Kirie:
Well, how about we start by briefly talking about why we ended up buying the game, perhaps keeping in mind what we expected from the first FF game made for the PS3.

Kidokoro:
In my case, it was from word-of-mouth – I heard from my friend, who was playing the game, that it was not as bad as what’s being said on the internet.

Kirie:
So you didn’t pre-order the game?

Kidokoro:
Some of the online communities have heavily criticized the game*, so that had a bit of influence.
To be honest, I was being cautious about buying the game; now that the game is on the PS3, the price of the game itself has risen, and I didn’t want to be disappointed if the game ends up being not what I expected.
The FF series has a strong reputation, and a significant amount of money has gone into the development of this game. I think the developers were pushing it a bit by pricing the game this high.
Yuuri, how did you feel?
(*Negative comments such as “Characters can’t move around freely at all” and “The dungeons were really linear” were posted on online communities)

Kirie:
I wasn’t paying as much attention to those aspects, but was more so attracted by the graphic quality seen from the trailers. Also, I was looking forward to the voice acting.
However, I have to say I agree with you on that I was feeling somewhat uneasy about the price of the game.

Kidokoro:
Right, so you were perceiving it more like an anime, where the focus is more on the story played out by the characters, rather than a game where you are focusing more on the gameplay?

Kirie:
Although I did pre-order the game, I must admit I gave into ordering the game after seeing that one of the stores had some discount deals going on.

Kidokoro:
I see. Indeed those pre-order deals, whether it may be special items such as character goods and exclusive soundtracks, or some special deals like discounts, do give incentives for some people to buy things.

Kirie:
I certainly did keep in mind that I was purchasing a game, so I was expecting a certain amount of quality in gameplay, but over the past few years I have come to develop a liking for certain voice actors.
Of course, this is just a matter of personal preference.

Kidokoro:
In that sense, the improvement in a gaming console’s ability to express has some correlation in the content of game software. I might be able to write something about that.

Kirie:
And to be honest, I was somewhat attracted to Mr. Nomura’s character designs. After all, there hasn’t been an occasion where I was severely disappointed by any of the games that had characters designed by Mr. Nomura – I’ve enjoyed playing FF7, 8, 10, and Kingdom Hearts.
Of course, no matter how good the character design is, it would be pointless to play a game if the actual content of the game is bad, but… I don’t know, it could be a bit of a placebo.

Kidokoro:
Well, if it’s the case that an illustrator you like is involved in the game, that certainly does have some impact.
Leaving that aside for now…

Kirie:
To a degree, being attracted to character design is somewhat similar to how some people buy CDs based on the cover designs (versus the actual content of the CDs).
Now that we have some ideas about how we ended up buying the game, let’s talk about our impressions on the actual game.

Kidokoro:
Right.
Given that we both have just recently beaten the game, let’s talk a bit about the overall impression of the game from start to finish.

Kirie:
Why don’t you start Kidokoro, given that you were the one who finished first.

Kidokoro:
One thing I can say for sure is that the movie scenes were rather long.

Kirie:
I definitely have to agree with you on that. By the way, how long did you take to finish the game?

Kidokoro:
A bit more than 50 hours. I’m thinking this is probably average.
As far as the event/movie length is concerned, I suppose it can’t really be helped given that the recent FF series are focusing more on the story as if it were a movie*.
Perhaps it’s somewhat typical for FF.
(*Hironobu Sakaguchi, who was the director of the series up to FF10, has stated that their intent is to create a drama that surpasses that of a movie.)

Kirie:
That’s true. I do recall the movie scenes in FF12 being pretty long.

Kidokoro:
The players had to be drawn into the game, especially from the beginning to the middle of the game, and so there were a lot of monologues by the main characters and some of the background story leading to the events in the game.
I think a lot of times I was just watching the movie and not doing much else.
On the contrary, it was a lot of fun once the story shifted to the Pulse (the surface world). It felt like, “I’m free! Woo-hoo!”

Kirie:
Given how all 6 playable characters* can be perceived as a “main character,” there were definitely more stories to be told.
(*consisting of Lightning, the female sergeant who is the main lead character in the beginning; Snow, Lightning’s younger sister’s husband; Sazh, a civilian airship pilot; Hope, a civilian boy; Vanille, a mysterious girl; and Fang, a mysterious woman going after Vanille)

Kidokoro:
True that.
The events may be darn long, but there was definitely a lot of good in the fact that the game was structured in such a way that all playable characters are the “main” characters.
Especially with regards to Sazh.

