9711908
Nope. He never ran around with the paddles.

>>9706391
now that looks like the good ole days in one picture. never forget.

>>9706392
on the right is hat X/1999 cosplay i spy? now theres something ive always wanted to cosplay from, im 15 years too late!

>>9708205
oddly enough im making a ryouga cosplay as i type this. what a small world!

I feel like if there were more communication and panels where you could reminisce about convention memories, we'd have more people that could discover what it felt like when people were less serious and more about having fun. id be inclined to make a panel on stuff like this, if a panel
could turn out as well as this thread did, id be super happy to be a part of it. I'm so happy to have made this thread, and hear these stories. Thanks a bunch to everyone that share

>be 18
>first con like mtac 2010? 2009?
>stupid bullshit about some girl or some other
> lying down outside the rave at 1am, my group is still inside
>guy in a bathrobe lies down next to me and offers me a beer out of a turtleshell backpack
>that day i discovered what love really feels like

>>9712795
Good feel

bump because these stories make me feel warm and nostalgic

>>9708229
any pictures off the girl on the right?

Great shares, everyone, thanks,

>>9706362
fucking amazing. feel like an oldfag

>>9708242
glomping
first time that I heard of that word

>>9712795
that's cute anon

this got me into nostalgia mode-- found a few old anime magazines from 2004-2008! lots of old defunct anime shops and ads for up and coming anime cons!

>old conventions
>2008-2009

>ow, right in the age
t. 1999-era cosplayer

>>9707568
Lmfao I’m >>9717785
I was in that Sera-Myu group. What good times...

Sorry for the image for ants btw, got it off Lionel’s old page.

>>9705454
>that pit hair

>>9705470
I’m glad this is old enough to still have fat pikachu

I've been to a few. Somehow in the middle of all the fun stuff or talking I'd feel lonely. Even though I'm surrounded by a sea of people who like the same things I do. Even when I talk to a lot of people. Even if I go to a convention where my friends are also attending.

I don't go to them anymore.

I’m nostalgia-ing so hard for my first con right now. I would give anything to experience that con again. The tiny hallway artist alley, the even tinier vendor room, my friends and I trying to sneak into 18+ panels, the excitement of seeing people in cosplay, being able to just go up to anyone and strike up a conversation, sitting with new found friends by a floor to ceiling window and eating weeb snacks as the sun sets. I could go on and on. I’m truly heartbroken that I’ll never experience that con in the same way again. After the first few years, it got way more popular and they moved locations. Anytime I drive by the hotel where it was originally hosted, it gives me that nostalgic melancholy feel. I’m gonna try to find some photos later.

>>9699444
jesus christ OP, i panicked thinking that was a photo of me from years ago. exact same shitty faded hair color, same shoes, same shit seifuku, same bean pole legs and arms. I'm triggered.

>>9708738

Yeah, I see this a lot sadly, a problem with both t hose who won't put in as much effort as everyone else or expect them to do everything, but also those who flip their shit if everyone isn't on the same level.

We used to have cosplay get togethers to work on stuff like all day some weekends, and that was part of the fun and experience. I guess though with social media, a lot of people plan groups with people not near them,and it all falls apart.

AnimeNext, maybe about 2003. First time I went to anything close to a convention since as a small child I was taken to Marvel Megatour in 1994, where I got the chance to meet Stan in the autograph line and literally randomly bumped into the guy as the littlest of tykes and asked him a load of questions on the con floor.

2003, AnimeNext at the Crowne Plaza on Route 3 in NJ, before they moved over to the convention center at Harmon Meadow.

I was 18, a weeb who was probably undiagnosed with aspergers and diagnosed with adhd. I was the worst back then. Went with a high school friend for Saturday and just roamed the small space. Was flabbergasted by the dealers room at the end of the long inclined hallway and all the neat things they had. I'd seen an picked up a few Gundam model kits before then, but there was stuff...just full scale paintable kits in giant boxes costing more than I knew these things could cost. I saw the game room and got a look at a bunch of imported games being played that I'd only heard about on...god what were the earlier names of Sessler's show on TechTV/Ziff Davis before they merged with G4. Sin & Punishment and the Evangelion 64 game.

Speaking of which that was really my first exposure to the series beyond just the name. Watched a few mid series episodes that were playing in one of the video rooms, one of the Rei focused one's I think, where she blew herself up. Not that I had any idea what the hell was going on.

And the costumes. This weird spread of old costumes from older things like Ranma, Magic Users Club, and then kind of newer things to us like Inuyasha and early Naruto. Some tall and super smiley black guy walking around as Might Guy, but the crotch of his green body suit was stretching and discoloring from all the splits.

It was a new world to me back then, and my first Otakon was later that summer...that was a time. A fun and weird time to be.

>>9715828
>glomping is not a thing anymore
It's a bit sad, but also good riddance

>>9706355
With the increased expectations in cosplay it's hard to get a group if interested people of the same skill level together and to agree on characters. Someone always has to be the unpopular ones, and someone always has the "bad" or "ugly" one out of the bunch and catches shit

my first con was MTAC 2007, i remember walking around with my best friend and this fat kid with kitty ears started following us around asking “what meow?” also made out with a qt shufflestep raver. good times

>>9706378
Holy crap, I don't think I've ever seen anyone dress as the Tentacle.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BzzZDgttvY

love looking for old anime convention vlogs like this haha

My first convention was Ohayocon 2002. I was 20. I'd been looking up convention and cosplay pictures for months ahead of time and I was getting so hype. I had my sister in law make my first costume. I bought 6 yards of fabric when I needed maybe 1.5. No wig, I used my own hair.

