The long awaited part two of my Kumoricon adventures! To start off I gotta say it was a rough start off on day two. Day one went so hard, that when I woke up on Saturday I thought we were already on the last day. Sleep deprived at the highest, aching bones, and empty Celsius cans all around. Perfectly normally cosplayer hotel room to wake up in, and think the con was about to be over.
I got to sit down with a few people for mini interviews of how they were enjoying the convention, and the all around atmosphere. The main focus was on getting real food and checking out the exhibitors hall, and artist alley. There were some really great new vendors this year, lots of booths selling figures. Surprisingly I didn’t buy any this time around, only because what I was looking for wasn’t out yet and nothing else caught my eye. It was fun to check through all the booths and start getting gifts for friends for the holidays. I love to shop and find those great gifts for others (cause I like seeing how happy they are to get the gift). There was a booth that was selling these shirts I was dying over, they were “girl dinner” shirts with a male character on them (there were three versions of them) and they each had kiss and bite marks all over them. I had seen this booth back at Anime Washington and grabbed the only shirt she had at the time (Gojo from Jujutsu Kaisen) and have been waiting all these months for more to drop. Well, I finally got my other shirts and picked one up for my friend as well. They are so soft and perfect and I have already worn them all since con, because come on they are so good.
I was also happy to find another boba stand at the convention, this one you could choose between five flavors and either get a normal or special cup. The special cup cost more money, but with it the cup was bigger and had a surprise under the boba. Not actually in the liquid but you rip open a little door in the bottom of the cup and inside you get a plushie, I have seen these online and have been wanting to try them for so long. I also love a soft plushie that’s super cute. I got a very cute and fuzzy blue penguin, he is going on one of my bags right away. Second time around, yes, obviously I went more than once (but don’t worry, I only went twice), I got another penguin. This one was very soft as well, had a lollipop, and was a short little guy (I gave him to my friend because I don’t need two penguins and she really wanted one). It was a fun new experience with boba tea I got to have and I hope I get to have more in the future!
Other than those two vendors, it seemed like there were a lot of new faces in the artist alley as well. It was fun discovering new art and finding pieces I hadn’t seen before. Besides the exhibitor hall having new people, there were also events being held on Saturday that were new ones for me as well, and lots of fun. More panels on wigs, and styling, which is always a needed skill in the cosplay world. A few more 18+ events and panels, all of which were very popular among the attendees. I have never had so much fun at an event like I did at the “cosplay cabaret” , this is an event that I can’t really get into in this article because it’s a piece all on its own (so more to look forward to!).
Saturday was also the day for night time photos, and people were getting all bundled up because of how cold it was before shedding it all to hop back in front of the camera and lights. I myself, did a quick shoot out in the cold to show off my light up prop (it was fun, but very, very cold). On Sunday you could see the mad dashes for more shopping, photos and that last hangout with new friends. The photos happening right outside of the Kumoricon Market were fun to watch and so were the collecting of ribbons. There was a cosplayer who was cosplaying Wolfwood from Trigun, and if you wanted to get both the ribbons from them you had to write down a “sin”, fold it up and put it into the little church they had made. All of it was anonymous, and something fun for the cosplayer to make and read through the “sins” after the convention was over. I hope the cosplayer will be posting these to their Instagram for others to also read through (because there is no way to know who wrote any of them).
Ending Kumoricon on Sunday with photos, laughs and ribbons was a great send off before heading home. Well, that and getting my favorite Korean fried chicken (I love this chicken and get it every time I’m in Portland). I’m sad that Kumoricon is already over and that I’m done with conventions for the rest of 2024, but I’m also happy to end on such a good note. Kumoricon has been for the past two years a favorite of mine and this year is no different. A great group of friends, new friends, amazing panels, and events to attend, One Piece meet ups (see I snuck it in there at least once), and ribbons. I could not have asked for a better way to end a year of cosplays, conventions, and travel any other way. The dates for next year’s Kumoricon have already come out and well…it’s going to be a fun time with the convention taking place over Halloween!
Were you at Kumoricon? What were your highlights? Feel free to leave a comment below or chat with us on Twitter/X at @TheConCollectve, Threads at @theconventioncollective, or Bluesky at @theconcollective.bsky.social
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