Kirie:
Definitely!

Kidokoro:
Typically in an RPG, the main character is young, and the story revolves around the main character’s development, right?

Kirie:
True, you probably don’t see many games where you see a middle-aged man in the position of a main character.

Kidokoro:
In FF13, you get to see the events from the eyes of middle-aged Sazh – the developers make use of his position as the one who cannot do reckless things, is responsible to calm the youngsters who are being reckless (such as Snow), and is struggling with between his situation and his emotions feeling that he could not just stand and do nothing as he gets himself involved with the events.
I won’t say much to avoid spoilers, but I personally liked the events leading to and following Sazh’s acquisition of his Eidolon*.
(*Summoned creatures who are associated with each main character)

Kirie:
Another positive thing about having multiple main characters is that you don’t get bored of them.

Kidokoro:
Certainly.

Kirie:
The main characters in this game all have different personalities, come from different backgrounds, and, of course, look very different from one another, so there’s bound to be at least one “favorite” for everyone.

Kidokoro:
Even though the dungeons were linear, the story kept revolving rapidly between the focal characters, so it actually didn’t feel painful.
I have to say, I really liked Sazh.

Kirie:
I liked him a lot too. Anyway, now that Kidokoro’s said a lot, I should comment a bit.
I actually had the same kind of impressions as Kidokoro.

Kidokoro:
Oh?

Kirie:
I actually took my time earning some CP* at one of the areas, so it took me roughly 75 hours to finish the game.
(*CP stands for Crystogen Points, or experience points in this game)
I do admit it took me a while to learn how to utilize the different roles and paradigms*, like CSySa and the like.
（*In FF13, characters switch between roles, which determines the abilities they use in a battle. Abbreviations such as CSySa or CRR stand for paradigms, the combination of roles)

Kidokoro:
Certain paradigms like SaSaSy are useless and extend the battle times if you’re just fighting weak monsters.

Kirie:
The total amount of time it took to finish the game did seem long because of the long movie sequences, but now that I think of it, the actual “gameplay” time was not that long.

Kidokoro:
As a matter of fact, the game moves on fairly quickly.
The battle sequences are relatively speedy too.

Kirie:
Come to think, I feel there was something lacking from the game.
After all, in the previous game FF12, it took over 100 hours to finish the game, and the movie sequences weren’t as long as those from this game!

Kidokoro:
You think so too, right!?
In the previous game, it took a while just to move from one city to the next!

Kirie:
So now that we’ve talked about our general impressions about the game, how did it differ from our original expectations for the game?

Kidokoro:
It wasn’t as bad a game as people say, would be my honest opinion.
It’s true that the dungeon was linear, that they had some random jargon that could have been replaced with simpler words, and that the event sequences were lengthy. But they did follow up by explaining some of the terminology, the battles did require some strategy which made it fun, and there was enough room for character customization, so I did have quite a bit of fun from it.

Kirie:
I got the impression that the “introduction” was somewhat lengthy, but surprisingly, that wasn’t all that painful.

Kidokoro:
Yeah, that was a pleasant surprise.

Kirie:
I also agree with you on the strategic aspect of the game. Sure, it’s possible to beat a strong boss once you grind enough to reach a high enough level, but it was actually a lot more fun when I found out that some enemies can be easily beaten by tweaking around a bit with the strategy.
For example, you can beat an enemy “normally” using CRR, but that same enemy can be defeated in an instant by using CSyR or CSaR.

Kidokoro:
There are times that buffing and de-buffing enough with SaSaSy may make a battle much easier, while there are times that you need to fight aggressively with CRR or CCR from the start or else you end up dying.

Kirie:
I’m sure we can write a full-fledged article just by talking about the strategies, so let’s switch the subject a bit.
So FF13 “wasn’t as bad as people have said,” but was there anything you felt uneasy about?
This might just be an issue of personal preference, but I felt weird seeing a non-Ossan (Ossan = middle-aged or old guy) Cid*.
(*Throughout the FF series, “Cid” is a recurring name for a character. Yet in the previous games, with the exception of FF7 where Cid is a character in his 40′s, the character “Cid” has always been a male character aged at least 50-years-old.)

Kidokoro:
Not too many things came to my mind.
With regards to some small details about the system interface, it could have used some other way of enlarging the map instead of just a head-up display.
If there was a choice between head-up and a north-up, that might have been nice, but this could just be a matter of personal preference.

