Costumes! Costumes! Anime North! Oh wow!!

Before May 24th, 2013 I have never been anywhere close to a cartoon convention and I was amazed at the dedication of the fans of Anime. The keen attention to the details in the costumes was mind blowing.

Okay before I go on raving, I'll explain what an anime convention is all about.

An anime convention is an event where people gather to celebrate anime, manga and aspects of Japanese culture that they love. Organizers, who are huge anime fans themselves, provide a wide variety of entertainment geared to create the ultimate Anime experience for fans.

The one I visited was held over a three day period and was hosted at the Toronto Congress Center on Airport Road in the Greater Toronto area. The Congress Center is located in close proximity to Pearson International Airport, of course, the event has increased in size since it started in 1997 and has now included six other venues, in the area, to support it's growing list of attractions.

An estimated 28,000 fans enjoyed these attractions. Some of the features included were :-

1. Panel discussions and videos devoted to different anime shows and games.
2. A Manga library, where you can sit down and read any of the hundreds of manga volumes.
3. Video gaming arcade, you can play all weekend if you so desire.
4. There was Live Action Role Playing (LARP) games where participants can physically act out the characters they portray in costumes, no real weapons of course!
5. An AMV room where one watch anime movie videos all weekend long.
6. There were workshops on cooking, drawing, mock martial arts, etc.
7. A doll collectors meet.
8. Various themed cafes.
9. The Moonlight Ball, this is a formal costume ball.
10. There were special guests in attendance too! There were voice actors and actresses, artists and cosplay/costume designers, musicians and anime wrestlers.

These were just a few of the activities that were happening at the convention.

Did you see the details that went into the digivolved form of Pikachu costume above? I was elated by the attention paid to details! Pikachu is my all time favourite Pokémon.

Pikachu is a short, chubby rodent-like male Pokémon, his fur is yellow with two brown stripes on his back and a patch of brown fur on the base of his tail. Pikachu's ears are long with pointed black tips and his tail is the zig-zag shape of a lightning bolt. Two red spots on Pikachu's cheeks completes the cute factor.

Those two red spots are not just for cuteness, they are the location of Pikachu's electric sacs. Pikachu is an electric pokémon, he is able to manipulate electricity for attacks on it's opponents on or off the battlefield. Pikachu is a very friendly pokémon and very easy to love, he is usually seen with his best friend, buddy and trainer Ash Ketchum.

The cosplay depicted a super-sized version of Pikachu. It consists of a thunderbolt sword, as Pikachu in an electric Pokémon and those are jolts of thunder in a circle over the head. The glowy eyes are laser eyes. This is the designer's awesome idea!

The first time I experienced Taiko Drumming, was back in January. And, my oh my, it... was... awesome!

The Yamato - Drummers of Japan came to perform at the theatre in my city so I went to see what it was like. I'm always curious about other countries and the way they do things, so I saw it as a great opportunity to expand my knowledge and experience on one more. Needless to say, I was spellbounded and astounded from beginning to end!

So here is the breakdown of what I was rambling on about. The word "Taiko" in Japanese means "drum". To us, it is known as a style of Japanese drumming. Taiko drums are an ancient of type of drums.

Taiko first begin in ancient Japan as a form of communication to signal various activities in a village. And in modern times, Taiko drumming became an art form. Performers aim to form a connection between themselves and the drums through four principles -

1. Attitude.
2. Kata (form).
3. Musical technique.
4. Ki (energy).

This is a dynamic playing style that involves a lot of tightly choreographed movements which identifies with Japanese martial arts and a musical ensemble which includes a range of drum sizes, i.e form a snare drum to drums that are as large as a car.Taiko drumming is loud, hard and fast and tells stories rooted in ancient Japanese culture.

I have a video of the famous Yamato - Drummers of Japan, below. Hope you enjoy it.

Live Action Role Play can be enjoyed at Anime North. Experiencing LARP at Anime North is just the "tip of the iceberg", so to speak. This is an event all by itself, where fans can play the character depicted by their costumes.The object is to have fun exploring your creative side.

Using guidelines set by organizers of LARP, one can develop a character complete with lifestyle and social network and become that character for a whole weekend at a full-blown LARP event camp out.

If you're thinking, body damage, broken bones, etc., it doesn't happen. Foam and other soft materials are used to make weapons and any other sharp objects. Although the weapons are fierce looking they are not made to harm anyone. There is a time set for your LARP weekend to start, then you're transported into the dark ancient times, until the end time of LARP, then you get packed and go back to reality. Fun for anyone over 19 years of age.

My kids and their friends are serious about the world of anime, so it is not uncommon, and quite often inevitable, for the discussions to turn the antics of anime characters, and the dynamics of the shows, games and cartoon stories.

I do feel lost sometimes since it is difficult to keep up with the ever changing dynamics of the anime world.

I hope this hub will help you to understand what Anime is all about.