Convention Report: Katsucon 2017

February 21, 2017

Convention Report: Katsucon 2017

There's something to be said about going to a convention that you've dreamed about going for several years. That kind of experience happened to me this last weekend. Katsucon is held over in the Gaylord Hotel/Convention center in National Harbor, Maryland. What's interesting is that there is an area devoted to the con itself in terms of vendors and panels. However the area is giant in the fact that many attendees (mainly cosplayers) don't buy a badge and lobby con it to an extreme. I pretty much fell into this category. When I entered the area of the fabled Gazebo, it was like reliving past photos that I've seen from past years on my laptop. "That's the wall where this cosplayer had that photo taken" or "This cosplay was debuted here x amount of years ago". Those kind of sentiments you know? My trip started on an overnight train trip Wednesday and getting in Thursday morning. I then met up with my cosplay sister MegaWatt Cosplay (who I'll be gushing about later in this report) who then had me crash at her place before I was able to check in.

I stayed with several cosplayers (who I found out I followed after the con because of course XD) that were friends with the ever so wonderful Danielle Beaulieu. I'll tell you what, Presidential suites are amazing XD. Friday and Saturday were the main days I attended, with Sunday being mainly my ride back home. It's odd to me that this con is where EVERYONE brought some of their best work. Hell, some of my roommates were working on cosplays the day we checked in. Talk about last minute Katsucrunch right? I met many new cosplayers for the first time, some of which I grew close to recently online after seeing that they followed both my cosplay work and this very blog <3. There were some I unfortunately didn't get a picture with but I was able to talk with briefly! So without further ado, why don't I jump in?

For myself, I cosplayed as Prompto in his casual skin from Final Fantasy XV though his wig didn't arrive in time (in fact, it showed up on Friday at my house XD) and Riku from Kingdom Hearts 3D without his Keyblade on account of travel difficulties. Though for Prompto I did carry around an Instax Polaroid camera which I though was fitting given that Photography is his main thing, aside from guns. Both cosplays were very comfortable to wear so I was able to get around the main area easy. Starting off with the lady on the left, Jessica Nigri brought out Blizzard cosplays for the weekend, with Sindragosa on Friday and Reinhardt on Saturday. As always, her and Ryan were sweet to hang out with as they did a short photoshoot together. Jess' Sindragosa was yet another collaboration between her and Zach Fischer, and yes I plan on showcasing it at a later date <3.

I wasn't able to see her as Reinhardt though from the pics I saw, it looked freaking amazing. I really wish I was able to see her though ;-;. Danielle Beaulieu brought a slew of cosplays from her BElf Paladin and Arcanine (both of which I saw and I totally pet the tail!), to Zero Suit Samus and Nightwing which I DIDN'T SEE AND I HAVE A SAD ABOUT! It was fun getting to talk with her for a little bit and I thanked her for everything she's done for me the last few months <3. One cosplayer I met for the first time was Azumii who was an incredible Ciri and Vulpix on the days I saw her. She had just about the cutest voice ever and hanging with her was such a treat!

Hearing her say some of the sweetest comments to me really made my weekend <3. Mink the Satyr partnered up with her for photoshoots by wearing her Ninetails gijinka I saw last year and Rachel from the Overwatch comic along with Azumii as Tracer. It was also a first meeting for me with Momokun Cosplay who wore Wicke and Mei and HOLY BUTTS SHE'S A CUTIE! Hugs and quick chats were a plenty since she was busy with photoshoots. Lisa Lou Who made a last minute call to be there and I'm sad I wasn't able to see her for longer periods of time. I did get pics with her as Tharja and OMG SO PERFECT! She also debuted Aranea on Friday and I was all heart-eyed when I saw it very briefly <3.

Byndo Gehk and Vanity Fox were lovely to talk with and see for pics. Both of them brought out Final Fantasy themed outfits with Byndo as Cindy and a Chocobo and Vanity as a Tonberry plus a gijinka concept of everyone's favorite Ronso Kimahri from FFX! Cosplayer Intraventus wore her Griffith and Shiva cosplays which were truly incredible to see in person. Her and Missyeru were cosplayers I unfortunately was unable to grab pics with, but nonetheless, they looked magical! Missyeru wore a Typholosion x Onion Knight mash up cosplay and oh man was it awesome.