Kirie:
Another thing that was somewhat disappointing was the fact that there wasn’t an “airship” like vehicle in this game, despite all other games in the series having one.
This may be due to how most areas in the game are designed to be one-way, and you couldn’t return to a previous area later in the game.

Kidokoro:
The range of accessible areas were somewhat narrow too.

Kirie:
Going back to the character design, I feel there seems to have been a bit too many “pretty” characters. Cid being one of them, and a lot of the villain characters were “pretty” too.
For that matter, it seemed there actually wasn’t a whole lot of characters in the game.

Kidokoro:
That’s true, a lot of the characters were were rather pretty.
I personally prefer to have a lot more middle-aged and elderly men, as seen in FF12, so… it was somewhat awkward.

Kirie:
It wasn’t that everyone was pretty, though it could have used a bit more visual variation.

Kidokoro:
The only elderly male character who stood out was probably Primarch Dysley*.
(*The character who rules Cocoon, the world the main characters live)

Kirie:
It could just be that we’re expected to just suck it up and be happy we have an ossan as a main character, but again, that’s just my imagination.

Kidokoro:
Give us MORE O-S-S-A-N!

Kirie:
This is a bit off-topic, but I recently went out for dinner with some folks from the UBC Anime Club, and we were talking about FF13 – and we then go into a conversation about how Cid wasn’t an ossan.
I couldn’t come up with the right word in English for ossan at the time, so I turn to my friend, and asked in Japanese, “Hey, how would you say ossan in English?” My other friends, overhearing that conversation, then said, “It’s OK, we know what ossan means.”

Kidokoro:
So, ossan is a term that can be used worldwide?

Kirie:
I’m thinking there’s a high enough demand for ossan, even overseas. After all, I don’t even need to translate the term.

Kidokoro:
So it’s part of the universal language!

Kirie:
At least for the folks over at my Anime Club, yes. Nothing less than I expected from UBC (or not).
Well, now that we’ve now discovered that the demand for ossan is high enough overseas, shall we move on to the next topic?

Kidokoro:
I see why not?
How about our impressions on the game, now that we’ve finished the game, and seen what can be done even after beating it?

Kirie:
I was actually surprised to see that there were some things that you cannot do until you finish the game*.
(*In FF13, the characters cannot reach its maximum level without first defeating the final boss. As well, there are many enemy monsters that cannot be defeated without leveling up further than what is necessary to defeat the final boss.)

Kidokoro:
I think, that from now it’s the true beginning of hell!!

Kirie:
I won’t go into detail about what can’t be done until you defeat the final boss, but I don’t think I’ve seen something like this in the previous FF games.

Kidokoro:
There are all these missions (which require defeating certain boss monsters) to go through, and it’ll take a while to max out on all the characters’ levels and such – there are still so many things to do.
Those are requirements for obtaining trophies*.
(Trophies are one of the user-profile systems for the PS3 on the PlayStation Network. Upon fulfilling a certain requirement (such as obtaining a certain score, maxing out on a character’s level, or watching a particular event), players are awarded with trophies, which are displayed with their online profile as a proof of achievement)

Kirie:
In that sense, there’s definitely a lot of playable contents even after finishing the game.

Kidokoro:
It feels like you’ll be able to keep playing for a good long time.

Kirie:
As far as maxing out on the characters’ levels… that really seems like it’ll take a good long time, I don’t know whether I should look forward to it.

Kidokoro:
There were some awkward aspects, but generally speaking, it was a pretty good game.

Kirie:
Agreed. There have been some severe criticisms, but you can’t tell whether that is true or not until you actually play it.

Kidokoro:
Indeed. I have to say, rumors are rather scary at times.

Kirie:
I guess it’s hard for people to find out on their own given how expensive the retail price of the game.

Kidokoro:
Certainly, it’s truly regrettable in that sense, and shall we end on that note?

Kirie:
I say why not.
Thank you for reading our article, it was something new that we tried, and we hope you enjoyed it.

It was a first in a while for me to attend an event of this sort, let alone the first time for me to attend one at the beginning of a year. I debated as to whether I wanted to get there bright and early in the morning from the start, or to go later in the day when it is slightly less busier – I ended up choosing the former.
The venue for CC Osaka is Intex Osaka; I was expecting to get to the venue from the nearest station – Nakafutō Station for New Tram, so I, as I’ve always done in the past, got off at Cosmosquare Station to transfer to the New Tram, till I noticed some signs posted at the station. As it turned out, attendees were advised to walk from Cosmosquare Station (instead of Nakafutō Station) – this was a measure taken by the station (and transit system) for crowd control.
I have to admit this was somewhat unexpected at first, though it became clear why it’s necessary after seeing the amount of people inside the station and in the train.

