Kitacon 2016 – Morning poop almost got me

Hello puppies ~

Ah, Kitacon. That one comfy but small local convention that I've been attending for years. This year it was held on 29th October in a building called Sauvotalo in Kemi, Finland. As per usual I went there with my friends; a con with free entrance that is not far away is always a good way to brighten up an otherwise ordinary weekend.

Kitacon 2016 poster.

But before I get to the actual con summary I want to tell you a bit about the pre-con Friday!

Sacchan was sleeping over at my place and on the day before the con we were at a small Halloween party that Frozen Angel held at his apartment. Fun part is that during said small party I got really tired early but, of course, once I got home, took a shower and prepared to go sleep I... yeah, guess what? My tiredness just disappeared into some deep dark void and suddenly I couldn't fall asleep before I had tried 400 different sleeping positions and done a sacrifice to Satan. I don't remember exact times but I'm pretty dang sure I got less than 5 hours of sleep that night and, once our alarm clocks rung on the morning, I was so fucking tired I kept pressing the snooze button long after I should have gotten up. ._. I swear it was impossible – for a moment I even considered just staying home because of tiredness but, most of all, because my stomach was rampaging and shit was flying, literally. Yay, poop stories. In other words I was feeling really nauseous when I woke up; I had bad pains in my lower stomach and needed to run to the bathroom at least three times within 15 minutes – it was horrible. I constantly had the whole "I might puke" sort of feeling going on too. The con morning curse.

Once I actually managed to drag my ass out of bed it dawned on me that I had less than 1,5 hours to get ready (aka put on cosplay) before we had to sit in the car and be on our way to Kemi, at the latest. I realized that no way in hell would I have enough time and so I just became a filthy casual and jumped into the car. I also was too afraid to put on my cosplay only to realize that my nausea might get worse at the con and then I'd spend a too big chunk of my time frequenting bathrooms... No thanks.

But yeah, we got to the con a bit past 11:00 local time, safe and sound. I was being really wary and observative of what my body was doing and, because of this, I felt too unsafe to go attend the one and only panel that interested me. Oh well, it would have been too awkward to just suddenly leave because of an urgent need to run for the toilet...

Our company chilled around for a while, checked what the con had to offer and so on. Some sellers I recognized from earlier years but I think there was some new stuff for sale too. I didn't buy anything but a few items caught my interest, especially those kind of surprise bags. I mean, there were Pokémon themed ones! I also saw that someone was selling an used copy of Mario Party 6 for 44 € and I was really tempted because it's one of the Gamecube games that I'm still missing in my collection...

At times it was quite crammed, especially in the Dealer's Hall, but it was manageable.

Random main hall (incl. Dealer's Hall) photo.

After about an hour or so, maybe less, Sacchan told me that she'd go pick up her little brother because he also wanted to attend the con. I decided to come with her for company; she didn't live so far away anyway so I wouldn't be gone from the con for too long. Besides, I realized that my berserk stomach had calmed down a bit and I thought that it would be easier to change into my Hatori cosplay at Sacchan's home than at a small bathroom in the con, which were almost always occupied anyway. I wasn't patient enough to play the toilet waiting game.
Once we arrived at Sacchan's home I threw my cosplay bag into the caravan on the yard and went to say hello to their 13-year-old dachshund mix Piki. ;A; He's such a cute black sausage dog, I just can't. ♥  Sacchan put on the heat in the caravan because it was cold as fuck in that shit. I froze my butt off doing my makeup in there but I'm a true Finn and endured it like a man, lol. I was literally doing my makeup in my underwear and a leather jacket.
Oh and yeah, of course when I cosplay a character who only has one eye visible you can be sure that I'm gonna mess up the eye makeup and yeah, guess which one eye got covered by the wig? :-DD The one with the more succesful makeup of course – the other, visible eye, looked like a case of "end my miseryyyyy".

I didn't check the time when we got back to the con but our fetch-Joni-and-put-on-my-cosplay trip maybe took an hour or so. I remember Firith calling me and asking where we were; I of course told him that I had started to feel better and were putting on my Hatori cosplay so that we could have a quick photoshoot together later on.
At the con we quickly reunited with the group and just chilled around for a while.

Dealer's Hall items. Surprise bags always tempt me...

Pokémon merchandise.

We all wanted to go check the Artist's Alley upstairs since that has turned into one of my "must visit" priorities at cons lately. I don't know but I've kinda started to take a bigger interest in Artist's Alley merch and now I find myself buying more from there than from the actual merch sellers, if that makes sense. I just love seeing all the items that every person creates (it's always a surprise what's up for sale at each con!) by hand and, as an artist myself, it makes me happy to support the work of artists that I like by buying their products. Fan-made merch have a different feeling to them since each piece is unique, you know.

