Anime North 2015

AmaLeighPhotography and myself in Five

I love Anime North. It is a staple of my con schedule. I accidentally overbooked myself this year.  I judged two competitions and had 3 photoshoots. As a result I took ZERO photos this year. I got to spend a grand total of one hour in the dealer's hall and artist alley but overall I still had a good time.

FRIDAY
We drove to Toronto and just as we arrived we had to run to the Friday Cosplay Workmanship contest to start assessing entries. It's a small competition but we had a great variety of costumes. I got to ogle at leatherwork, knit sweaters, and silicone cast hobbit's feet.

SATURDAY
I made the finishing touches on Five (Drakenguard) in the morning before my shoots. My sewing machine broke the night before the con. Talk about a cosplay nightmare. It finally happened. Luckily I was able to borrow a friend's machine and even though it hated me, I made it work.
I got out of my hotel room at 2pm to shoot with AmaLeigh Photography. she was great and it was nice meeting her. Right afterwards, I went straight to a shoot with Don Dolce photography. After fumbling a bit with my armour and props we managed to get a few good shots. This costume was a reminder that I need to keep polishing my armour skills. I was so sore after wearing it for 3 hours.
After my shoot I got changed into my Aion Bard then went straight to the masquerade to judge the stage competition.

Welcome to Summoner's Rift.... err I mean the 2015 Anime North Masquerade!

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Bard cosplay - Now with blue hair

I would say close to half of the show was League of Legends cosplays. Luckily my knowledge of the game could be carried over to the judging table. It was a little disconcerning that there was a lack of diversity in source material. Ironically, there were very few anime or Japanese game cosplays at the masquerade and this is an Anime Convention. On the plus side, the selection of characters and skins in League means you don't see the same costumes over and over.
Remember Cosplayers, if you enter a competition with a costume from a popular game/series you risk of running into identical entries. That is an awkward place to be for many cosplayers in a competition environment. Also it becomes more challenging to make your costume and performance stand out.
Overall, it was a good show and deliberations were straightforward.

I also got to meet Misa on Wheels, the cosplay guest of honour, because she was also a stage judge. She oozes positivity and I encourage you all to say hi to her if you get a chance to meet her.

SUNDAY
Sunday snoozing was followed by getting  dressed in my Bard again, packing my luggage then going straight to the award ceremony. It's always a pleasure seeing all those happy faces and rewarding hard work. After we wrapped up the prizes I went to shoot with RS Photography. I had a great time shooting with him for the first because he's a funny and friendly guy.

Afterwards, I did a speed run through the dealer's hall, visiting my friend Vickybunnyangel at the Cosplay Supplies booth and another friend in the artist alley.

I had a great time being a staff member at Anime North this year. Ideally for next year I'll staff one event instead of two so that I have time to see my friends. I didn't get to hang out with anyone but my roommates and I feel guilty about it.

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