I arrived at the venue a bit before 9am, yet there were an astounding number of people waiting to enter the venue.
Intex Osaka consists of 6 sections (section 6 is further divided into 4 sub-sections), of which section 1 was used for line-ups standing by for entry into the venue, and the rest were all used for booths for artist circles. Circles were allocated to a section according to their main genre of work.
In all areas of the venue, there was music played in the background, ranging from J-pop to anime tunes. While waiting, many attendees were checking their pamphlets and marking the circles they are interested (and sure enough, I was doing the same).

The pamphlet contains a map of the venue and an index of participating circles. There are two types of indexes – one is a list of circles in alphabetical order with corresponding booth locations, and the other is a list of circles categorized by genre accompanied by a “circle cut” (small sample of their work). You would want to use the alphabetical list if you know exactly which circle you want to see, and you would want to use the index with the circle cuts if you just have a generic idea of what genre you are interested.
Here’s a sample of the venue map:

As you can see, you can detach the map from the pamphlet, though keep in mind that the map will not serve as a substitute for an entry pass – in other words, you are still required to be in possession of the actual pamphlet in order to enter the venue. That said, make sure not to discard the pamphlet after detaching the map if you haven’t officially entered the event venue (and no, being in line to enter does not count as “being in the venue”.)

The event opens at 10:30am, yet due to the amount of people, it took me until around 11am to enter the venue.
After entering the venue, it really depends on each person where to go first. If you are with a group of people, you would naturally want to “split the workload” by assigning each person to a section – this would definitely increase the chances of being able to acquire the merchandise you want. This CC Osaka, given that it was the first event of the kind of the year, was especially large-scale, which meant that the more genres/series you are interested in, the more you had to run around all over the venue.
As there would be no way to split the workload when you are at an event on your own, you would have to simply set your priorities in that case. Keep in mind that those circles that are positioned along the wall tend to be the “big-name” circles – if they are the kind you are aiming for, be prepared to wait in line for a while.
As well, events that expect to have a large number of attendees tend to have some traffic regulations (such as one-ways) within the venue – it would be a wise idea to check such regulations on the venue map in the pamphlet while waiting to enter the venue.
For this particular event, there were some traffic regulations around the escalators, creating some one-way paths and detours to get to Section 6C and 6D. While I was planning ahead about how to get to those sections, it wasn’t until after I got to the escalators that I got a clear grasp of the traffic regulation.

As far as convention etiquette is concerned, most of it is common sense, though I do want to mention a few things.
When you want to look a their samples, give the artists some acknowledgement by saying a few words such as “May I?” (in Japanese it would be “ii-desuka?”) before looking, and “Thank you” after looking. It does become somewhat awkward just looking at samples without saying anything.
Another thing to watch for is payment. Do not *ever* use large bills (5000 or 10000yen) for payment, especially not at the beginning of the event in the morning. For big-name circles, it does not become as much of an issue, but if you start using such large bills toward the beginning of the event, circles will be running low on change and it will severely inconvenience them. To avoid needless trouble, it is best to prepare small change in advance.

Given it was the first event in a while for me, I felt somewhat inclined to ask for a sketch from one of the artists.
Some artists are willing to do on-the-spot sketches (and they will likely have a sign of some sort at their booth if that’s the case). Attendees would bring their own sketchbooks for artists to draw something.
However, keep in mind that the artists will be multitasking and have a limited number of sketches they can do.
It is definitely a great way for attendees to interact with the artists, so I would recommend asking for sketches if you have a chance.
If you do not have a sketchbook with you, the vendors inside the venue usually carry some for this very purpose.
When asking for a sketch, be respectful and don’t feel offended if the artists are unable to fulfill your request. If an artist does agree to do a sketch for you, do show your appreciation, and don’t forget to pick up your sketchbook before the end of the event.
As well, keep in mind that artists are doing sketches as a favor – don’t make requests for something complicated (difficult pose, asking for multiple characters in the sketch) – chances are, you are not the only one who are getting sketches done.

