Jia Xian's Blog: Going to London Comicon 2019, in Cosplay!

Comicons are pop-cultured conventions where people gather to share their interest in anything related to film, movies, anime or games. They're held all around the world on various scales, typically with a bunch of exhibitors, shops, performances and meet-and-greets.

The most iconic thing about these events are that they are a gathering ground for people to cosplay as their favourite characters, to openly share their love of whoever/whatever they wanted to be!

There may be common stereotypes that these events are usually frequented by geeks, anti-socials, basement-dwelling video gamers and the like, but the truth is far from that. There are so many normal, fun and friendly people all around, hanging out and having a nice time.

I believe that I've traveled a decent amount and have seen a reasonable amount of things. But seriously, it is very amusing and eye-opening to be there in the flesh. Literally everywhere, you can have a pick at all your favourite anime/gaming/movie characters - casually walking around. Whats more, you can tell that quite a number of people do put in the effort to look good. I can't emphasise this enough - it's really quite mind-blowing for me to be there, its almost as if I'm in a 'different world', which makes me just want to scream!

MCM London Comicon 2019

The comicon I went to was at the ExCel centre in London. It was a 3 day event from the 23rd - 25th of May. I was only there for day 2 and 3 though.

Prep Work

I was initial considering to go normal plain clothes, just to check it out as I did not have the faintest idea on how cosplaying worked, other than it took ALOT of effort.

In the end, I made the plunge and decided to cosplay for both days, just to make the most of the experience. I've chosen to cosplay Hatake Kakashi from Naruto and the iconic PUBG poster-boy character.

Hatake Kakashi / PUBG character

Finding everything I needed took some time. In fact, some people can take months to prep for these thing. Eventually, I've managed to get my hands on everything I needed from all kinds of random shops/online.

Props for Hatake Kakashi

Getting the wig, cutting it and getting it styled was a huge pain in the ass as it was not exactly my forte. I literally had to walk into a barber to see if he could help me with it. It was quite an awkward conversation, but he was eventually up for the task. :S

Putting on sharingan contacts also felt a little iffy, but it worked out somehow.

I even had to learn how to colour my eyebrows and put eye-liner lol.

Props for PUBG character

Fun fact: The PUBG level 3 helmet is actually called a Russian K6-3 helmet. The one is I got is a replica though.

I've got mad respect to cosplayers who do this often. Its seriously requires artistic talent and lots of meticulous preparation to get all these things right. I had to slowly trudge and figure out whats what to even get a semi-decent looking costume going.

Convention

Looking back, Saturday would probably be the most crowded day. There are throngs of people all around, from visitors, cosplayers to families and kids alike. I'd advise that if your going to any of future cons, opt for the priority access if you have the option. It'd save you so much trouble and time.

Saturday crowd

Inside the convention

The coverage is huge, there are 2 gigantic halls filled with tons of exhibitors, shops, games, panels, shows, comics, anime, etc - basically whatever you can think of out of a convention like that, its likely that you'll be able to find it somewhere.

Realistic artworks

Manga

Cute pins

Sick artwork

Adorable bags

Props

Body pillows lol!

Live drawings

Gaming booths

Trading card games

Meet and greets

Some of the exhibitors are orginal creators that put their own work out there for the world to see. For these, you can look to get very high quality stuff at quite reasonable prices - as they try to establish themselves I guess?

My day 2 cosplay - Kakashi

Unmasked!

I have no regrets putting in all the effort to go in full cosplay. I almost didn't do it at first and am happy that I took the plunge.

There were many people asking me if they could get a picture with/of me. It seriously feels so flattering, especially when its kids (or their parents asking for them). It puts a huge smile on my face and warms my heart. :)

I'd just be walking around and people/kids would be hollering 'Kakashi-sensei!', 'nice costume', 'good job on that' and having friendly chats with me. I remember this guy approaching me, getting a photo and telling me on how I was going to inspire him to cosplay as Kakashi in the future. It really gives me a lot of perspective on why people do this. It feels amazing. This must be what a hot girl feels when she walks into a party or something.

There was even this guy, saying that hes working for a particular juice company's instagram page and asked if I could hold their product and provide some photos for them. Knarly.

Not even that, people were actually hugging me as well, telling me they love me (more like my character unfortunately). Girls! What?! Is this the secret? LOL.

My day 3 cosplay - PUBG character

'Sipping' my 'energy drink'

Day 3 seemed to be a lot less busier. The demograph of the people approaching me in my PUBG outfit were mostly kids and dudes. I even remembered on my way back, an older guy in his 30s(?) hollered at me as he was really into the game - after chatting up and taking some photos, he walked away, telling his mate that I made his day. Stuff like that really sticks and makes me feel so content.

It's kinda funny when you go to nearby shops, restaurants and supermarkets nearby and everyone around you is in costume. It must be quite amusing for the people working there.

Overall, I'd say that if you haven't actually been to a comicon before, I'd strongly you go to one - just for the experience, irregardless of whether your cosplaying or not - it'll really blow your mind.

Update: Professional Photos by Eugene Artjomenko

Since I've already gone through the trouble to get all dressed up, I've gotten the help of Eugene, who is a very cool and skilled photographer to get some nice, edited shots. What he sent over after completely blew my mind.