One half of the Artist's Alley.

I remember when I was at Artist's Alley in my Hatori cosplay a random person came up to me, excitedly, and asked if I was cosplaying Sebastian. I assumed they meant the one from Kuroshitsuji and I answered that I was Hatori. They just left without a word and I felt really awkward...
I can sorta understand the mixup though because both wear a suit and have black hair but yeah, neither their suits nor their hair style is the same so... *shrugs* It's not the first time someone mistakes my cosplay for Sebastian Michaelis – the same thing happened several years ago too when I cosplayed Toshizo Hijikata's Sweet School Life version (also wearing a black suit) from Hakuouki but, then again, this one makes a lot more sense because they're basically hair twins, almost. Fun fact is that both times I got mistaken for Sebastian I cosplayed different characters but had the same wig, except that my current Hatori wig is actually my former Hijikata wig that I cut shorter and styled.

Those dolphin plushies were so cute. I always had a thing
for marine animals ~

At Artist's Alley I found one of my favorite sellers in the north – it's the lovely tammukkasart's and hirnuperna's table! It's funny because I've been pretty much a regular at their table, almost always buying something at each con. I hope I don't sound like a stalker now, lol. I just love that they create merch from several different fandoms (as well as animals etc) and they are super fun and nice to talk to! I actually spent some time just babbling away and it was fun when they remembered me from previous cons, omg! It always feels so surreal somehow, ahaha. ;u; If I'm completely honest their table is one of the ones that I'm always hoping to find when I go to all these smaller local cons – it's the same people I bought my dragon form Haku (Spirited Away) and Magikarp scarves from and yeah, every time I wonder if there's any new ones up! Can't wait for the Gyarados one I heard was in the making.

tammukkasart's and hirnuperna's table.
The Touken Ranbu items are soooo cute!

Actually I got one of those Yamato no Kami Yasusada (Tourabu) keychains as a freebie and I was about to drop my jaw on the floor! ;O; I almost didn't believe it and I had to ask again to be sure if I had heard wrong. I can't really even start to describe that mix of sudden surprise and happiness – they're so kind that I just... just... asghfdsjghfds. ♥ Do check them out (the names link to their tumblr accounts) and shower them with love! >//<
I'm sorry by the way that the photo above is a bit grainy, it was taken not long before the con closed and the sun had already started to set, hence poor light conditions because yeah, this is northern Finland in the beginning of winter. Kaamos is approaching.

Of course there was the ogligatory sweets shop selling pocky, ramune etc.

Kitacon in itself doesn't have a huge lot of entertainment value but that's all the more reason for why I always go there with friends. It's one of those slow-paced comfy cons you go to and chill with your pals at. I didn't really care for watching the cosplay date nor the cosplay competition so most of my time I actually just spent walking around and then having a quick photoshoot outside with Firith as Ayame Sohma and me as Hatori. Those photos will be posted in a separate post so stay tuned for that, if you're interested.

This was one of the most interesting things up for sale for
a long-time Pokémon fan like me. The amount of nostalgy.

I'm actually surprised that seemingly no one recognized my cosplay. Or well, if someone did then they didn't tell me about it. Fruits Basket is a rather well-known series but, then again, Hatori looks extremely generic (black-haired guy in a suit) and not very interesting in a costume sort of way so yeah, I can understand very well. Oh well, not like I mind at all because I wanted a cosplay I could move around in freely and without any discomfort or annoying swords to carry, lol. Sometimes it's such a freedom to not constantly have to worry about bumping any props I might have into walls etc or potentially ruining my costume by sitting on the floor. Hatori was a good choice for this kind of slow-paced con because of its ease of wear. I sometimes feel like donning a more impressive cosplay is a bit of a waste at small cons anyway, because of the additional worries that comes with it.

Obligatory cosplay selfie. Bathroom edition.

It was nice to meet some friends I hadn't seen in a while as well, like Ronja. We didn't end up talking all that much but it was really nice to see her again and have a quick chat. I'm sorry though if I seemed a bit distant or something because yeah, at some point I was really freaking hungry and it was the only thing I could think of. xD
Oh yeah, some hours into the con everyone in my company were indeed hungry so we decided on where to go eat; most wanted to go to Subway but there were some votes for Hesburger too. I belonged to the Subway group together with Sacchan and her lil' bro Joni and because we're lazy fucks we took the car there. Real reason is that it was cold, mind you. We all took the cheapest (daily) option and I decided to try it with two sauces instead of just one – it was good to mix barbeque and ranch dressing, hehe.

The con's cafeteria sold some cute bakeries.

