As of: March 25, 2024, 8:56 a.m
By: Michelle Anskeit
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The Leipzig Book Fair and with it the Manga Comic Con 2024 are in the starting blocks.
As a cosplayer, that means above all: no sleep and con-crunch.
Were you a huge fan of anime as a child?
Then there's a good chance that you'll still be watching over a thousand episodes of "One Piece" or watching how Conan will probably never become Shinichi again.
What I'm trying to say is that if you look at this post, your obsession probably never died.
Maybe you're even one of those kids who watched every anime on RTL II back in the 2000s - and then you just never stopped watching it.
There's enough anime to keep you entertained for the rest of your life © Toei Animations
And what do you do when you particularly celebrate certain anime and the characters in them?
That's right, you turn yourself into one of them.
Just like many, many people will be doing this weekend at the Leipzig Book Fair.
The Manga Comic Con also takes place there and is attended by numerous cosplayers.
And if you're one of them, then you probably know these moments that accompany you to every Anime Con:
1. Preparing for the convention because you want to be done with everything early this year
You ordered your wig weeks ago!
This also means that you have definitely already worked on them with hot glue, spray adhesive, scissors and the like, right?
25 Moments You'll Only Know If You Go To An Anime Convention In Cosplay © Lucasfilm
2. ... only to have all your cosplay plans canceled again three days beforehand
The styled wig and the perfect cosplay with all the right accessories are of very little use to you if your hyper fixation on that character suddenly dies out.... and then you suddenly want to cosplay someone completely different.
But you have absolutely nothing there for.
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3. The night before the convention when you “just finish a few things”
“Just stick on the bow”, “just paint the shoes”, “just now”...
4. And of course the morning after you've slept for two and a half hours
5. When you think you have perfectly planned how long it will take you to put on your cosplay
Why are there so many parts that you have to somehow glue or staple together with some kind of Velcro?
And where are your shoes?
6. The moments when one of your friends asks if you want to have breakfast too or pack food for the convention
And everyone is just like this:
7. The breakdown you have when your contact lenses don't come in or your wig looks bad despite endless styling
Is it too late to tell everyone you can't come?
8. ... and then your make-up doesn't work because you pulled your eyeliner wrong for the 75th time
Then the best thing you can do is just throw everything straight out the window.
9. The relief when you're finally happy with how you look in your cosplay
10. ... but then you realize that no one else is finished yet
11. The moment when you finally sit in the car or on the train and make sure you don't miserably crumple or destroy your cosplay
And you're desperately trying not to completely overheat.
12. The looks you get from people when you're on your way to the convention and they have no idea why you're walking around like that
13. When you finally arrive, your props come through the prop check and you see your friends
We all have that one person we only see at a convention every blue moon.
14. Hoping that someone will ask you for a photo after all your work
Yes, I always claim that I only cosplay for myself and that it's totally okay if no one recognizes me and stuff like that... but when someone does ask, it's simply the best moment of the day.
15. The moment you see this extremely nice cosplay and then YOU awkwardly ask for a photo
Can someone explain to me why you often feel like you're annoying other people in cosplay, even though you're so happy when someone wants a photo with you?
16. When you walk past Artist Alley and you're determined not to spend the next three months' rent this year
17. One second after:
18. That one unpleasant person who takes photos without asking and makes everything awkward
Why is it SO hard to just ask if this is okay?
Who pays 60 bucks to get in just to behave like a creepy grandpa?
(Too many people, I know.)
19. When you realize that you should eat something slowly and then you randomly sit on the floor with your overpriced selection
I'm willing to pay five euros for a super fancy ice cream, but why does a piece of pizza cost 10 euros?!
20. Sitting at the celebrity guest panels packed with prints, keychains and your overpriced food
21. The many times you push past other cosplayers hoping your costumes don't break
“Sorry if I accidentally hit you in the face with my wings!”
22. The impromptu photo shoot for which you look for a beautiful tree, an empty corner or a random staircase somewhere
And then you awkwardly say “everything’s fine!” every time other people walk through your picture.
23. When your feet hurt, you're completely overstimulated, and someone accidentally bumps into you for the fifth time
24. The moment you have to say goodbye to your friends because the convention is over
And then you have to get on the train or in the car alone in your half-falling-down costume.
25. When you take two hours of makeup off and think about how you're going to do it again in a few weeks
Why do we all do this to ourselves, is the question?
Because conventions are the place where you find out what German food your favorite actors like and what they think about cosplay.
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