Anime Expo & LB Comic Con 2015: Sailor Venus Cosplay

Anime Expo & Long Beach Comic Con 2015: Sailor Venus Cosplay

Anime Expo and Long Beach Comic Con were so much fun this year! For both cons I cosplayed as Sailor Venus and it was one of my most well-received cosplays so far.


So many people complimented me on the detail and accuracy of my costume, it was almost overwhelming. Although the attention from Sailor Moon and anime fans was a lot of fun, what really made my day (and almost brought tears to my eyes!) were the little girls who came up to me, jumping up and down as though I were a Disney Princess.*

As for the cons themselves, they were each very different!

Anime Expo:

• Super crowded. It was almost impossible to walk at times! 
• Photographers had a more difficult time taking photos.
• It was frustrating to see vendor booths because of the crowds.
• Very anime / Japan lifestyle oriented, as one would expect.
• Very commercial, but not as commercial as San Diego Comic Con.

Long Beach Comic Con:

•  Not crowded, but still busy. 
• The booth aisles were spread out so it was always easy to walk through and see things.
• There was a special Cosplay Corner with some of my favorite cosplayers featuring their work, including Vampy Bit Me. 
• Not nearly as commercial as other major cons, with more emphasis on indie work.
• Small-scale, with diverse panels and discussions but not nearly as many as other cons.

Between the two, I liked Long Beach much better. It felt great to be able to take my time and see everything without feeling crowded or rushed. It was also nice to have photographers take photos without needing to shove people aside to do it. There was a nice, friendly vibe to Long Beach that I really enjoyed. Double thumbs up!
Cosplay Review:

I ordered my costume from MicCostumes.com and I strongly recommend them... though the quality of some of the accessories wasn't perfect, the outfit itself was surprisingly high quality, soft, very well made, and sturdy. For the price I was extremely happy. Using their bundling packages I ordered the entire outfit, including shoes, for under $60 and got free shipping, too!

Two issues that were no big deal, but worth mentioning:

By the end of the first day:

1) One of the seams of the gloves came undone between the thumb and index finger. Easy enough to stitch, and day two there was no repeat of this.

2) The gem on the tiara popped off when I was taking the tiara off. I thought of it as a blessing in disguise because it was so simple to fix with some rubber cement (I'm sure hot glue would work, too), but it came off so smoothly that I could easily get a cheap little red gem or crescent moon and have the tiara double for a Sailor Moon cosplay. :)

All in all, a wonderful cosplay!

*This cute story is a must-share:
Before the con we stopped for some pizza by-the-slice, and a little girl came up to me as though she were seeing a real, live superhero. She asked me all kinds of questions and I tried to stay in character (even though she hadn't heard of Sailor Venus). On the train another little girl couldn't stop smiling at me, and she finally asked me who I was and what my show was about. I think she thought I was really working for a show that she hadn't heard of, and she told me she wanted to be me for Halloween. It was so sweet I wanted to give her a great big hug. <3

Thanks for reading!

xo
Di