Sometime after eating I went into that one crafting room at the con. I don't know what its proper name would be in English but you know, that kind of room where you can draw and do creative stuff – it's really common in most cons I've been to. I ended up doing one of those doodle puzzle piece thingies to kill some time, it was fun. Sacchan drew her signature Buttman and then she drew... Hijikakka. Don't ask. xD

Yes, it's a Hijikata poop pun.
Made by Sacchan.

I also paid a visit to the gaming room a couple times. As soon as I entered I felt hyper nostalgic because there were only 8-bit and 16-bit games in there! I saw someone playing my childhood drug Super Mario World on Super Nintendo and all the memories just came flooding back! All the games were even played on those old fat televisions – all the better because it gave the right feeling.
The first time around I tried playing some Megaman 2 but that... didn't go so well. Damn those frogs and those falling chocolate bridges!

Megaman 2 gaming. Yes, that's the chocolate bridges I meant.

I'm not sure if Kitacon always had a video game room or not but, if they did, then I feel really fucking dumb right now. :)) I just can't help but wonder because if the gaming room was in earlier Kitacons too then I could have spent a lot more of my time in there enjoying myself while playing classics instead of being bored because hey, I love old-school games and playing them make me a happy geek. I don't own a SNES currently big sister wanted it back ffuu ffuu so any chance to play childhood games at a con is already a pretty sure way to tempt me to go there.

The last 30 minutes or something I spent at the gaming room as well. This time the Super Mario World was free and so I of course picked up the controller and played. It was fun to notice that even after years and years of not playing the game I still remembered secrets and where enemies appear etc. :D Of course I was far from as good as I used to be at the game but still definitely not bad. I really should buy myself a SNES one day, I need this shit in my life.

My loots. Everything's from Artist's Alley!
Articuno acrylic phone strap, Yasusada keychain and a magnet.

We stayed at Kitacon until it closed and even after it closed we had to stay there and wait because we got some problems with the car *coughnogasolinecough* and didn't want to wait outside in the cold. We got home safe and sound and, all in all, I really enjoyed this year's Kitacon surprisingly much. The video game room definitely did a lot in terms of giving me something to do. ^^ Sure that the con has free entrance and probably not a big budget or anything but considering how small it is it's a good one, I'd definitely keep on attending Kitacon.

I'm probably forgetting to tell a lot of stuff but I feel like this post is already getting a bit long so yeah, thanks for reading and yada yada.
Shiro Samurai out.

Kitacon 2016 cosplay plans

Hello guys!

My next convention will be Kitacon in Kemi, Finland, held on 29th October in Sauvotalo. I see no reason not to go there seeing that I live close and Kitacon has always had free entrance, woop! Free local cons are always appreciated for a poor student like me, lol. I will go there with Sacchan and some other friends and, as per usual, I have little to no expectations of the con itself – Kitacon rarely has any kind of big things happening and I always spend a huge majority of my time just derping around with friends and chilling at some random corner. Not like it's a bad thing though because it's really relaxing with a small-scale con every once in a while. ^^

At first I wasn't sure if I could be bothered to cosplay, since Kitacon has always been one of those small "hang with friends" type of conventions, but after some thinking I decided to bring a costume – especially when Firith asked if I could do a pair cosplay with him. Firith was considering to bring Ayame Sohma from Furuba and asked if I could join in so that he wouldn't have to be lonely Ayame again; he even said that going solo in said cosplay had started to taste like wood. I can wholly understand, solo cosplaying is rarely as fun as group cosplaying when you get the chance. So of course, as the good friend I am, I decided to spare my pal from another wooden experience.

Cosplay plans in 3.... 2.... 1...

Series: Fruits Basket

Character: Hatori Sohma

So I decided on going with Hatori, mainly because he fits with Ayame, is easy to wear and I was originally supposed to debut him earlier this year anyway but then shit happened and yeah, it's been bugging me since then. ^^" I needed a costume that I can easily change out of because –as how things seem right now– after the con I'll be heading for a Halloween party so yeah, nothing too complicated that takes hours to take off. Hatori is a lovely character anyway, one of my favorites from Fruits Basket. I'm glad I get a second chance to debut him together with Firith as Ayame ~

That's all for this quickie. Hatori makeup test coming soon so stay on the line!

Bye bye!

Convention plans 2016!

Yo peeps!

I thought I could do a list of what anime conventions I have planned to go to this year. I will order the cons by an estimated date when they will happen (not in chronological order since all dates aren't even out yet). ^_^ I've been thinking about doing this kind of list as a reference to both myself and all my friends who want to know where they might have a good chance of meeting me!

 Let's go!

~ CONVENTION PLANS 2016! ~

SWE • Närcon Vinter 2016

FIN • Cosvision 2016

FIN • Kummacon 2016

SWE • Skecon 2016

SWE • Närcon 2016

SWE • Nerdcon 2016

FIN • Matsucon 2016

FIN • Tracon 2016

FIN • Kitacon 2016

And here's the "how likely I am to attend each con" list.

