OzComicCon 2024 Convention Report!!!
2024 convention season has AT LONG LAST BEGUN!!! This year, my good friend Miku ( @remimibanana ) and I are planning on going to a grand total of four conventions, with our first being this month's OzComicCon right here in Adelaide!
We had planned on going to this many conventions ever since last year when we had the chance to go to our very first, and cosplay for the first time. This year is our training arc, where we're locking in and stepping up the quality of our cosplays! This meant better wig styling, better makeup, the advent of cosplay props, and much more!
But to zoom back in, let's focus on this convention, the people we got to meet, and the experiences we got to enjoy!
As part of our planning, we decided quite early on who we were going to cosplay. Since over the past year or so Honkai: Star Rail has been pushed onto center stage, and we're both super into it, it seemed only fitting that we decided to cosplay.......Diluc and Noelle from Genshin Impact!
Yeah this was our plan for a while actually... it was only a few months before the convention that we decided to change our plans. We were both MUCH more enthusiastic about actually cosplaying some Star Rail characters. And so we rather abruptly decided to do so in lieu of our Genshin compatriots. Noelle, Diluc.....it will be your turn one day. But that day is not today.
No, today's spotlight must shine on Welt Yang and Herta!
Miku had always wanted to do a Herta cosplay, and I a Welt Yang cosplay, so we locked them in, and got to planning! As I previously mentioned, it was a goal of both of ours to step up our cosplay game this year. We decided a pretty good place to start with this would be to more properly style our wigs, and produce much better makeup ensembles. We were also very interested in getting commissioned props relevant to our characters 3D printed to bring along with us for photos!
I'll skip over the waiting around we had to do in order to actually receive our cosplays. Long story short, we got them in time, yay! In the interim however, we decided to order a wig steamer, in order to heat treat our wigs, to more appropriately style them as opposed to what we had done previously, which was essentially...drowning them in hairspray lol.
We also had the idea of ordering plushies of Pom-Pom (a mascot character of sorts from Star Rail), where we could then go around and get people to sign them with some fabric markers! However unfortunately, despite us having actually placed the order, it was seemingly lost in transit, and the seller had to refund us. There was nothing we could do to get them in time for the convention, so we had to put a pin in that idea for another time, unfortunately.
Finally, regarding the 3D printed props! There is a business ran by a local engineer in our area who does accessible, affordable 3D printing commissions! I wanted to get Welt's cane printed as a prop, so I shot off an email asking about the viability of that happening, and they said it was more than doable, and at a pretty good price as well! After a few weeks of back and forth communication, I had myself potentially the coolest thing I now own.
On the other hand...Miku also wanted to get a 3D printed prop to go along with her cosplay, Herta's massive diamond hammer. The idea of her wielding this massive hammer around all day was simply too incredible a vision to not at least try to make it work. But unfortunately, after asking our 3D printer contact about it, they unfortunately told her that since it was so much bigger, not only would it take considerably longer to print, it would also be FAR more expensive. So we weren't able to get Miku a gigantic hammer, which was extremely sad. One day we will get you that hammer....one day.....
In terms of our wig styling, Miku was up first since she had her cosplay first and also had the steamer! She had gone ahead and found a BUNCH of online resources and video tutorials/walkthroughs to reference in order to effectively style our wigs! We both made use of them extensively. Not only that, when it was my turn and she gave me the steamer, Miku (being the absolute legend that she is) curated what I can only describe as the Rosetta Stone of wig styling tips, just for me! She made a whole list of 20+ tips based on her experience with styling using the steamer!! It highkey carried me through the whole ordeal, and I have to thank her (once again!!!) for making that for me, it was a really thoughtful gesture from her.
And finally, makeup! I (as a guy...I guess that's the reason I'm going with lol) have never really had makeup on. (...aside from the sole exception of one time in Year 6 in school when I was in a musical and the main performance we had to wear makeup) So you can imagine it was a little daunting for me in terms of things like knowing what makeup supplies and tools to buy, what colours and tones would work best for me, and how to even apply the damn stuff. Thankfully, a couple months back, I went back to my hometown to see family! And I mentioned this to my mother, who then decided to take me shopping to help me pick out the basics, and show me what to look for when I do need to buy stuff for myself too (she even bought me a bunch of stuff there and then because she's the best ever). And when we got home, we did a trial run of sorts where she put all the makeup on me, explaining the process so I could hopefully recreate it in a couple months' time. I would have absolutely ZERO confidence if it weren't for her help, so thank you mum!!!
