Cosplay: Isshoni Tanoshimimashou 12

I like many cosplay events around the region where I live, but I have to say that I have quite a personal attachment with this one. That's because this event is actually an event of my alma mater - my faculty or school, even - and so I feel like I'm "playing on home turf" for this one. Moreover, as evidenced by the "12", this year is the twelfth time this event is being held; this event can be said to be a pioneering event for events around the region when it started 12 years ago. Cosplay at the event itself came a couple years later, but it has grown ever since.

This event practically demands me to bring the best I've got, so I chose to be Ash XY this year... again. I've had a history of repeating costumes at this event when I was requested a few years back to be a character I've previously been the year before, so I'm OK with this precedence. As well, I'm not really satisfied with how I was last year with Ash XY, so I went at it again. And now I'm satisfied enough that I can do something different next time.

This event is actually a two-day event, but most people, including me, don't attend on the first day and only consider the second day as "the event". The first day is mostly for high school-level events, while the second day all the events are for the general public, including cosplay. I must say, though, for all the times I've attended previously, I've never participated in the cosplay competitions for one reason or another, and this year, the reason is that I couldn't fulfill the registration requirements due to other things I had going on. I really, really want to change this next time, and I want to see to it that this does happen.

Other than the presence of exhibitions, which are tailored for the setting, this event is pretty much standard. There were bands (as well as an indie band competition), dance cover groups, and food and merchandise stalls. This year, though, the organizers also stepped up the guest star scale by inviting not one, but two of the country's most well-known cosplay stars to meet and greet fans, as well as to judge the competitions. They say they've been doing this effort - scaling up the guests and therefore the event's prominence - since a couple years back, and I believe them; I also trust that they can create further breakthroughs next time.

One last word: "isshoni tanoshimimashou" means "let's have fun together" in Japanese, and they've held on to that premise, even this year. I got to interact with all my friends and beyond as well as to take in the event in its entirety, so I certainly had fun. I'm hoping for even more of that fun next time; it's an event that is near and dear to me, and I want to keep it that way.