Närcon Vinter > SET

Cosvision > LIKELY

Kummacon > VERY LIKELY

Skecon > SET

Närcon > VERY LIKELY

Nerdcon > SET

Matsucon > VERY LIKELY

Tracon > CONSIDERING

Kitacon > SET

The scale goes like this: set > very likely > likely > considering

Please note that these can still change and that I might have missed to list a con or two; if I get sick or something I obviously won't be able to go to a con, even if it was marked "set" etc. ^^" This list is just an estimation and I reserve the right for any changes, adjustments etc. 

Cons that are not listed I have no interest in attending, or the interest is so small that I just didn't bother to list them. Oh, and Kemin mangapäivä (Kemi's manga day) is not listed because I have no clue when it is and well, you can't really consider it a convention anyway.

Thanks for checking this out and I hope to see you peeps around!

Ciao mjau!

Kitacon 2015 – When "sosiaalikerho" was born!

Hello doods ~

I attended Kitacon in Kemi, Finland, yesterday on 14th November. Because Kemi is in the north Kitacon's mascot has always been some kind of human with reindeer traits –aka horns– and this year, I must say, the mascot was especially nice! (yes, it changes every year)

Kitacon's schedule leaflet feat. this year's mascot.

So yeah, I attended Kitacon this year with Jäätynyt Enkeli, Sacchan and a good ol' friend of mine called Kiivi. Sacchan was kind enough to offer a ride for all of us and so we didn't have to pay the bus. Thanks a ton! ~ ;u;
I also need to mention that even though I had plans on cosplaying Japan from Hetalia that just didn't happen, sorry. ^^" The main reason is that I was simply just way too fucking tired on the morning, lol. I've seriously had a lot of problems sleeping lately and because of that I'm tired as shit during the days. It's really annoying because I just can't fall asleep, mumble mumble. ._. Another legit reason is that the weather has been pure crap the last weeks (where's the sun??) and the Kitacon day was no different – on the morning it was super wet outside and it was blowing so hard that I was worried that if I had cosplayed Japan I would have sailed away on my haori or something, lol. Or worse – the wind might have blown my contact lenses out of my eyes! Yeah, that can happen.
So yeah, I decided it was a better idea to leave the cosplaying for another event and strut to Kitacon in my casual gear. Haters gonna hate, eiku. Or well, I wasn't ultra casual – I still had my Monster Hunter Tigrex plush hat, a wig, and a face mask, combined with a geeky t-shirt.

Kitacon advertisement upgrade – fabric banner!

I woke up early in the morning to take my medicine and then I went back to bed. I ended up sleeping a little bit too long (hello, tiredness) and wasn't really out of the bed until 10 Finnish time, which is, honestly, quite late considering that Kitacon opened its doors at 11 – if I'm not mistaken. Oh well, I dressed up and called Jäätynyt Enkeli to ask if they (Sacchan and Kiivi were at his place) were ready to leave. I grabbed my camera bag and headed out into the moist hell outside. Sacchan drove us to Kemi and we listened to some hilarious songs in her car. I'M GONNA SMOKE SOME WEED, ONLY GOT 20 DOLLAS IN MY POCKET ~ ♪

Khrrm. Yeah... hrrhhrr.
Kitacon was held in Sauvotalo in centrum, as per usual. As soon as we got there I got the impression that it felt more crammed than on earlier years...? Then again, they had less space in use on the first floor than on previous years so yeah, that might have been a reason why.

Kitacon's entrance. This was the sight we were met with when
we entered the building.

We first went to check all the selling tables in the "Merchandise Hall", which was on the first floor mainly. It struck me that there were more sellers than previously and some new ones I had never seen at Kitacon before too! That was a really nice and appreciated surprise because, if I'm honest, Kitacon pretty much always has some sellers that are there every year and they always sell the exact same things so, err, it gets boring/uninteresting really fast. No offence but yeah, I'm not gonna spend my hard-earned money on something that I've seen a hundred times before and –to top it all off– is quite obviously bootleg merchandise. Don't get me wrong though, some of the recurring sellers are really awesome (like Fantasiapelit) but yeah, there's that one seller that irks me greatly because of the counterfeit goods. ._.

The Merchandise Hall on the first floor.

There were a lot of people; I sometimes had problems moving around.

Kitacon doesn't offer a lot in terms of activities but there was a kind of crafts room (where you could draw freely or make "kimono ladies" out of patterned paper) along with some scheduled activities like the cosplay date and a quiz game for those with smartphones. There was also the obligatory photo studio that you could use whenever during the con day. I think there was also some kind of AMV-dance too...

