It took somewhere between 18 to 19 hours for me to travel from my town outside of London to Atlanta (nb: connecting flights suck!). And in addition to this, the airline I chose (Virgin Atlantic) was not good at all. Next time I’ll be thinking before I choose the airline. I’ll even think of going for the class above coach; I’ve turned that snobby!
Anyhoo, Dragoncon has in essence become one of the big things in Atlanta now, now spreading to 5 host hotels, all of which are high-rise (as well as a mall closing temporarily for dealers!). Call it San Diego Comic Con, only without the masses of Hollywood stars and press, and the fact that people go because they actually want to and enjoy going (as opposed to quite possibly going because they feel compelled to – but feel free to dispute my opinion of that). Downtown streets are either at a stand-still or shut down entirely through the weekend, street vendors love to charge extortionate amounts for bottled water, and panels to get a glimpse of Star Wars/Star Trek/Marvel/DC/Harry Potter/ etc. stars are full to the brim. A few big guests had to pull out last minute due to reasons we weren’t entirely sure, so the convention had to make it up with better panels, so as a Dragoncon veteran, do I believe they pulled it off well this year?
Difficult to say.
Yeah, this was my 5th time attending con, and my 5th time getting sick on the plane ride home (I’m typing this while still sick, by the way!). And of course, like pretty much every con that ever exists, it depends on whatever comes out. In this case, Mad Max, Deadpool, and Star Wars cosplays were everywhere. And while anime and manga is something that’s certainly covered here (and well loved by the congoers), it has always been one of the ‘niche’ areas…but at Dragoncon, ‘niche’ doesn’t mean it’s not-covered well. You name it, it’s covered; no nerd trends allowed in Atlanta.
Doing Kill La Kill cosplays would be perfect, as it would something to show off (Dragoncon has always put cosplay foremost, with random parties being a close second). I’ve seen plenty of Ryuko Matoi girls, Satsuki Kiryuin girls, and I even saw a Nonon Jakazure girl (with a few marchers!!!) in 2013, so seeing Ragyo made me happy. I know it can be too easy to do Mako, but I never seem to see a girl cosplay her
But I’m very proud of my haul, and especially as I have plenty of money to spare. While Mystery Science Theater 3000 and Bee and Puppycat do it for me (hence biased haul), finding the entirety of Revolutionary Girl Utena, along with the movie, was an eye-opener. Kunihiko Ikuhara has always done it for me, and while Mawaru Penguindrum was the only thing of his I didn’t like, this, Sailor Moon and his recent Yuri Kuma Arashi have become up there with shows I rate highly. Utena being a show that isn’t (and probably will never be) released in the UK…well, I highly recommend it if surrealism, fantasy and yuri is your thing.
My award for best cosplay? Well I could be biased, as not only did I see some very fine cosplays, crossplays, mash-ups (and plenty of completely original costumes), but my roomies chose too. My own one was a disaster: Inkling Girl from Splatoon meant make-up, and lots of it…something I am so not used to. Plus the fact that the Splatoon meet-up/party clashed with an important main event I’d pre-planned. But while Ragyo blew me away, Goku on a cloud was too brilliant. And I had like 4 pictures of him too!……all of them were too blurry for this post, though.
Soon enough, Dragoncon will take up an entire week. The girl who got us our room arrived on the Wednesday and left late Monday (Labor Day). As I’ve been so so unhappy with the UK anime convention scene, going to Dragoncon has become something of a serious pilgrimage for me, even if I feel anime and manga aren’t as represented as much as Star Wars, Star Trek, and the others. Each time I go, I get into new things and begin to convert into new stuff. People want me to play Magic: The Gathering and Weiss Schwarz, well I can learn them (even if Weiss Schwarz is like the hardest anime card game to learn ever!). And thanks to my roomies, I appreciate My Little Pony more.
Yes, everyone, that’s right; My Little Pony; Friendship Is Magic…but that’s just what Dragoncon does to you. And no one will make fun of you…not even the hotel staff, who have always been there for all of us crazy nerds, geeks and otakus.
