Kawaii Kon 2012 / Written by Daniel Briscoe
When choosing a convention to travel to, there are a number
of factors to consider. Arguably, the largest one is the travel/lodging cost. Hotels over a weekend (especially
holiday weekends such as when Anime Boston is held) can be very expensive, even when sharing it with friends.
And then there is the cost of traveling – if the convention is in your home town, you may not have to worry about either
lodging or travel, but if it happens to be half way across the country, flight is the only real sensible option,
and plane tickets have been steadily on the rise. Still, there are a number of conventions that are worth the travel
expenses for various reasons – Kawaii Kon is one of those conventions. Located in Honolulu, Hawaii, Kawai Kon
just completed its 8 th year and serves as much more than just an anime convention for a weekend. Because it is
located in Hawaii, which is already a tourist heavy state, the convention lends itself as the center piece for a
great long-term vacation for those looking to get away from it all and Cosplay while you’re at it!
A bit of history – Kawaii Kon is not only the first anime
convention held in Hawaii,
but it also continues to be the only convention of its kind
in the state. The support
on a local level far exceeds the staff’s initial predictions
and the attendance has
been steadily increasing, breaking 6,000+ this year. Along
with your standard fare of
a dealer’s room, artist alley, AMV and anime screenings,
there is also a number of
Cosplay competitions that run throughout the weekend as well
as dances, concerts,
karaoke (a personal favorite of this writer) and video game
rooms. They also are
never short on guests both domestic and
abroad, as Hawaii is conveniently much
closer to Japan than the continental US.
On top of this of all, this, if you’ve never
been to Hawaii, there is one thing I can tell
you – the scenery is absolutely gorgeous.
With a convention spanning three floors and a nice, open air
environment
the feelings of claustrophobia or having to dodge and weave
out of narrow
hallways are rather light in comparison to a number of other
conventions. Also – there’s palm trees. Inside the building. Right there. For you to touch. Jealous? I would be
too. To finish off the scenery, in the distance almost every time there is a window (which there are plenty of) you
can see the mountains, which serve as a nice way to pass the time riding up the escalators between floors.
So now that you’ve been told about the convention and all
the parts around – how was the actual show? Very excellent from our viewpoint.
To begin with, the show had a very friendly atmosphere.
There were a lot of early teenagers and several families who had children both large and small with them, many of
them in costume. Gave the whole thing a welcoming feeling
that everyone was welcome – rather you were 4 or 400. The
opening ceremonies were also quite fascinating – a first for
us
here at Cosplayer Nation. They were entertained by a
Hawaiian Magician – yes, as in someone who does magic
tricks. And they were quite impressive. We can go ahead and
cross that one off our “Top 10 List of Things That Haven’t
Happened To Us Yet at an Anime Convention”. We also had
our own panel on the first day! We talked about the
documentary, the status of it, and some of the ups and downs
of taking on such a large and ambitious project. While the
room wasn’t totally packed (10 people, me thinks it was?) it was still nice to interact with fans of our work,
and we look forward to meeting more people as we take the project into its final stages.
As with most cons, Saturday is when the Big Guns of Cosplay
roll out. And at
Kawaii Kon they covered the whole spectrum. Marvel
characters such as
Deadpool and the Red Skull were side by side with Darth
Vadar (Samurai
Vadar no less) and Storm Troopers, who looked across the
hallway at two
Hatsune Miku characters…that were done as Gundams. Also a
first for us, but
an impressive first none the less. There were numerous
panels and signing by
the various guests in attendance this day as well, and in
the evening there was
a Cosplay Showcase, which for those of you familiar with
other cons could
consider it the Masquerade of Kawaii Kon. There we saw two
absolutely
amazing Cosplays – one of Spike from Cowboy Bebop, and one
from Star
Ocean by someone who had flown out from Japan! The event
started off with
a track from the Escaflowne soundtrack, which was
appropriate given the
masquerade’s more formal feel. A very classy evening, one
could say.
Sunday is often the best and worst day of a show. You’ve
made it through
your weekend and had a blast, but as a famous dead dude once
said, “Parting
is such sweet sorrow”. Cosplayer Nation said goodbye to many
of their
friends, both old and ones made that weekend, while we
worked on the great footage and interviews we were able to conduct over the weekend. In the evening on Sunday,
once tear down had come to a halt, we were able to socialize with a number of the staff for the show as well as
some of the guests who attended. One of the perks of staying through till Monday, is a bit more one-on-one time
with staff from a show, and that gives a much better insight into how some of these things are run – as a veteran
events organizer myself, I can tell you that each place is unique with its own challenges, so never pass up a chance
to thank the people who put on the conventions you love and attend year after year. Cosplayer Nation had a
fantastic time at this con (and took a day or two extra of R&R before returning to that pestering “real life” that seems
to bog down so many people) and we hope that you all enjoy it too, for those who attended.
And our youtube for updates on the documentary as it progresses at:
See you next time!