Some people drawing in the crafts room, aka "piirustuspiste / työpaja".

The other table in the room, where you could make kimono girls
out of paper.

I mainly went to Kitacon to meet some friends so yeah, I actually don't have much to tell about the con itself. Kitacon is Kitacon – it's a small northern con where people seem to mainly go to hang with friends. Quite few seem to bother cosplaying so I didn't really regret going without a costume on lol. But yeah, I bumped into the ever-so-awesome Karri and we shared some hugs and greetings.
I also found Ronya (or well, she found me) quite early on and I was so excited because we had been talking prior to the con a lot online and hadn't met yet in real life; we had planned to play Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate together as soon as we got bored so yeah, I was stoked to get to play with her! o/ Jäätynyt Enkeli also joined in on the hunting because why the heck not? It's not like we didn't get bored after we had seen everything Kitacon had to offer.
I personally wasn't interested in any of the panels etc, except maybe for that panel about the Russian con called Polarcon – yeah, there was a panel about "the meeting of the northern conventions!" and some Russian guys were invited to talk about their con and the con culture in Russia. I regret a bit for not attending that panel but oh well, I forgot about it and realized way too late what time it was. :'(

Some random merchandise photos coming up!

Some fleece hats with huge cute buttons on etc.

Wannabe's store. I can't recall having seen them at Kitacon before, yay fresh blood!

What seems to be Umbreon and Gengar hoodies. Oh, and Toothless fleece hats.

Cupcake Cult t-shirts and others...?

A small part of Fantasiapelit's manga selection.

... and of course no con is complete without Pocky!

On the second floor were the Maid Cafe, some (seemingly) second-hand manga sellers and the Artist's Alley. I need to say that I found the Artist's Alley quite late because it was kinda hidden. It was located in the main hall's (where the stage was) entrance. Sorry for the clumsy explanation but I mean that if you looked into the main hall –without actually entering– you might miss the Artist's Alley tables because they were placed next to the wall and were thus hidden by the wall quite effectively, if you didn't actually walk into the hall room, that is. If you just peeked in (without standing right in front of the door) you'd just see the chairs, the stage and that's about it. That's what happened to me because I didn't go near the entrance door to the main hall until many hours had passed since opening. I'm not saying that it was a bad positioning of the Artist's Alley because it wasn't – it was roomy and well-lit and all but I don't really get it why Kitacon doesn't put the Artist's Alley in the first floor? I'm just thinking that it might be better for the artists' sales if they were on the first floor too, together with all the other merchandise sellers... *shrugs* But I don't know really, it's just a thought I've had.

The sight you were met with once going up the stairs to the second floor.

At some point I got really hungry while we were on the second floor. I asked Sacchan, Kiivi, Ronya and the others (this was before Karri had showed up) if they were hungry too and it turned out that Ronya and her company had planned to go eat at Subway soon and omg, that was what my group had planned to do too! So yeah, we totally bonded our groups into one big group and everyone went to Subway. I treated Ronya to a 15 cm sub because I had a sale coupon and wouldn't manage to eat a full-sized sub in one go myself. I also wanted to at least give her something in return because she gave me some Sengoku Basara and Rurouni Kenshin rubber strap keychains for free. ;u; She seemingly doesn't really care about those series herself but knew that I'm a huge nut for samurai stuff, haha. She's so kind ~

The Maid Cafe. (and omg, there's actually a butler!)

Some yummy-looking bakeries from said cafe.

Once me, Jäätynyt Enkeli and Ronya had seen it all we moved over to a more quiet corner in the crafts room and sat there and played Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate for the rest of the con – MonHun for life! ♥ 
I need to say though that Karri would come over every now and then and talk with us but yeah, he ended up naming our gaming trio the "sosiaalikerho" (lit. social club) because we were/looked so... social. That's what online gaming with friends does to you – you can't pause without getting rekt by a random monster!! xD Oh and yeah, the whole "sosiaalikerho" thing kinda turned into a running joke and it was hilarious, hands down. And it got even better when Karri suddenly went "fuck this shit :D" and power-hugged us while we were in a heated monster battle. I'm surprised no one carted lol.
I do feel bad though for not spending as much time with Karri as I would have wanted but yeah, I had promised Ronya to play with her and it was just way too much fun. I'm so sorry Karri, next time I promise I'm gonna hang more with you too! ;_;

A part of one of the Artist's Alley tables – my favorite one actually!
The Ōkami pins! *u*

Kitacon closed it's doors at 20:30 but our group left some hours earlier because our friends had already left (Karri, Ronya) and yeah, there just wasn't anything to do anymore and, besides, we still had some other business to do in town. It felt like time went by fast but at least I got to see some familiar faces and meet some new ones too!

