Cosplay: MINORI 5

Remember how there was an event in May that I went to that I said was of my alma mater? Well, it's actually not the only one. The event that I went to today is another one. It is likewise an event of my faculty or school, though evidently it's a fledgling event as this time is only its fifth iteration, having only started five years ago. Regardless, to me it's a "home turf" event, which is why I have continued to go to it.

While cosplay is not a main attraction (and has never been as such), cosplay has been welcomed since the first iteration due to a featured performance, and that seems to be fine for the cosplayers in my area as it is for me. Wherever I can express my adoration for Pokémon, especially with cosplay being involved, that's a good place for me. In the case of this event, it was only during the first iteration that I didn't cosplay a Pokémon character; from then on, my cosplay was all about Pokémon.

And that brings me to the main point of today. With this event, I officially bring to you the debut of seventh-generation Ash with his Alola outfit. This was something I teased yesterday with the photo of the Z-Ring, which is indeed the answer to the question I posed in that post, and becomes a focal point of the cosplay. This costume debuts along with an implementation of my cosplay-in-a-bag concept; I bought a bag that purposefully resembled that which Ash uses in Alola, and now it will be used to carry all my cosplay things whenever I decide to cosplay Ash with this outfit. It is as fun as it is convenient.

I have only one thing to say: "Alola!"

With no cosplay competitions of any kind, this event is purely for enjoyment from a cosplay standpoint. That's not to say there weren't any competitions; they just were for other things than cosplay. One of them just happens to appeal to one of my friends, and it's a frequent one he often takes part in wherever it's held, so kudos to him. I've offered the suggestion to the organizers that cosplay competitions be included in future iterations; whether this will be taken is another matter, but if it is, I'll be sure to try to take part with my Pokémon cosplay.

Unfortunately, I must say that this year, this event conflicted with another event that took place out of town, and to which many of my other friends decided to go. Worse yet, that event was announced first, and last year also conflicted with a different event in the same locale. On the other hand, that event has paid entry, which means that I'd need to spend to enjoy it. After much deliberation, I decided to go to my faculty's event for reasons of closeness, convenience, and cash (or lack thereof for the last one), in the process having more time spent at the event, though I and the others lost time anyway due to the outdoors part of the event getting rained out. The event was still successful nonetheless.

Like many local events, there is a meaning behind the title of the event. The title is an abbreviation of "minna no matsuri", which means "everyone's festival" in Japanese. On that note, I end this review by saying that today was really a festival, and it really was meant for everyone, especially me. I'm proud to make it what it is with the help of my Pokémon cosplay.