Anime North 2014 Con Report!

Hi all, time for my con report for this year's Anime North! This year will probably stand out in my mind because of the awkward layout design. Basically, the location for the Dealer's Room and Artist Area were switched compared to previous years. The Dealer's Room wasn't fun and there were a lot of useless open spaces. It felt like to me there wasn't as much stuff to buy and as a result I spent very little (but I guess that's a good thing!).
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Here's the general layout of the table I shared in the Crafter's Corner with my friend Jess (Pheleon). It was my first time using cage shelving so I guess my stuff looks sorta lost in those huge shelves lol. It's really weird how I didn't make very many charms this year, yet everyone seemed to love them and I had an easy time selling them. I thought charms weren't popular anymore (because it seemed like most people were selling them in the CC) so I made more of the Katamari cousins (which sold well previous years) but I ended up with a lot of leftovers this time! Adventure Time was popular last year, but it seems to have died down now.

Of course, Attack on Titan exploded in popularity this year (I find that the popularity of series depends on the anime only, and more so on the dub's release as opposed to the manga chapters). We had a joint/merging of our display where Jess made the Eren, Levi and Mikasa plushies while I invaded them with my mini titan ones, haha. At one point a Hanji cosplayer came to fawn over the titans which was kinda funny.

I dressed up as Mikasa on the Friday and was planning to attend the 4pm shoot since I'd been stalking the Facebook group for it and everything but, in the end I just didn't get a chance to leave the table. I did wear a blue surgical mask that day (to prevent against con plague) but I forgot my mask on Saturday & Sunday.. >_<;;

I didn't take a proper photo of my cosplay but the belts were damn complicated to put on!!! 10/10 would not recommend!!! I did get lots of compliments on my outfit though which was rather unexpected and nice! The funny part was that I wore a wig (because I recently dyed my hair a dark brown) and my dad couldn't even tell, he thought it was my real hair... orz.

Kuroko no Basuke seemed to be getting more popular as well, I saw quite a few cosplays! This Murasakibara had to be my favourite though. How awesome is it to be able to eat snacks all day (and yet be perfectly in character)?!

I recognized this as Celeste from Animal Crossing only because I was planning to make a charm of her...but I ran out of time! I did make Blathers though, who is the older brother of Celeste and looks very similar.

We were happy to see some Princess Jellyfish/Kuragehime cosplays! The handmade Kurara was soo cute and squishy!

Kuranosuke! Jess made a plush version of this character and outfit!

On Saturday, Jordan and her friend Natalie came to visit us. Jordan cosplayed as Yukiko Amagi from Persona 4 (who I was mistaken for that one year, when I wasn't in cosplay lol) and her outfit was made by our talented friend Susie. Jordan told me it was super hot outside... I dressed up in lolita that day but I was wearing a fur-lined hoodie with my coord so I was glad I didn't step outside the entire day!

I missed the Saturday Kill La Kill shoot too :( I knew for a fact that there was gonna be some super cool cosplays happening there cause I'd been stalking a few of the cosplayers on Facebook too, but oh well. At least I managed to snap a pic of this awesome Fight Club Mako!!

As well as Nudist Beach Aikuro and Lady Satsuki wearing Senketsu!

On Sunday, my cousin Maggie came to visit. She looked so adorable in her pirate lolita coord! I loved her hand made treasure chest bag.. >_<

Most of the lolita events happened on Sunday. I really wanted to get Misako Aoki's book and have her sign it but I didn't get a chance to do that either... >__< I actually visited the Juliette et Justine booth on Saturday but they were sold out of tights already...I saw the dress I ordered earlier in the year still there in both sizes so I really smacked myself for jumping the gun when I could've bought it at AN and saved on shipping! I had no idea AN would get such a treat with fashion guests this year though so it really was a pleasant surprise! I hope they come back next year...^^

Cute Tiger & Bunny couple cosplay featuring Wild Tiger and Blue Rose!

Machiko dropped by on Sunday wearing Alice and The Pirates :)

I was on the lookout for Haikyuu!! cosplays! I saw this Tsukishima from behind in the Dealer's Room by himself and tapped him on the shoulder for a photo...lolol it was so random and he looked super pissed but I'm not sure if he was being in character or if he was actually angry .. :'D but thanks, whoever you are!! 

Then around 3pm Jess and I partially packed up our things to attend the Bleach photoshoot because I was cosplaying Riruka on Sunday and Jess had made the outfit for me. On the way I saw these two adorable Hinata & Nishinoya cosplayers!! A girl came by our table later wearing the #2 jersey (which was my favourite character's) but said that the wig didn't arrive in time for her cosplay but she'd be at Otakuthon. We had a fangirly moment there over #2 (Sugawara) lol.

Anyway..back to the shoot. It felt kinda awkward photobombing the Bleach shoot since I didn't know anybody there and didn't announce that I'd even be there on the Facebook group (if there is a Facebook group..??) but in the end it was fun and I was happy people liked my cosplay and I felt proud wearing Jess's creation!! At first I was super shy to jump in... I never participated in any photoshoots before. I hope I didn't pose too awkwardly??? >__< This was my highest level of crazy achieved but I had lots of fun. I think I was the only Fullbring (I was glad people actually recognized me because Riruka only appeared briefly in the manga and the Fullbring Arc itself was short and not very popular) except for this Ichigo cosplayer. I'm sorry I don't know the names of all the cosplayers.. ;;

 Captains vs. Vice Captains!

All the ladies plus Ichigos! I tried to do the pose where Riruka falls to her knees over Ichigo's hotness in the manga... xD;;

Rukia vs. Riruka! (Erm...apparently there was a photoshoot happening behind us at the same time on the other side...) Jess was supposed to cosplay Rukia with me but she didn't have her hakama ready... but for sure, next time! And I might get proper boots to perfect Riruka's look, I only saw the perfect skin-tight boots after I already bought these ones (and they were already sold out..) and it would be cute to make the Dollhouse...

Final group shot with all the cosplayers that attended the shoot! ^^

On our way back we went into the Dealer's Room one last time and bumped into this cute Gin cosplayer!

One last fullbody shot of Jess's work. I didn't color my eyebrows because I thought the wig's bangs would cover them, but now I wish I did! The darn wind really messed up my wig. Overall it was lots of fun to cosplay and I look forward to doing more of it in the future!

As for my loot... I only bought a Totoro print and a Kuroko button as well as some accessories from Pinkly Ever After. Robin from PEA was so nice to give me one free item! She remembered me and told me she liked my work! I told her to come by my table to pick out something too, but in the end I guess she forgot for when I looked behind me her table was empty so I guess she and her friend left early and I didn't get a chance to say good bye. :( I regret not taking a photo with her, but strangely enough someone else requested a photo of us together! Hopefully I can meet her again because I love her stuff and she's really cute and friendly in person!

And that's all for this con report! Thanks a lot to those who stopped by our table once again! I do have a lot of leftovers that will be making their way into my Etsy shop soon! I'm also going to finish the things I didn't get a chance to do, so I will hopefully list some new things as well.

Until next time! :)