All in all Kitacon was a very fun experience and I'll of course keep attending it because hey, I live close and it has free entrance, woop! Gotta support the local conventions! :) I also like how Kitacon has a relaxed atmosphere and how it has that "little con charm" to it, haha. I don't feel stressed or get anxiety attacks when I'm there, compared to some of the bigger events.

This is my Kitacon purchases – a Monster Hunter art book from Fantasiapelit
and the super cute Ōkami pin from Artist's Alley.

The art book was expensive (48 €) but I couldn't help myself; I needed it because MonHun is the best shit ever, okay? So much concept arts and cool illustrations in it, hnnngh ~

That about wraps it up I guess. Thanks for reading and yeah, this was the last convention of the year!

Shiro Samurai out.

Kitacon 2015 plans – I'm gonna be so Japanese that I'm Japan

Hello guys!


It's finally time again for me to attend a convention! Last time I was at a con was back in August, can you believe it?? Well, I can – it's called the autumn-winter syndrome, aka the major lack of anime/cosplay events up here in the land(s) of the.... reindeers. lol


Ehrrm. Yeah.
But seriously, Kitacon's seventh return is coming up next – more exactly on 14th November. o/ Actually, at the beginning of this year there was a lot of uncertainty regarding if Kitacon would even make it this year; there had been some kind of money/funding issues and, well, when early spring rolled in and there hadn't been a word about Kitacon on their social media pages etc I wanted to contact them and ask what was going on. I don't remember the exact reply I got but it was basically them heavily implying that if they didn't get the cash to make the con happen (it's a free entrance event for all visitors) it would either be postponed until the later half of the year or there would, likely, be no Kitacon 2015 at all. But luckily, somehow, they got the money problems solved and –BOOM!– we get a Kitacon after all, even though it got reduced to a one-day event instead of the usual two days.
I'm happy that Kitacon is back after all these uncertainties and rumors going around that it wouldn't happen this year. Sure that it's a small con and all but it has its charm; it's cozy and a great way to go and be a colorful geek for a day and hang with friends. C:


But yeah, I'm obviously heading for Kemi, Finland, to take part of Kitacon. Just as always. Gotta support the local cons!
Regarding my cosplay plans.. or well, plan, I haven't written anything in stone just yet. Fairly recently me and Jäätynyt Enkeli watched all seasons of Hetalia, save for the newest one. While he had already seen them I hadn't.
See where this is going? ... Yeah.
So, while I didn't really get into it as much as he did it was still a mostly enjoyable way to kill off some time. I can't call myself a part of the fandom but I guess I'd be something like a, err, casual fan? I did like some of the episodes a lot better than others and well, I did get my fair share of laughs and facepalms lol. The thing is that because I didn't have any clue what to cosplay to Kitacon I started wondering if I could easily throw together a cosplay from Hetalia – partly because there's a lot of room for canon casual outfits and inventing your own designs and also because... I want something new but still simple.

Who can see it coming?

Character: Japan (Kiku Honda)
Series: Hetalia

Yeah, I know. Of course – the obligatory kimono guy is the one I can pull off the easiest, who, in this case, is Japan himself. DUN DUN DUUUUN. He was my favorite in the show anyway, so why the heck not? :') I should have a black wig somewhere that should work just fine for him, huehuehue... ~

In case anyone noticed then yes, this is not the usual color version of the main kimono outfit he's most commonly wearing – the one with the blue-gray kimono and brown haori. I randomly saw this image of him and thought that the colors were nicer (less dull lol) and, yeah, I can totally closet cosplay this, thanks to my kimono collector/wearer hobby. xD
If I'm not mistaken it's official art from/for the fourth season, The Beautiful World. I can't remember this outfit actually being in the anime; I've only seen it on this one and only artwork so far so... yeah.



But yeah, I might be doing some quick costest before the con, just to check so that what I have in mind to use for him actually is passable (in terms of color) and, well, that the wig works for him too. :s I also reserve the right for any changes, which basically means that if it's raining of super wet outside on Kitacon day then I'm likely to not cosplay at all because duh, I don't want to risk ruining my vintage kimono...

That about wraps it all up nicely, see ya there!

Kitacon 2014 – What do you mean I was supposed to be serious and creepy?

Hi there!

So not so long ago, on the weekend of 1-2 March, Kitacon was held in Kemi. Of course me and my company would drag our asses there because c'mon, it's the closest con to where we live and free entrance!
About Kitacon: this year it was a 2-day con. Actually, the later Kitacon events have for some reason, as far as my crappy memory goes, been only one day but this year they went back to having it last both Saturday and Sunday. I say sweet!

Kitacon poster.

