Cosplay: Arigatoo...!!!

No, you're not reading the title wrong. The title for this event/minor convention is spelled with two Os rather than with just one, perhaps to indicate a trailing off or an echo by orthography. For this reason, I've added the punctuation to attempt to clarify the point.

Now then, the event was held out of town, but it was held in an even unusually farther place than most events I've been to, and one that I've never been to at that. Because of that, I chose to go with a friend... or rather, my friend asked that we go together, and so we did. Incidentally, quite a bit of today's story played out like the previous debut out-of-town event I went to, with some differences as to who resolved what, and what actually happened. This Pokémon Trainer in cosplay still appreciates the venture and company.

I cosplayed sixth-generation (XY) Ash today for a little change of pace. I knew that because of my schedule and the event schedule, I wasn't going to be able to participate in any of the cosplay competitions, and I was right; the cosplay competitions were of the performance type anyway and necessitated background audio, which I'm ill-prepared for. The other alternative was an anisong competition, but I was also not prepared for that. So that left non-competitive street cosplay as the only option. It's still fun regardless, especially with friends doing the same thing. Much of the event was quite similar to the other event, with few food stands, few merchandise stands, and not many things on the schedule; it too was held in a public hall, though visitor numbers exploded, filling the hall to overcapacity.

Speaking of friends, also like that other event, other than those who I came with and expected to meet, I found many of my friends also coming and cosplaying. There were those that came from nearby locales as well as many friends that came from my home town. There were even people I met from just outside my local region. Furthermore, the event's guest star, which was a band, is a bunch that knew me very well. I've seen them perform ever since my first outing at out-of-town events and they are awesome at what they do. I hope that I can continue to see them and interact with them as they perform at events across the region. This really means a lot.

The event's title is the Japanese word for "thank you", and that is what today really is: a big thank-you. Thank you to all of my friends, cosplayer or otherwise, who I've met at events like these. Thank you to the organizers, for holding this event and letting all of us have a good time. And thank you to Pokémon, which gave me the initiative to cosplay in the first place and still gives me the initiative to cosplay today.

Minna-san, arigatoo...!! (Everyone, thank you!!)