I practiced a bunch, and to begin with I was really not liking how it was coming out. It just didn't look quite right. Eventually I pinned this down to the fact that a) obviously I hadn't had much practice, so there wasn't much elegance to my application lol, and b) the eyebrow pencil looked super weird once it was applied, since it was so much darker than my natural hair colour. But turns out this is just because I never tried on the cosplay wig alongside the makeup for the first few attempts! As SOON as I put on the wig, it looked perfect. I was so proud of myself for being able to apply things like foundation, contour, all pretty neatly! I think it added a lot to my whole ensemble in the end!
But with that, our cosplays were ready (well it wasn't that smooth, I am skipping over a handful of shipping details/last minute purchases but I've done enough preamble just trust me eventually we were ready lol), and before long it was time for the convention!!!
We had discussed ahead of time that Miku would be the one to get to the station first, seeing as for our first convention last year, I was the one who got there first. Perhaps to some it isn't that big of a deal, but to us the big reveal of seeing each other's cosplays for the first time is a moment to be cherished! So on the morning of the first day, I delayed my arrival to the station to allow her to get there first. And that's exactly what happened! Finally, after all our effort we were able to see each other in our brand new cosplays, and can I just say from my perspective it was just...amazing seeing her. I feel like looking back I must've looked so dumb, I don't think I was saying much because I was kind of a little lost for words she was so cool LOL
We did have to wait around for a little bit for the train, but before long we were off! There were unfortunately no cosplayers alongside us on the train, but it did make sense seeing as we were set to arrive about two hours after the convention opened. Most people would have long since arrived by now. Once we did make it to the interchange, we had about a 5 minute walk ahead of us. On the way, we actually walked past a car that was attempting to park along the side of the road. The back seat rolled their window unbeknownst to us, and we just heard a shouting voice from somewhere that was like "Love your cosplays!!!". It took a sec to realise they were speaking to us, to which we thanked them! That felt pretty cool, not even at the convention yet and we're getting compliments. That HAD to be a good sign!
Eventually, we made it to the convention!
We had already bought day passes far ahead of time, however we were planning on upgrading due to a one-week-notice schedule informing us of a Star Rail cosplay meetup on the Sunday! We had to go to that, there was simply no other choice. We found online that we could upgrade simply by going to the Help Desk on the day, so that was the first item on our agenda.
The checking-in process was...flawless. Just, SO perfect, on our part.
We walked over to the first staff member, showed them our QR codes, and got bands. I asked then where we could go to upgrade our tickets, and they seemed confused but said the best place to head would be the Help Desk, where they pointed towards just around the corner. We got our temporary day-pass wristbands and started to head through. Then I got stopped by another staff member, who just said to me "Has that been tagged yet??" and I was like "Huh?". I had absolutely no idea what they were talking about. They were like "Your cane–staff–rod–whatever it is thing, has it got a tag yet?". Then I realised they were talking about my cane prop. I kinda forgot that all props had to be tagged. To my credit though, it was not at all obvious where the so-called tagging station was lol. They secured a green zip-tie to it, we both apologised to each other for the confusion as is the case when speaking to me for anything at all 99% of the time, and we were finally allowed to continue.
We headed straight to the help desk, to which we spoke to kind staff member #1. Kind staff member #1 did not know how to upgrade us, and referred us to kind staff member #2. Kind staff member #2 informed us that they were just filling in for a secret third kind staff member, who DID know how to do it, who was just out for lunch. So we basically had to circle back in half-an-hour or so. Eventually, we did come back, and get our passes upgraded in a matter of minutes, but man was the whole entrance process not so smooth hahaha.
Totally flawless, like I said.
And I will just clarify in case it sounds like I'm making the staff members sound like they were incompetent lol, that is not at ALL the case. The staff for the convention were all absolutely delightful, very professional, and overall made the convention run just so smoothly. We as cosplayers and con-goers don't speak our appreciation for convention staff and volunteers enough, so right now, from me and on behalf of all others: THANK YOU!!!!! You made the weekend a blast. <3
First thing we did was just wander around, y'know, get the lay of the land. Scope out the surroundings. Secure the perimeter. Become familiar with the ins and outs. Know where to go and when.
