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.

Lens review: Beaucon Jewels Brown

Hello hello ~

I'm gonna throw in a circle lens review here before Kitacon bombs in! ^o^ Truth is that I had originally planned to use these lenses for when I cosplay Japan from Hetalia at said con but, err, I think I'll have to use another pair. ._. Read on and you'll know why!

Notice the authenticity stickers! Beaucon has started doing that too!

As far as I've seen Beaucon lenses can only be found at HoneyColor's site so yeah, that's where I bought mine, in case anyone is curious. ^^ So yeah, these have a pretty much identical pattern to all those very popular EOS Sugar Candy and Vassen Sakura Candy lenses. Those lenses go under some different names but yeah, they're often called something with 'Candy' in the name and there's several different manufacturers making the same design – you probably know which ones I mean.
But yeah, the reason I'm mentioning this is because even though the Beaucon Jewels have the same design as those aforementioned there is one big difference – and that's the size. You see, if you ever wished those Candy lenses came with a smaller diameter then the Beaucon Jewels series are the answer to your prayers! o/

Taken outdoors in sunlight.

Taken indoors, bathroom light.

Base curve: 8.6 mm
Diameter: 14.0 mm

Water content: 45%

Life span: 1 year (I recommend 6 months)

As you can see on the photos above, the similarity to those super well-known 'Candy' lenses is striking. The Beaucon Jewels series are a great choice if you like this kind of design but would rather have lenses with a smaller enlargement effect ~

So yeah, I took the lenses out of their bottles and put them to soak the night before. I had problems inserting them because they would constantly go out of my eye (with the eyelid movement when I blink) before setting properly.
As soon as I got the first lens in (my right eye) it felt really uncomfortable and kept stinging. I took the lens out, cleaned it and put it back in again. I constantly still felt that there was something on my eye at all times (in an annoying way) and if I moved my gaze it would do this kind of scratchy feeling. My eye watered but I told myself to keep it on at least until I get all photos taken.
For some reason the left lens felt normal and I think I know why – the right lens was from a production batch that was to expire next month, if I didn't open them. Yes, that's December 2015!! D: So yeah, I'm pretty sure this is why the right lens kept feeling bad.
Note to self: open lenses in good time before they expire, to avoid nasty surprises. Then again, this particular pair was ordered for maximum 2 months ago so I'm not to blame, really...

One lens in.

Notice how they aren't enlarging my eyes much; I think this is a nice enlargement as it's still discreet enough to not look too dolly/unnatural but it makes your eyes stand out.
These lenses have a very simple but appealing design – a single color and a thick dark limbal ring. I think that the limbal ring is not a true black but more or a really dark black-brown. It doesn't jump at you as much as some of the circle lenses with bolder limbal rings. 

Lens photos ahead!
All photos are taken by me during a November morning with a cloudy sky. There was a lot of fog (and frost on the ground) so yeah, the quality isn't as good as it could be, because of a lack of sunlight. Oh, and there's no color filters or such on the close-up photos and that's so that the colors would be as true to real life as possible.

Indoors in my apartment, facing the window.

Apartment room light, lamps on.

Bathroom light.

Flash photo.

White light in the corridor.

Yellow light in the corridor.

Yellow light in the staircase.

Storage room indoors, natural light coming from the window.

Outdoors facing the direction of the light.

Outdoors with my back against the light. (facing wall)

Outdoors, facing the corner of the building.

I apologize for my eyeliner being derpy – my previous one that I had used for years finally called it quits and R.I.P:ed on me. While the new one has a more precise applicator than my previous eyeliner it also seems like it peels off easier.

The color of the lenses is a light brown – it makes me think of toffee or something, yum! These lenses mix nicely with my real eye color which, by the way, is a light blue-gray with a greenish tint and a golden ring next to the pupil. I have chameleon eyes that adjust to their surroundings lol.
The lenses do show up as brown in all lights that I tried, so I'd say that the color opacity is alright. Oh, and in terms of naturalness they aren't too shabby, haha. But yeah, the thick limbal ring still make these look quite obviously like colored contact lenses...

Distance photos!

I would really like these lenses a lot, if it wasn't for the highly disappointing comfort. :'( It's such a letdown. For some reason it seems like everyone, except me, finds these lenses to be comfortable?
I want to share a few more final words about the comfort: the right lens I took off as soon as I was done with the photos because I just couldn't stand it. The left one (which wouldn't have expired until 2017, had I left it unopened) was fine for like 1,5 hours and then suddenly it felt like it was so dry that it glued itself to my eye. D: I don't know why it suddenly felt so unbearably dry when it had been all nice and comfy during the photo taking. It was weird. :S Oh, and I got an "eye headache" that lasted for hours after having taken off the lenses...
So yeah, even if a part of me wants to grade a higher number for comfort (because I still want to love these lenses) I just can't justify it because I couldn't wear even the better lens for 2 hours. :/ I hope that my other Beaucon pairs will be more comfy than these – maybe this was just an unlucky pair combined with one lens expiring way too soon?
I guess I could stand wearing these for a photoshoot, but a whole convention day is out of the question...

Oh well, whatever the case I'd still want to say that these lenses are a good choice for cosplaying especially "adult-looking" male characters and for more serious/older female chars too – mainly because of the small size. These lenses do give the "anime eye" look, at least according to me. :)

Want to check out more reviews of the Beaucon Jewels series? :3

I have reviewed other colors too: Violet, Pink Brown, Green

Short summary:

Color: 7/10
Nice and pleasant light brown. The color is reminiscent of toffee.
Design: 8/10
Simple design but it's very likable. It works great for cosplaying male anime and video game characters.
Opacity: 7/10
Opacity is good because the lenses change my eye color notably. 
Enlargement: 3/10
It's small but it's there.
Comfort: 2/10
The right lens is almost unwearable (possibly because it would have expired next month had I not opened it) although the left one is comfy but dries reaaaaally fast. I can't wear these for more than 2 hours.
Naturalness: 3/10
The thick dark limbal ring easily gives them away as circle lenses, even though the size and color are okay.

