Did you say katsucon 2015

By Stu a.k.a. Sparda of DWG

Oh Katsucon, sweet Katsucon, how I miss thee, Katsucon. If it hasn’t been made apparent already, I loved katsucon! Admittedly, I had a bit of a rough start since there was traffic every step of the way, there resulting in my friends and I getting there at 7pm on Friday when we were hoping to get there at about 3pm or 4pm, but it all worked out. There was cosplay, there were laughs, there was just so much damn awesome! I got to bring back my Dante which I wore last at NYCC of 2013, but this time it was much better! Everything was pretty much great! Let me run you through my experience.

After NYCC, I started planning on how I would improve my Dante cosplay since I wasn’t so happy with it last time. To keep things short, my friend Jackie who essentially made the coat tightened it up since I lost some weight since last I wore it (yay me!) and a few of my other buddies, Brad and Lada made a new Rebellion sword and repainted Ebony and Ivory; yes I owe my cosplay life to all of them. In any case, I’m not sure if you guys can tell the difference from this picture alone but believe me, the whole thing looks way better! Anyway, there were a few bumps along the way but the whole thing came together! Again, yay me!

So I made the trip to Maryland with my two friends, Jacob and Mimi, and after a lengthy car ride we arrived, picked up our badges and essentially got the lay of the land. Admittedly, this took up most of our Friday, but it was well worth it-the place is beautiful! We checked out the dealers den and artist alley, hung out fountain side and took some pictures with our fellow cosplayers. Things were already off to a great start! Again though, Friday was pretty much familiarizing ourselves with the location and relaxing after the long drive.

Saturday was an adventure, we honestly spent over thirteen hours at the con that day, and would have stayed longer too if we had a room in the actual hotel the convention was being held in. For a short time we roamed around the convention and even ran around

complimenting peoples’ cosplays while handing out candy (okay, this was mostly Jacob and fellow con-goer, Abe, who I just met) but eventually, I left to meet up with someone I met back in NYCC, Chris, an insanely talented cosplayer also known as NYCAssassin, who was now cosplaying my character’s counterpart twin, Vergil! The guy was awesome, telling me about the events I should attend that day and even introducing to me to photographers and some pretty skilled cosplayers! Later that night we both attended a Devil May Cry photoshoot which was amazing! I met the person who organized the shoot and many fellow DmC fans, both of the original series and the reboot!

Afterwards, Chris and I took a few other photos before I left with Jacob and Mimi to attend one of the panels. This was hilarious. The panel was essentially a cosplay replication of a 1980s dating game where one bachelor or bachelorette would have to ask three contestants three questions and either chooses one based off their answers or

essentially allows the crowd to pick for them. So my buddy, Jacob, who was cosplaying Captain America, was chosen as one of the three for the initial bachelorette and let me just say, he killed it! Credit should be given to his competition in Colonel Sanders and Black Star but when he was asked what his favorite animal is and the response is “THE AMERICAN EAGLE, THE SYMBOL OF OUR LIBERTY AND FREEDOM, GOD BLESS AMERICA” and the Canadians behind us are the first of the entire room to chant “USA! USA! USA!”….we know the battle is over. Needless to say, he won and got a free pass to Katsucon next year. On a side note, he proposed to Falcon the next day…. I do believe their child will be Captain Falcon *insert corny joke sound effect here* In any case, after a long day we scoured the area for food and eventually ordered from one of the only places still open in the area at 2am, took some time for the delivery guy to get to us…but we ate…eventually.

Sunday was a day to once more chill out and slowly venture around the place as

we recovered from Saturday. More ridiculous photos were taken and we briefly ran around artist alley and the dealers den again, looking for some last second buys. While we were down there I ran into the amazing Kitsune Kid, another great cosplayer! We talked a bit about streaming, as well as future cosplays for a few. I knew she was a great cosplayer all around, but she was telling me how she really knows a lot about getting the right look with wigs, which is great because I’m trash with wigs (or perhaps all around T_T), so perhaps she can give me a few pointers down the line! In any case, again, she was awesome! A little bit later, my friends and I met up with some others who were waiting to take some pictures and, finally, we began to plan what cosplays we would try to put together for the rest of the year! A few hours later, we took our unfortunate leave as the convention came to close and now I sit here with a mean case of post con depression as I reminisce about this fantastic convention. A whole lot of this was essentially us running around, but in a way, that’s what it’s all about. You travel the con and meet so many great people with similar interests while celebrating your favorite characters! It’s the people that make the experience so forgive me if I can’t quite communicate the feeling, the energy of the convention; it’s something you may need to experience for yourselves, but I guarantee it’s absolutely worth it! Lastly, I really need to thank a bunch of friends for making the whole experience great! Jacob and Mimi, it was a blast travelling with you guys and I can’t wait for our future conventions, once we complete all of our plans, tales will be passed down for generations. Jackie, Brand and Lada, my Dante cosplay wouldn’t have happened without you guys, plain and simple. I can’t express enough how thankful I am for all of your help! Chris and Kitsune, you were both extremely fun and approachable, even though you’re both super talented and experienced, yet eliminate any sense of elitism-it was just so easy to walk up and have a genuine conversation with you both! I really hope I get to see everyone again throughout the year! Katsucon may very well have been my favorite convention thus far and I’ll definitely be attending again next year, I suggest anyone with the means to do so as well because it was an amazing experience! Well, I think I’ve ranted enough; I’ll go back to my con induced depression now. I do have a few other cons coming up so aside from helping me to retain some marginal amount of my sanity, I’ll have something con related for you all soon, see ya!!