Day 1 for the most part consisted of getting photos with other cosplayers. This was the first time we had gone to a convention having set up our own dedicated cosplay Instagram accounts @/kazu.pieee & @/mikudachii), and we really wanted to try and build up a network of local cosplayers! So we made it our goal to a) get as many photos with cosplayers as possible, and b) ask said cosplayers for their own socials!
Is this how you make friends lol
I will now go ahead and include some photos we got with others! All credits are for Instagram. First we got a photo with Wriothesley (cypher_cosplay) and Neuvillette (edenzcosplay):
Next we found a Kafka cosplayer!! This was their first cosplay which was CRAZY, they looked seriously amazing for their first time (s.jn_jack).
We found a Joseph Joestar cosplayer, and I HAD to get a photo with them. This was the first instance of me forgetting to get their social, so I unfortunately am unable to tag them here. But they looked amazing!! I am very normal about JoJo.
We found a Sparkle (_.emmet._t) cosplayer!! We saw them earlier but it was kinda crowded so there was no opportunity to get a photo with them. Once we crossed paths with them again we took the opportunity to get one though!!
There were more cosplayers Miku and I both got photos with, but Tumblr image limits be annoying lol. There will be more for Day 2 as well! But let's continue onward.
And honestly, there wasn't a whole lot more to do for Day 1! A lot of the stuff we did plan on doing would be done on Day 2, such as getting professional photos taken and all our shopping, so we just hung around for a little while longer around the convention, before heading back to the city. Our day at the convention might have been over, but the day as a whole certainly wasn't yet!
We always go to karaoke after a day at a convention, it's just a perfect opportunity to do so, all in cosplay as well, it's always a ton of fun! But it wasn't opening for a couple hours yet as we got to the city, so we decided to just wander around for a little bit, and probably find some food somewhere as well.
As we were walking, we did get stopped by a pair of people who were interested in our cosplays! They were all like "man I swear I've seen these characters before" and I explained to them how we were from Star Rail. They had seemingly never heard of the game before, so I have no idea who they were thinking of, but regardless they both thought we looked cool and it was overall a nice interaction!
Always gotta be careful around strangers though, especially around the city. We were together though, so it was okay.
We loitered around in the usual stores we go to in the city (anime/video game/manga/book stores), and got a couple pictures here and there. I really like this one where I (as Welt Yang) am holding up a book about black holes. Disclaimer that I do not care even a little for the author but I still thought it was funny lol.
As it was getting closer to the opening time, we found a quick bite to eat at a sushi place, before heading over! We spent two hours at karaoke, singing a wide variety of songs as we always do. It was a ton of fun!! Some of the songs I sang included 新宝島 (by sakanaction), 天体観測 (by BUMP OF CHICKEN), Departure! (by Masatoshi Ono), and モノクロのキス (by SID). And some of the songs that Miku sang included Moon Halo (from HI3), Happy☆Material (from Negima), Come With Me (Ricky Martin), and My Sweet Heart (Tokyo Mew Mew)!
Before long, that was it for Day 1! We gathered our things, headed back to the train station, and before long we were both back home absolutely exhausted lol. But we were only halfway there!
Day 1 definitely felt more like a practice day of sorts, we didn't do a huge amount at the convention itself aside from meeting a bunch of new people. It would be Day 2 where much more stuff would be happening, so we needed as much energy as we could get!!!
...I did not sleep until 1am DAY TWO HERE WE GOOOOOOO
Day 2 started off pretty well! I knew exactly what I had to do this time around when it came to getting the cosplay and the makeup all ready and organized, and before I knew it I was all ready to head over to the train station to meet Miku and head off for the start of the second day. And that's pretty much exactly what happened!
We were getting to the convention a little bit earlier today because of the HSR meetup that was supposed to be happening! It was basically the whole reason that we even opted to go both days instead of just the one day. We wanted to meet more HSR cosplayers to get photos with!
Upon arriving at the convention, we basically headed straight over, in hopes of seeing a ton of HSR cosplayers. Alas......that is not what happened. There were NONE. Not a single one there. Just us, and a couple of convention staff standing around as if waiting.