For the most part, I got to do everything I intended on doing, from buying most of the books I wanted to getting a sketch done by one of the artists I really like.
Overall, it was a great experience and it was honestly worth going.
I do realize this is not much of an objective report on the event, but hopefully these past two articles gave you some idea of what to expect out of a Japanese comic convention.

So what *is* Comic City?
Comic City is a comic convention hosted by Aka-BooBoo Tsūshinsha, and is often abbreviated as City or CC. It is held numerous times over the course of the year in either Tokyo, Osaka, or Fukuoka.
This article will be focusing on CC Osaka 77, held on January 10, 2010.

Before going to CC
The amount of preparation you can do for a comic convention depends on the event, but here are some things that you can do in advance for most conventions:
- Checking for circles – “Circles” or artist groups often have information on their website if they intend to participate in an upcoming event. If you have a certain series/genre in mind, you can easily search online for potential circles that you can visit. It would be wise to jot down which booth they will be located.
- Checking weather conditions – Most of the time, you can expect to wait in line to enter the venue, and such lines may extend and/or be located outdoors depending on the event. Always check the weather forecast, and dress accordingly. It never hurts to prepare raingear, extra layers of cloths, and liquids (to prevent dehydration).
- Checking traffic conditions – Given that these events usually attract a very large number of people, it is expected that public transit will be extremely busy and crowded. If this is your first time attending a particular venue, you would want to make sure to check transfer points and times. Often times, train stations may also take security/crowd control measures, so it may help to check your local transits’ websites for notices. Depending on which forms of transportations you plan to take, it may help to use IC cards or prepaid fare to avoid line-ups at the ticket vendors.

Given that CC Osaka 77 was the first event of its kind this year, and that it is one of the larger CCs, pamphlets (to be explained later) for this event was sold in advance. Of course, it is possible to purchase them at the venue, yet purchasing them in advance would give you more time to look over which circles are participating at the event, and would also give you an idea of the venue structure. I personally would recommend advance purchase.
However, I do have to admit I am usually the kind who ends up not doing much with the pamphlet until I get to the venue, and kill time looking at the pamphlet while waiting in line.

Things to bring
While these are items I personally prepare, I believe these are standard items that most people would bring to the event.

Starting with the “must-have”s:
- Pamphlet – For most events, this serves as an entry pass for regular attendees. Prices will vary depending on the event. They contain information regarding the venue, participating circles, and general event guidelines. I will go into more detail on this later.
- Small change – The more the better! If you are going to be at the event from the start (ie. in the morning), it is best to carry 100, 500, and/or 1000yen since circles will likely not have as much change at the beginning. Keep in mind that this is a convention where the artists are mostly amateurs, don’t expect them to be like a store where they can easily break your 10000yen bills!
- Liquids – For hydration (and in some cases, sugar). Regardless of what time of the year the event is happening, you do not want to be in a state of dehydration – it will not hurt to keep a bottle of water or tea in your bag. However, don’t overload yourself with liquids as restrooms tend to be extremely crowded throughout the event.
- Large durable bag – Needless to say, this is for carrying your acquisitions. My recommendation would be to use something like a tote bag – yes, it will potentially put a lot of weight on your shoulder, but the pain will only last for less than a day, and if you are that concerned about damaging your shoulder, just don’t buy that much! On the contrary, I do not recommend using those small suitcases with wheels. Yes, it may make it easier for you to carry your heavy books, but keep in mind that it can potentially block traffic (especially in front of stairs!), and it may be difficult to maneuver in the crowd. If you must use one of those, keep in mind you may end up constantly bumping into more people than you need, or being cussed at by a large number of people.

Other items that come in handy:
- Portable gaming devices – These especially come in handy if you plan to attend from the start of the event. You will be grateful to have one of these once you are finished browsing through the pamphlet about a hundred times and still have time to kill.
- Writing utensils – More specifically, highlighters. These come in handy when you are marking down which circles you want to check out.
- Sketchbook (more on this in part 2 or the article)
I realize I have listed quite a few items, though you will want to keep the amount of things to bring to a minimum – again, keep in mind that you are entering an extremely crowded venue.