Becka Noel made an appearance for her annual awesome group cosplays with various cosplayers such as Lyz Brickley, Jackie Crafts and Joanna Mari (WHO I FINALLY FREAKING MET AHHHH) all dressed as Care Bears....but in Medieval Knight armor :D. All of them were very sweet to talk with especially with Joanna and I freaking out over how we've spent years trying to meet up at past NYCC's. Another big group seen was the Sailor Scouts as designed by NoFlutter. My buddies Ms. Rae Cosplay and Jaycee Cosplay took part as Sailors Moon and Venus respectively. Selfies happened as they were moving around from shoot to shoot. I pretty much wanna be adopted by them <3. Oh and I also finally met Oki-Cospi and was blushing so hard over her Velvet from Odin's Sphere! Talking with her was a blast and I wish I was able to see her Iowa from that weird Battleship Girl anime. You know the one I'm talking about right? I also ran into SuperMaryFace who knew who I was from past Twitter interactions so that was pretty rad too!

I chatted a little bit with PixelPantz Cosplay who you might remember from my feature on her Ashes of Al'ar from BlizzCon. Hearing her exclaim how much she loved that post made me smile so hard. There may be an interview with her in the near future! Stella Chuu was rocking out in her Underwatch lingerie concept, Casca and the crab from Moana apparently XD. Ani-Mia (as Rey from Star Wars) and Kaybear Cosplay (who wore Akali one day) were wonderful to see and have chats with even if it was on Saturday. I also caught a glimpse of Yaya Han as Camilla and ohhhh man was it too spot on! Uncanny Megan also attended and I spent time with her as she was dressed up as Amy Rose! SHE'S A CUTIE GUYS :D.

There are some people I didn't mention until now because these 2 were driving forces for me going to Katsucon in the first place. Some of you guys know Karlibra from my past posts on her and following her social media. She's been one of my best friends for a long while now helping me through some personal situations on top of supporting my cosplays and this blog. This was her first East Coast convention and meeting her was just a dream. She even asked "Did you ever think you'd meet me?" No Karli, I sure as hell did not <3. Her cosplays were the MeMeMe girl alongside other cosplayers in the same outfit and rocking a Camilla which she slaved over for the last 2 weeks of Katsucrunch. Both of which looked absolutely amazing and I'm just so proud of Karli for what she's been able to accomplish the past few months since starting her Patreon.

In the beginning I also mentioned MegaWatt cosplay and how this was a home convention for her (being her second year going I think) and just wow you guys. Aside from showing me around her area on Thursday, she also looked out for me and took care of some necessities which allowed me to enjoy myself at the con with less stress and freak outs <3. I spent time with her and her local cosplay group at one of the bars for a happy hour and oh man was it amazing. Some of the nicest people attended and it was great making new friends. For Katsu, Megawatt wore a gorgeous Steampunk White Rabbit from Alice and Wonderland in addition to a commissioned Dr. Strange cosplay! Basically her and Karli were big in making me decide on going. I owe them both so much for being important people in my life and helping me through other things besides Katsucon.

Friday was rough on account of me getting homesick feels but by the time Saturday kicked in, I was in much better spirits. Vanity Fox even mentioned that Katsucon can be really overwhelming with people doing a million things at once. Seriously every like 10-20 steps I took, a photoshoot was going on, from the giant meet ups outside and near the fountain, to the gazebo area and lobby. Should the circumstances in which I was able to go happen again, I'd be game for attending again next year :). I had such an amazing time visiting my cosplay family at such an early point in the year. Usually I think most of these girls I wouldn't see till like PAX East or NYCC so this was special. You guys ready for a picture dump? Here you go!

Thank you so so much to everyone who saw me and said hi. Those who gave me hugs and cheered me up after the first day was bleh in the evening. Super shoutouts to Mia, Megawatt, Karli, Jessica and Azumii for being so dang sweet to me and letting me hang out with you all for the weekend. Thank you also to my wonderful roommates for being so nice and welcoming to me :). EVERYONE DID SUCH A MARVELOUS JOB YOU GOT ME FIRED UP TO DO WOLF NOW <3. I think it's only fair that I now give you guys links to EVERYONE lol.