We finally pull up to the hotel and outside, there were cosplayers from the same series I was going to cosplay on Saturday (I wore normie clothes the other days). I'll never forget how I felt seeing cosplayers for the first time.

That Friday night, I was up late and someone had a giant roll of paper on the floor. I sat down with a bunch of other weebs and drew for hours. I talked to a few of those people for years, but I think they finally dropped out of the scene.

I commissioned artwork of me in my first cosplay there. I wish I still had it.

15 years later, I still attend conventions, I still cosplay. I still meet new people every con and make new friends/acquaintances. People don't really assume my age and think I'm younger. But I inevitably turn out to be the protective con mom after they get to know me.

It's not how it used to be through. I'm glad I started back when the internet was young and nerds ran amuk rather than these days where social media is king. I still haven't put up a cosplay fb page and have little to no desire to do so. I miss my old cosplay website though! I might put one up again for shits and giggles. I also still make character shrine websites to anime and vidya characters.

pic related, friend and I at the first Colossalcon. It was a half day event at a tiny 2 event room hotel. If you cosplayed you got in for free.

>>9720472

I know that inuyasha , which means I may know you. Im the other old con fag in this thread. LCCC?

>>9719668

Used to see him ay otakon a few years in a row. One year he was Ichigo tentacle.

>>9706364
WTF anon whoever you are you must have been right next to me when you took these pics because these are really close to my prints from Otakon 2006

>>9721446

Ive actually posted myself in some or one of these old con pics in babbys first cosplay.

I wish I had gone to events when I was in high school. Now I am basically going to be an old man among the crowd that goes to these events.

i think once people reach a certain age, they're a lot less enthusiastic about things they love - the novelty and hype wears off and it becomes normal. I'd love to go back to the times when people my age were young and were innocently weeabooish and it was at a time when no one punished people with insults of being a 'weeaboo' which im sure hurt a lot of people growing up. I'd just like to see people happily enjoying the niche of cons and cosplay again, but i hardly see that anymore at cons and it makes me sad.

TF2/Valve gathering, Fanime 2010

>>9707984
Warwick Uni stands out so obviously

bump! ლ(╹◡╹ლ)

>>9706378
that fucking sephiroth winnie the pooh. fucking masterpiece.

>>9701871
>>9701912
sugoi ;_; rip in pieces


This a thread where sadness comes and manifests.
thread theme https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JAzS3-kIW8

I've been going to cons only since 2011, and even I feel horribly displaced by the newer crowd. There's tons of 13-16 tweens just as there was decades ago, but my big gripe is that cons are being commercialized, and they're shoving community to the side in favor of shilling more merch.

I'm not against making money, but there's more to a con than the vendor's hall... I don't wanna get into it.

My first con would have to have been Kentokyo 2012. Hosted in some hole in the wall right off the interstate, really mediocre all around, had the time of my life. I'd go back if I could.

>>9708323
what anime is this character from?

I went to anime north back in 2010 and it was so different from today. Way less people so it wasn't as crowded, everyone would say great things, lots of people would take pics, generally really friendly. I was so excited to go and it was such a fun experience. I didn't take any pics tho, wish I did cause I couldn't afford another con till 2013.

The only thing I'm happy did get regulated is people groping and grabbing. Back then no one really cared for the whole cosplay consent thing, so I found people would just help themselves.
>me as Jareth, 18, baby's first cosplay
>grey pants what? Buy grey leggings instead
>older gross girl hugs me and does a long and pervy grab & squeeze of my ass
>Not subtle
>Awkward laugh it off and play it like whatever
>must be what all cons are like, guess everyone is really friendly
>get creeped on by multiple girls at the con
>going across to throw something out, some guy comes out of no where and kisses my face.

Cons have changed in this regard for the better. NO way a stranger could grope mine (or anyone's) ass at a con and not get called out and get staff involved.

christmass bump!

>>9700711
Oh man, anon, I'm pretty sure I know which con this is and that I was there.

>>9729642
>Where is this character from?

>>9708245
>weird Homestuck Meetup at my local botanical garden
What city

I went to a weird Homestuck Meetup at the beginning of 2014 and gave them Tab because it was a funny early Homestuck joke and I hadn't realized they were just typical shipping "le tr0llz0rz" dweebs. It was at a bigass tree, but another park in the city has a botanical garden and it probably wasn't those losers' first rodeo.

>>9732878
It was in The Woodlands if that’s a clue. I’m actually in some of the photos too.

>>9721824
That's basically how I feel as well.

>tfw your first con was in 2011
I feel like I missed out on a lot since I didn't start going to conventions until I was in my early 20s.

ConFusion, way back in... 90? Man, I haven't thought about that in years. I didn't even know what a con was, but a friend-of-a-friend invited both of us along. I was soooo out of place, but it was still a good time. Now I gotta look for some pictures.

Introduced me to a whole world of weirdness I didn't even know existed, even though it was tame by most con standards.

>>9699504
Ah Vancouver. Wish I lived here before the cons got as big as they are now, must have been comfy.

Well I just found my first cosplay in someone's collage from Kumoricon 2009 so that's an experience. I'm glad it's only a tiny square.

>>9699499
>Vancouver convention center

Shit I was here.

from a 2008 anime magazine, i love skimming through any old mags like this, lots of super old cosplays and pics of cons from back then!

>>9739061
Wow too bad the magazine couldn't get the right outfits in their reference image.

>>9728234
Se pooh rath was very amusing.