Pamphlets
Personally, when I heard the word “pamphlet”, I had the impression they would be thin, 1-page things, but that impression has been completely shattered after attending my first CC.
“Pamphlets” for comic conventions tend to have at least a few hundred pages, and thus end up being rather thick and heavy.
You don’t believe me? See for yourself:

I know I’m using a rather old pamphlet in comparison, but in the photo are 2 pamphlets – one from Day 1 of Super Comic City Osaka 12 back in 2006 (on the top), and the other from Comic City Osaka 77 (on the bottom). I’m sure you can tell how thick they are by comparing it to the board from that video game system.
In terms of event intensity, both SCC Osaka 12 and CC Osaka 77 are about the same; however, the former extended for 2 days but with a smaller venue, and the pamphlet in the photo was only for the first day, which explains why the pamphlet is slightly thinner.
The thickness of the pamphlet somewhat reflects the size/intensity of the event, so you can expect the Comic Market (Comiket) pamphlets to be rather thick (and consequently heavy).

That’s about it for prepping for the event, the following article will cover things that go on during the actual event.

In any case, first post in 2010 and… while I do have something I want to post about, it’s taking me a bit longer than I expected to gather my thoughts together. Instead, I’ll briefly talk about my current plans for 2010.
As far as large-scale events are concerned, I’ll be attending Sakura-Con in Seattle during Easter weekend, and will also be attending Anime Evolution at my alma mater, UBC Vancouver during mid-August. As I’m staffing for AE, my reviews will be coming from a staff’s perspective, which will likely be something a bit different from that of an attendee.
In terms of other events, I’m likely going to be at the events hosted by the UBC Anime Club – this primarily has to do with the fact that I’m the former president of the said club, and that I still somehow end up getting myself involved with event planning and such.
As far as the English versions of the posts are concerned… again, I have to apologize for the tardiness, I do realize I’m taking a bit too much time on them, but they will get done in the near future. When it comes to my own posts, I usually do them simultaneously – while the English version of Haruka’s posts are my translations, I usually don’t write my posts in one language and then do a translation of it in the other.

I’d like to thank everyone for visiting this blog, and hope that you enjoy reading our upcoming posts in the year 2010.
If you have any comments or suggestions, please don’t hesitate to leave us a comment or send us an email.

As usually, please click below for the rest of the entry.

The Anime Club adds their original twist to a dance party by putting an extensive focus on anime, manga, game, and other-Japanese related music, and aims to provide a rare opportunity for fans of the genre to dance to such music.

A special feature at this dance was the pre-registration booth for Anime Evolution, a local anime convention held in Vancouver. This was the very first opportunity, even earlier than their online registration, for potential attendees to register for the convention.
Due to the amount of advertisement for this dance on the AE forums, many people who attend this dance also attend AE, and thus a good number of people took advantage of this opportunity.
AE staff certainly looked very excited to be present at the dance.

Enterance to the dance floor. As expected, the dance staff were in cosplay.

Here’s the “DJ booth,” though the area was not particularly crowded with equipment.
Of course, there just had to be Gintama plush toys accompanying the staff and their equipment, given how the series have been one of the favorites of club members.

So from Gintama, we have Zurako and Ellie – sure enough, “Mr. Raindrop” was playing in the background.

People don’t just dance at the Anime Club dance – the staff plans some activities here and there, such as musical chairs.
Even such an ordinary, perhaps “kiddish” game will seem different when you play in cosplay.

The dance floor.
As with some of the previous Anime Club dances, DJ Arka and DJ Cruz, two of the DJs who have been with AE, were helping out at this dance. The music selections were generally done by these two DJs and the dance staff, though some request were taken prior to the dance.
In addition to the popular anime themes, a great variety of music including J-pop selections including music from Morning Musume and Shuuchishin, some not-as-well-known selections such as “Cirno’s Perfect Math Class”, and Halloween-y music like the “Monster Mash” were played during the dance.

The Cosplay Contest is another feature of the Anime Club dances – as selected by the club execs, the first place went to Sheryl at this year’s dance, and she happily posed for a photo with her prize, a figure of Sora in his Halloween Town costume.

Among the cosplayers, what caught my attention was the number of people in Vocaloid cosplay. It was quite a surprise to see how there were not only people who were dressed in the “default” costumes, but there were also a number of people in costumes specific to particular songs, such as “magnet”.
I do have some more photos of cosplayers, which I’m planning on posting later on.

Aside from large-scale events like a convention, there are not many events where this many cosplayers gather at one location. In that sense, I always look forward to the Anime Club dances, both from a participant and a staff’s perspective, and this particular dance was an opportunity for me to make some new discoveries.
Through NicoNico Douga and YouTube, people are now able to gather information about the most recent trends in Japanese – seeing the variety of cosplay made me realize that once again.
These little discoveries are, I would say, something a lot of us can look forward to as we attend medium to large-scale events.