Event's second day reflects energy of large, creative crowd
By Dave Kern
Published: September 1, 2013, 5:00pm
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These Kumoricon players from Salem, Ore., dressed as Kyoshi Warriors from the Nickelodeon series "Avatar: The Last Airbender," were repeatedly asked to pose Sunday.Photo Gallery
? What: Kumoricon Anime Festival, in its 11th year.
? Where: Hilton Vancouver Washington and the Red Lion Hotel Vancouver at the Quay.
? Admission: $15; free for children 5 and younger. Also, after noon, children 12 and younger are free. Pay at the door. Event ends Monday.
The town square belonged to the joyful players at the Kumoricon convention on Sunday.
More than 5,300 attendees seemed pumped by their passion for Japanese animation and other avenues of fantasy and popular culture. That’s at least 600 more than attended last year’s convention in Vancouver, an organizer said.
“I love it,” said Bev Johnson, 77, of Vancouver, who wandered through Esther Short Park with her husband, George, taking in the color of the characters. “I wish my grandson from California was here because he’d get the greatest (costume) ideas.
? What: Kumoricon Anime Festival, in its 11th year.
? Where: Hilton Vancouver Washington and the Red Lion Hotel Vancouver at the Quay.
? Admission: $15; free for children 5 and younger. Also, after noon, children 12 and younger are free. Pay at the door. Event ends Monday.
“They’re very, very creative. I don’t know if I understand all of it,” Bev said.
“You don’t understand any of it,” George, 79, opined.
Inside the Hilton Vancouver Washington, Kiara Kadar, 18, of Clackamas, Ore., was dressed as “The Merchant” from the “Fragile Dreams” video game. Actually, she was holding her large chicken head. The character is a robot who just seems to have a chicken head.
“This thing makes my glasses fog if I try to talk in it,” Kadar explained. “It took me about three days to make this head,” she said. She used 2 yards of 1-inch form, 1 yard of white fleece, and red, orange, yellow and blue felt. “And just a lot of thread … and fabric glue.” Her costume included a purple gown.
Part of the culture is to make your outfit.
Kadar was having “loads of fun” at the her third Kumoricon event. “This is one place you can be yourself without judgment,” she said.
On the Hilton’s second floor, the five Kyoshi Warriors from Salem were posing for one photo after another.
“We’re paying off loans and doing fun, awesome things,” said Bethany Wilson, 24, a graduate of Western Oregon University. The warriors are from the Nickelodeon cartoon “Avatar: The Last Airbender.”
Their costumes were chic: Shoulder pads, breast plates, back plates, olive robe, hakama pants. The warriors were armed with their gold fans.
“We had to pattern-draft and construct everything from scratch,” Wilson said of the eye-catching outfits.
Warrior Alyssa Schmotzer, 22, noted, “The thing about cosplay (costume play) is, you learn how to create a costume based on an image.”
What’s the draw?
“I really like meeting all the other cosplayers,” Schmotzer said. “We kind of all share a mutual excitement.”
The convention offered many forms of entertainment and education.
Mary Stone, 26, of Eugene was waiting in line with dozens to get an autograph from voice actor Christopher Sabat. She was dressed as “Audino” from the Japanese hit video game “Pokemon.”
“I’ve been into anime since I was 10,” Stone said. “It is really fun dressing up and meeting people.”
Posing for a photo, 18-year-old Phyllis Conant of Portland said she was at her fourth Kumoricon convention. She was dressed provocatively as Female Loki from the movie “The Avengers.”
“My mom made the jacket from scratch,” she said. “It’s heavy-duty leather and the lining is fleece and it’s really hot. The jacket itself weighs 10 pounds.”
Conant was showing some skin and was asked if her mother was pleased with the outfit.
“I’ve actually worn worse than this so she had no problem with it,” Conant said. “I actually wore pants yesterday and I almost died so today I’m wearing shorts.”
In Esther Short Park, hundreds in costumes created their own fun with call-and-response chants, costume play and mutual admiration.
The convention continues today, with closing ceremonies at 4 p.m. in the Hilton.
“Vancouver has been absolutely fantastic. … Our attendees really like the park,” said Teph Williams, director of publicity for the convention.