So, back to the beginning. Friday evening me, Jäätynyt Enkeli and Hasakitsuki went over to mom's place to sleep there over the Kitacon weekend because, well, it's closer to Kemi + free ride to the con and back, wopee!

On Saturday morning I woke up, went to shower, had breakfast and started changing into my Sannan cosplay. Too bad for me it took forever to get the goddamn eye makeup to look decent (I had to redo parts of it a lot) and so everyone had to wait for me while I was battling in the bathroom a very serious fight – because cosplay is not so serious business.
When everyone finally was ready mom drove us to Kemi and there we stepped into a building we had never been in before. See, Kitacon has all these previous years been held in another building. I must say that Sauvotalo is pretty cool.

It didn't take long before we found Sairu-chan dressed as Sieni Shiemi!
(random mirror picture and yeah, I have beautiful camera face censor)

We also ran into the epic werewolf guy from Oulun animeseminaari, also known as Karri. He is just too awesome for words and we spent quite a lot of the con hanging with him!

Karri feat. borrowed pink hat

Except for striking chats with familiar faces, photoshooting Sairu-chan's cosplay, checking out the building as well as the Dealer's Hall and Artist's Alley I didn't do anything else on Saturday. There were some interesting panels on both Saturday and Sunday but I either missed or saw the time it was held too late. :( Also I must say that the air inside was pretty bad; I couldn't stay inside the con for very long before getting a major toast effect and needing to go outside to cool down.

Kitacon is mostly a hang-with-friends con for me; it just feels very relaxed, slow-going and chill compared to the bigger and more ambitious cons with a lot of panels and people crowding everywhere.

Random con picture feat. Dealer's Hall &Artist's Alley.

At some point we got bored so we went up to the second floor, occupied an empty table and played some Monster Hunter. It's always a good idea to have a handheld gaming console or something else with you in case you need entertainment!

Gaming time, gaming time ~

We did look for a location to have a sort of "creepy!Sannan feat. ochimizu" photoshoot at some point but it quickly fell through when it became obvious that we were in the middle of the city and Hakuouki and modern buildings just don't work well together... at all. Also, the weather was very dull and gray and I wasn't eager to walk in waraji on more or less stone-y and slippery roads to go see if there would have been some less modern areas nearby.

One thing I did though was buying a Tracon ticket! Yeah, you could buy them in advance at the photo studio for a cheaper special price, namely 15 €. 

Tracon ticket bought! (and Okita plushie photobombing wanting to be on the pic)

Not so much more to say about Saturday because we barely did shit. We did go eat at a Chinese restaurang when we got hungry during mid-day; otherwise we stayed at the con until they closed the first floor and that's when we went back to mom's place to eat salmon soup and sleep.

On Sunday when I woke up early I felt so laggy, lazy and blööörgh that I highly considered not cosplaying at all and just going casual to the con. I probably experienced all possible stages of "can't be bothered" and whatnot but after having my breakfast cereals something magical happened – I felt like I maybe could be bothered to cosplay after all.
So yeah, I put on my Gin cosplay and soon enough our Bleach cosplay trio arrived at Kitacon. At the con we just walked around until Sairu-chan showed up, aka Rangiku Matsumoto and our final cosplay group member. With everyone together we went outside to have a photoshoot... and I can only sum it up by saying "ei siitä tullut helvettiäkään". :-DD

And, if you wonder, the quality was something of this caliber:

I don't even.

Gin demonstrating how to eat cereals!

Everything was hilarious. Even stupid things.

HURR. Gin approves photographing Rangiku.

Yeah, herpsis derpsis everywhere and beyond. My cereals must have been drugged because I couldn't be serious to save my life. The so-called photoshoot was nothing else but glorious photobombs that I failed to eternalize (provided by Jäätynyt Enkeli, of course), laughter, so-bad-it's-good faces and horribly frozen fingers.
Oh well, some hours later it was time for FFFight, this time an improvised one – the pre-planned one was on Saturday if my memory serves me right. I admit the main reason I went to watch it was because Karri would participate and the other reason because there wasn't much else to do.
About FFFight I can say that sometimes it was hilarious and sometimes pretty meh. The final fight between the Dubinators –holders of FFFight– and The Challengers –including Karri– though was something so awesome. I kind of hope it was recorded because it was really funny and I'd like to see it again! "Ylipaino on ylivoimaaaaa!"

such quality. much violent. wow. (FFFight)

I don't remember when exactly it was but at some point in the Dealer's Hall/Artist's Alley someone started a "letkajenkka" and soon there was a long line of people following the leader who was blasting at least the What is Love song from a cellphone and walking around. xD It was beautiful.

Part of the "letkajenkka" line.