Shiro Samurai says goodbye! Thanks for reading!

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!

[Sponsored] Lens review: EOS Bubble Blue

Hullo hullo ~

It's time for yet another lens review! This time immah be talking about an ultra bright blue pair called EOS Bubble Blue. ヽ(・ω・)ﾉ
Psst, these lenses can also be identified by their code number thingy, which is WM-101 for the EOS Bubble series.

I've been wanting to try these lenses for pretty long and then, one day, my lovely sponsor LensVillage gave me an opportunity to try 'em... and of course I was game on! o/

This review is all 100% my honest opinion, even though this pair of lenses was sponsored. I really value being honest to all my readers.

You can use my discount code "SAMURAI15" to get 15% OFF on your purchase from LensVillage!

Base curve: 8.8 mm
Diameter: 14.8 mm

Water content: 38%

Life span: 1 year (I recommend 6 months)

Note: My lenses came in TheDollyEye's vials, but the manufacturer is still EOS. TheDollyEye is just a rebranding label. Some big circle lens producers like EOS, Vassen etc sometimes do this. It doesn't mean that you received the wrong lenses or fakes.

I had seen reviews of these lenses before I got them myself and yeah, I was aware that they'd be super vivid and that's totally why I wanted them!

So yeah, as per usual I put the lenses to soak for 8+ hours before wearing them and, heck, need I say that I was eager to try 'em on??

One lens in.
My real eye color is blue-gray (mostly blue) with a slight greenish tint.

I popped the lenses into my eyes no problem and once they were in I didn't even feel that I had contacts on! Eff yeah, I love comfy lenses!

They stayed super comfortable for the total 5 hours that I wore them, with only some minor feeling of dryness which occurred around the 1,5 hour mark.

Lens photos incoming!
All photos taken by me during an October afternoon with a semi-clear sky! There's no color filters or such on the close-up photos and that's so that the colors would be as true to real life as possible.

Facing window. (not sun side)

Flash photo indoors.

Bathroom light.

Indoors, natural light.

Indoors, natural light.

Indoors, lamps on.

Indoors, back against the window.

Super bright light. I'm standing very close to a window indoors.

These lenses definitely give me the vibes that they're meant for more "out there" type of looks. The blue color is bright enough to deserve the "IN YOUR FACE" stamp, lol. Personally I really dig the effect it gives; I'm a fan of vibrant lenses – lenses that gives your eyes the look of some fantasy character. ♡

The only downside these lenses have (if you can call it that) is that the pupil hole is so big, which means that the majority of your real eye color will show in the middle. The EOS Bubble series basically just adds a rim of super vibrant color to the edges of your eyes. While I do like the effect some others don't find it as flattering, especially on light eyes because it gives a more "clashing" effect than what the same lenses would look like on dark eyes. (dark eyes would just make it look more "natural" because the pupil and the iris are closer in color)

All close-up photos below are taken outdoors while I'm standing on a balcony on the third floor, with the sun being hidden by clouds.

Facing the sun.

Same as above. Sideway glance.

Back against the sun.

Facing the sun, but with my head tilted up towards the sky/roof.

Half-way turned towards the sun.

Facing the sun. Cloudy.

These lenses are supposed to have a big diameter (14,8 mm) but they just don't seem that big for me. Not like I mind because I like lenses both big and small. But I do think that the main factor for why these don't look as big as other lenses of the same diameter is because the EOS Bubble series completely lacks a dark limbal ring. This feature almost always gives the illusion of bigger and more beautiful eyes so yeah, lenses without it tend to not give the "big eyes illusion" as well.

Personally I do like the design of the Bubble Blue just as it is; it has charm in it's simplicity and I like how the simple design itself, combined with the super bright color, makes the lenses look unnatural but in a magical and appealing way. Sometimes less is more ~

Lastly I have a batch of distance photos!

B-B-BONUS PHOTO!

I had no idea that I could do this kind of
"crazy hat maker" face... o_o xD

Seriously, if you like your blue lenses super-duper blue then the EOS Bubble Blue just might be one of your best choices! ;) These are a good pick for cosplayers and anyone who isn't afraid of donning lenses that are sure to make you stand out!

Use my discount code "SAMURAI15" to get 15% OFF on your purchase from LensVillage!

Short summary:

Color: 10/10
Super bright and vivid cyan blue shade that really pops out! The color is awesome, period.

Design: 7/10

Very simple design with no dark limbal ring. The inner edges fade out towards the pupil, for a slight blending effect.

Opacity: 10/10

Disregarding the big pupil hole the blue color itself is as opaque as it gets.

Enlargement: 5/10

Even though an 14.8 mm diameter is considered bigger than average (at least for me) these don't look very enlarging. I think the lack of a limbal ring is a big factor for why these don't pull off the "big eye illusion" as well as lenses that have the dark rim do.

Comfort: 8/10

Surprisingly comfortable. As soon as I popped them in I didn't feel them. Before the 2-hour mark I felt some slight dryness but that went away. I wore the lenses for 5 hours with no issues.

Naturalness: 0/10

Realistic... where? :D It's a rad lens for rad people! Forget these if you want something natural.

Thanks for reading! I hope you found this review helpful! ^_^

Thanks to my sponsor, LensVillage! ♡