Monday 15 June 2015

Comic Con: The Otaku's Dream

WEEKS. We'd spent weeks prepping our costumes - ahem, cosplays - and all of a sudden the day was upon us! We'd explored the darkest streets of Soho's haberdashers and delved the deepest corners of the Matalan sale bin to craft ourselves into a favourite pop culture character

I hear all the cool kids are doing it nowadays.

I was headed to spend the day at one of Britains' geekiest, but most engaging, events. Cool or not, my wife Kat was backing me up as a vivaciously convincing Baby Doll - so the hype only escalated as the train neared our destination; MCM Comic Con.

It was a mecca of unfettered nerdgasms.

More than 122,000 visitors attended the three days in London in May this year, which played host to everything from movies, videogames and comic books to anime, manga and cosplay – and a line-up of special guests from the world of film and TV.

These special guests were okay (James Cosmo - Game of Thrones, Sylvester McCoy - Dr Who/The Hobbit, etc.) but it doesn't compare to what you get at the London film & comic con in July.

Most of the ExCel centre (which is MASSIVE) was jumbled up with stores selling memorabilia from all your favourite anime and culture classics. It was Camden market with more Naruto. Unfortunately everything felt a little too busy and a little too expensive to justify spending.

After stopping to watch some amateur K-pop dance group for an unhealthy amount of time we made sure to check out all all the funky artists and authors that had come to show-off their original ideas. There was plenty of cool stuff but, again, a little costly - especially if you're a student or... say, a writer.

There were plenty of other little things to see (e.g. the queue to any video game preview, the queue to every in-house eatery) but after a few hours I felt like I'd seen it all. We were told about how the nearby pub, The Fox, gets lively with all the post-event hype of a Sikh wedding. so we headed there to continue the party.

MCM is really successful at bringing people together. In one day I had my photo taken, was serenaded and had my name called more times by strangers than I would usually be comfortable with. But that was happening all around me between everyone else! It tears down those barriers of everyday life so you could come together over what's important; fun.

I won't go at every opportunity because there is only so much to see but it is a place you should visit once and become part of the magic.

For some cosplays all you need is a lab coat and a bunch of bananas
P.S. If you need things to do try the lesser-known hobby of "cos-spotting". It's like I-spy but instead you're trying to name as many characters throughout the day as you can. At an event like this, where people get really creative, it settles the men (or women) from the boys (or girls). 

I didn't just make this up I swear.


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