I attended MTAC 2013 over the Easter weekend, making it my second time to ever attend an anime convention, and like last year my MTAC experience did not let me down. Regrettably, I was not able to spend nearly as much time at the convention this year as I did last year, and with the four hours I spent on both Friday and Sunday I did not attend any of the panels or special events. Regardless, with what little time I did spend there, I still managed to have a great time walking around taking pictures of the various cosplayers in their snazzy outfits and engaging in small talk with them about various shows.
Speaking of small talk, I was tasked with the job of going around and asking various cosplayers about the reasons as to why they cosplay for a little project. The idea was that I would ask cosplayers to write down on an index card why they love to cosplay, and while I did have a rough start with figuring out how to get the process going, when I finally got things together smoothly the project turned out wonderfully. The cosplayers I asked looked so excited to share their outfits and their reasons for dressing up as their favorite anime characters, and I received both touching and quite humorous responses. Hopefully I’ll be able to engage in this project again next year and make it an even bigger success (with the help of an even bigger index card or whiteboard).
Considering the small amount of time that I spent at the convention this year, I was quite surprised with how much fun I had. Hopefully I will be able to spend more time at MTAC next year and attend more panels, special events, video game tournaments (When’s Marvel/Chaos Code/Skullgirls?), and the like. Additionally, I hope to cosplay myself next year and join in on the fun to get the full experience of hanging out a convention full of people just like myself.
