Issue 9 - Yipe!

COutdoor RaveAt the Otakubaloooutdoor rave,things are a swirlof light and colourand sound, as theattendees deckedout in neon glotubbing, el wire,and dressed in avariety of colourfulcostumes, crazyclothes, andj-fasion dance thenight away. And itdoesn’t stop there.Even DJ Selia theDJ from Japan isfully decked out incolourful costumewhile providing thetunage that makesOtakubaloo such apopular event.Made in Japan – DJ Selia at Otakubalooby España SheriffIt’s impossible toconvey the exciting,and fun atmospherecostumersexperience at AnimeNorth, or theastounding array ofbeautiful, comicaland eye poppingcostumes that visitthe convention overthe weekend, but Ihope this has givenyou a small sampleof what one canexperience in a visitto Canada’s LargestAnime Convention.You know what I hate?People who are younger,prettier and moretalented than me. Whichis pretty much Animefandom in a nutshell;hordes of happy, adorablycute teenagers in brilliantcostumes they madefrom scratch. Probablyin between studying fortheir advance placementclasses and volunteeringat the local soup kitchen.Or at least that’s howit feels every year whenI look around at theAnime LA membership.The first time I attended,just a few short years ago,I had only a vague idea ofwhat to expect. Of course,I knew the averageattendee would be on theyounger side, but mostlythat translated in mybrain as “No party floor,dammit!” I was familiarwith certain aspects ofthe fandom from conreports, costuming andart websites or fromthings like Wondercon.But the sheer number ofpeople in costume wasalmost overwhelmingand a real treat; fromindividuals cosplayingtheir favorite videogamecharacter or just dressedin a specific fannishsubculture fashion, togroups all doing oneseries, movie or manga,pretty much everyoneseemed to be dressed up.I am a big believer in hallcostuming as a vital formof fanac and there is noquestion cosplayers havethat down cold.One interesting result