The Oni-Con Hawaii anime convention lit up the Hawaii Convention Center in Honolulu from Nov. 1 to 3. The convention featured outrageous costumes, Japanese concerts, and voice-actor panels.
Enthusiastic fans came in outrageous costumes that featured Final Fantasy, One Piece and Bleach characters. Convention attendees fell into two categories: cosplayers and non-cosplayers. Cosplayers are passionate fans that dress up, either, as their favorite characters from anime or manga or in a wacky collection of clothes.
Kierah Thurgood, a TESOL freshman from Idaho, said she has gone to many conventions, cosplaying each time. “Cosplay and conventions are my passion. With cosplay, I feel I can be more myself than when I’m not dressed up. For example, I would be uncomfortable if I was my funny, goofy, outgoing self in normal environments, but everyone at Con is like me. Cosplays allow me to express myself in ways I never could without it.”
Cosplayers devote an astounding amount of time and effort into making and wearing their costumes to show their passion for anime in a welcoming atmosphere. Amy (Emiko) Gonzales said she has done more cosplays than she can count and has been attending conventions since she was in middle school. When asked why she keeps coming back, she said, “It’s like my second family or home. I come from kind of a broken home, but this place touches base for me. It is the one place I can be myself. Everyone loves and accepts you. I’m actually hoping to have my wedding here. I really do consider the anime convention-goers my family.”
This atmosphere of acceptance is well known among U.S cosplayers, but Kaoru Arredondo, a political science freshman from Mexico, tells a different story about the conventions in his home country. “For me, cosplaying is about paying homage to characters that have touched me in any way. In Mexico, it’s really cut-throat. If two people are the same character at the same conventions, a storm will come out! People take pictures of other cosplayers and upload them online and tear them apart. It’s never happened to me, but it is really bad and mean what people can say.”
Though cosplaying is an integral part of the convention experience, there are other aspects of a con that draw people in. Arredondo said, “Why do I go to cons? Firstly, the special guests, like Nobuo Uematsu. I really like Final fantasy’s music, so I was excited to see him.”
Gaming is a big part of any anime convention because any story can get into multiple media outlets—comics (manga), cartoons (anime), video games and music. Andrew Esteves, a gamer who has gone to five conventions to help set up a game room for HVGL.org where attendees can play classic video games, said, “I know that once a German fan flew all the way here to the con just to play a well-known gamer that was in Hawaii.”
Steve Bunner said he continues to go to conventions after 20 years for the connection he feels with fellow convention attendees. “I like picking up stuff. It’s good to be around fellow nerds. There is a camaraderie. I enjoy seeing everyone have a good time.” Bunner, a Star Trek fan, said he attended the convention to be around other fans. “Fans are fans. Star Trek and anime, they are just different universes. People buy into it because they like it. If this was a Star Trek convention, they would be singing in Klingon instead of Japanese. It’s all the same stuff.”
Convention new-comers were warmly welcomed by all. Porter Anderson, a freshman in marine biology from Utah, has watched anime for a while, but just attended his first anime convention. "The atmosphere here is free. Everyone here has a passion for anime. Everywhere else, if you look weird like this, you'll get stares. But here, people do whatever they want to. This is a rare environment. There are very few places you can go without being judged."