Momocon was an amazing experience that I want to go back next year. Here are a few things that made me want to stay forever!
Panels
I went to a lot of panels that were related to making careers out of hobbies or talking about things that I loved. There was a panel about podcasting so I definitely went to that one. It was hosted by Crossover University which is a podcast about anime, comics, and gaming. They pretty much walked us through how they first got into podcasting and different podcast styles. Kickstarting Creative Projects was another panel that I went to that was hosted by the creators of the comic Kamikaze. In this panel, they talked about planning crowdfunding campaigns and marketing to your audiences. This panel was very informational because I know absolutely nothing about crowdfunding. I just thought people randomly created campaigns and people would give them money just because. Now, I know that I need to know my budget and plan as much as I can if I ever use crowdfunding.
Some panels I went to were just out of curiosity and the desire to be with people that were interested in the same types of anime. There was a panel about the history of magical girl anime that was quite interesting. It was hosted by a youtuber named Glass Reflection. He went all the way back to the 70s to show us the anime that started it all. He also discussed the shifts and concepts that differentiated some magical girl anime such as the magical girls being witches and princesses. He even mentioned anime that I didn’t consider to be magical girl anime like Revolutionary Girl Utena and Cutie Honey. The beginning of dark themes in magical girl anime was also discussed. I thought that Madoka Magica would be the beginning but apparently it began with Sailor Moon as did a majority of other themes like groups. It was nice to know that someone thought about magical girl anime to the extent of creating a whole panel dedicated to its history.
I also went to a Kpop choreography panel because why not? Lunar-K, a kpop dance cover group based in Atlanta taught us the moves to NCT U’s ‘BOSS’ and (G)I-DLE’s ‘LATATA’. Learning the choreography was a bit hard for me. I would get the moves at the beginning, but I would forget as we would learn more steps. When it came to finally putting all of the moves together, I would forget certain steps. I can barely remember the moves even after watching the music videos. I definitely learned that I need more than one night to learn and remember choreography. Although, I’ve thought of dancing in the past maybe that dream just isn’t for me. Just Dance is the only dancing I need.
Games
Speaking of Just Dance, there was a stage set up on the lower level where you could perform your Just Dance skills in front of an audience. There was even a dance competition. Unfortunately, it was too late for me to sign up for the competition so I didn’t do it. I also didn’t get to dance on the stage because I didn’t want to wait in the long line and I had other panels to attend.
There were so many games to play. They had retro arcade games, table top games, retro nintendo and playstation games, rhythmic games. There was also a dancing game where you had to match the moves of the characters on screen. The game was similar to just dance except it looked a lot more intense. I was fond of the drum game where I had to hit the drums a certain way when the dots would appear. The concept was like guitar hero in that you had to stay on beat and hit the drums at the correct time. I honestly didn’t spend much time in the gaming area because I was more focused on going to panels. But next time I will definitely take game play into account.
Black Cosplayers
This is the first time that I had ever seen so many black cosplayers! I had always been worried about cosplaying because most anime characters aren’t black. Even though black characters exist, there are only a hand full. I thought that if I was ever going to cosplay, it would have to be a black character otherwise it wouldn’t look okay. Thank goodness that isn’t the case! I saw a black Harley Quinn from suicide squad and she was thick. We all know Harley Quinn is super skinny so I was happy to see a thick version of Harley Quinn. I saw a black guys that were characters from Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure. I saw this cute couple that cosplayed as Him and Mojo Jojo from the Powerpuff girls. There was a couple dressed as Star and Marco from Star Vs. the Forces of Evil. There were also several sailor scouts from Sailor Moon and various characters from Steven Universe. I was amazing and inspiring to see black people, thick people, and people of all shades and sizes cosplay as different characters. Especially since most anime characters have pale skin and thin body sizes. I had always been afraid to cosplay, but maybe I’ll try it next year.
Nonstop anime
There were plenty of anime screening rooms. I would retreat to these rooms in between panels to discover some new anime and charge my phone and camera battery. I only stayed in these rooms long enough to see one episode of the anime, but that was enough to get me hooked. Plus, they would only show the first two episodes anyway. Some of the shows I watched were: Umamusume, Restaurant to Another World, A Place Further than the Universe, School-Live, Ramen Daisuki Koizumi-san, Darling in the Franxx, and Yuri on Ice.
I admit that I haven’t seen Yuri on Ice yet, but it was fun to watch with fans when I could. Everybody was screaming and I started screaming with them. I didn’t even understand what was going on, but I got caught up in the skating. Ramen Daisuki Koizumi-san and Restaurant to Another World made me hungry because all the food looked so delicious. I wanted to eat some Ramen and go to the other dimension to eat at that restaurant. Umamusume was interesting to watch because it literally translates to horse girl and it was about a girl wanted to be the fastest horse girl in Japan. A Place Further than the Universe had me in my feelings and I was trying not to cry because I related so much. Thank goodness it was so dark and a lot of people weren’t in the screening room at the time. Darling in the Franxx was a mecha anime about children that could only pilot in co-ed pairs. The main character Zero Two reminded me so much of Anemone from Eureka Seven. School-Live was the last anime that I was able to watch before Momocon came to an end and I actually watched all of it already. There were so many twists and it was not a cute shoujo anime about school life like I thought it was going to be, but it was so good. I’m going to eventually watch all of these and I’m happy I got to preview them.
Overall, I’m going back to Momocon next year! I already decided and I recommend that everybody go to experience the fun!