I don't have so much more to say about the con itself – it was nice and relaxed just like previous Kitacons. I did hear though that the cosplay competition was pretty bad (I didn't watch it this year) or well, more like that the judges were inexperienced and that some competitors got more attention than others and that it basically was very unprofessional. I hope for the contestants that this will be fixed in the future because hey, even Kitacon's cosplay competitions have had the quality of the costumes rising over the past years and so the judges need to level up to the next level as well and have some actually knowledgeable people judging, so that it's fair to everyone.
Oh, and speaking of other cosplayers here's a little shitty photo video I quickly put together with a few cosplay pics and randoms:

I don't have more to say. Bye bye and thanks for reading ~
Le Samurai is out.

Kitacon 6 cosplay plans – Mysterious guys with disturbing smiles

Hello!

My next con will be Kitacon in Kemi, Finland, held 1-2 March. This of course means that Kitacon will kick off my con year 2014 and I dare say it's about time! I've had quite the con withdrawal syndrome since Chibicon in November and I'm happy to finally see an end to it. Finallyyyyyyyyyy.

So let's get back to the purpose of this post, namely revealing my cosplay plans because hey, there's only one week left until the con! So here goes in 3, 2, 1...

Saturday

Series: Hakuouki Shinsengumi Kitan

Character: Keisuke Sannan

Yep, I'm going to cosplay RILLI Sannan. I do like him (I don't understand the haters, c'mon he's pretty awesome in his own way) and ever since I did that one quick test with the green kimono and glasses –that I helped Jäätynyt Enkeli order– I've wanted to know what it would look like if I cosplayed Sannan properly; soon enough I will know! I must admit I'm very excited for this one and hey, Sannan-san needs more cosplay love! <3 I will borrow some cosplay parts from Jäätynyt Enkeli for this – namely the wig, glasses, green kimono, blue "vest", swords and the black sash.
Oh, also I'll likely end up doing a cosplay preview before Kitacon so prepare for that!

Sunday

Series: Bleach

Character: Gin Ichimaru

Wow, I've only cosplayed Gin twice and the last time was at Uppcon 2012 – it feels like forever ago. Damn I miss Uppcon. ;_; For quite a while I've wanted to wipe the dust off him and give him another appearance and well, now is the time! It turned out that me, Jäätynyt Enkeli, Sairu-chan and Hasakitsuki will have a Bleach group as well so that's probably gonna be fun!

That's it guys, see you there!

Kitacon 4 summary

 Sup!

Ah, Kitacon in Kemi is now over. It's the world's most northern con (what I've heard) and only maybe a 25 km drive from my home.. heh, the only con in Finland that can be considered close to me. Normally I have to travel to the other end of the country for cons...

Oh well, my friend Jäärä visited me during the weekend so we could go to the con together. She cosplayed Retsu Unohana in her Turn Back the Pendulum version to match my Jushiro Ukitake cosplay, both characters from Bleach. We both had shikai versions too, meaning I had my twin swords and Unohana had her Minazuki plush... it had a zipper in the mouth so we could carry our money and camera and stuff in it. Very handy. But Minazuki's face kept derping. xD
The con was small-ish but comfy and the atmosphere was right. We just walked around the con and had fun and all that jazz. At one time one of the cosplay competition judges saw us and went "Hey guys, you two should seriously consider entering the cosplay competition!" (or something like that) and first we were unsure but then we signed up anyway. They had actually just closed the registration but they made an exception for us. We competed as a duo by the way, if it was not clear. I was so nervous and me and Unohana were the last ones (number 22) to go up to scene. I'm not really the one to stand on a scene normally and I was so nervous back-stage even though I've competed at two small events before too but I somehow relaxed as soon as we entered the stage together and the audience cheered loudly. We actually got 2nd place together, it felt awesome. Yay we got cosplay medals~

I won't tell so much more about the con but if anyone is interested to read more about the weekend there's some more information in my journal at deviantArt. Now I'm waiting for the studio photos taken of us. I hope I'm not doing stupid faces...

Oh, and we got into the Pohjolan Sanomat newspaper... so there's a big photo of us two in costume. Oh gawd. x)

That's it. See ya!

Kitacon drawing closer

Yay free day from school today, and mom worked until very late and stepdad had evening shift... house for myself most of the day... and that can only mean one thing.. cosplaaaaay~
Heck, I needed to test ponytail!Ukitake (aka Turn Back the Pendulum version) again because that's my Kitacon cosplay and err, maybe it's just me but I find I look totally durp with hair tied back. Oh well, I've considered cosplaying all canon variations of Ukitake so yeah, should do that version at least once too, no matter how silly I look... or not. People say it looks alright though so maybe I'm just being a self-critic again... *shrugs*

Preview photo!

See ya at the con!