Once we got there, we sat down and decided to wait around for a sec. Before long, we actually did have a Silver Wolf cosplayer approach us! (don't have their socials wehhh i'm so sorry) Finally, another HSR cosplayer at the meetup, like there was supposed to be! They were really excited to get a photo with us, which made us really happy, and their cosplay was AMAZING. I mean just look at it!!
Shortly after, we had one more cosplayer approach all of us, an Aventurine (myki.cosplay) cosplayer!! We actually saw them elusively wandering around on the first day, however we weren't able to get a photo with them then. But now we could, and photo with them we did receive! They apparently just popped over from one of the artist stands they were helping run, so we were very glad that we did get to run into them!
The two cosplay staff wandered over and asked if we were from HSR, and we kind of awkwardly said yes. They said that they had been waiting around for a while, to the sight of very very little HSR cosplayers. So much for the meetup. But they asked if we could get a picture with all (four) of us regardless, and we complied!!
(never got to see that photo, it either never went up or wasn't able to find it lol.)
After a bit more waiting for more HSR cosplayers to wander by (in vain), the convention grounds were ours once more! Today was the day to do our main shopping! But first on the to-do list was to get food and HOLY FUCKING SHIT IS THAT JOHNNY JOESTAR AND GYRO ZEPPELI—
AND SEELE AND BRONYA FROM HI3
We saw them waiting around the Just Dance area and KNEW that we had to get a photo with them. Both Miku and I are big fans of both series (Miku moreso of HI3 and I moreso of JoJo lol) so it was perfect!! We did wait for them to be available first, and then we were able to get photos!!! Their cosplays were all amazing.
After this we kinda got distracted and kept wandering around the convention, just mostly gushing about the cosplayers we had just spoken to. And then Miku saw them. Someone in the distance from behind, someone with pink hair. There was an Elysia cosplayer.
Needless to say Miku actually freaked out. In her words, "I could have died there and then for real".
She essentially ran up to them for a photo, and the Elysia cosplayer seemed so happy that somebody wanted to get a photo with her!!!
After that wonderful interaction, we had the chance to draw something on a scribble wall that they had set up. I didn't really draw anything because I couldn't actually think of anything to draw, but Miku drew a small little Herta which was very cute! We went to return the markers that had been given to us, and we ended up actually having a delightful conversation with the person who we returned them to!
The lady really liked our cosplays and wanted to know what they were from. After telling her that they were from Honkai Star Rail, she got excited and mentioned how her that was a name she recognized because her daughter had been playing it! I suggested that it might be cool for her to get a photo of us so that she could show her daughter, and she agreed that it would be and so we posed for a photo for her! It was the most wholesome interaction I think I've ever had with someone. I really respected that a parent would actually remember the name of a very specific game that their child was into.
After those back-to-back amazing experiences, we were able to get back on track and get some food. We ended up getting those curly potato-on-a-stick thingies, I haven't had one in a long time. They were really really good though!!! Definitely a good quick and easy snack for a convention, especially seeing as neither of us had eaten anything yet lol.
After hanging around eating and chatting for a while, we decided that it was time to go and get our photoshoot done! We headed over to the area, and waited around in the relatively short line for about half an hour I wanna say. They really put a lot of time and care into each and every photo they took of all the cosplayers! But eventually it was our turn. I can't lie and say I wasn't feeling a bit nervous, because I definitely was. It was the first time I had posed for any sort of photos like this. But in my mind I knew what I wanted to do. We got three photos each, and I was ready. And I hit 'em with THIS:
When the photos were being taken, I really wasn't sure how they would look. I had practiced a little bit at home, but I am just the worst at posing for photos. I've always had a problem with portraying emotions on my face, whatever I think my face looks like doesn't really translate too well to what actually does appear if that makes sense. But here I just went for basically my resting face, perhaps a little more stoic I suppose. The pose was what really mattered, and I was just praying that it would come out alright. And I was genuinely blown AWAY at how they looked in the end. The photography team (steamkittens on insta) went above and beyond with the photos, so thank you so so much.
After me, it was Miku's turn!! She was also feeling a bit nervous like I was, and she wasn't really sure which poses to go for. That pressure of being about to have your photos taken is definitely kind of overwhelming, especially when you're right there looking at all the other cosplayers doing these awesome poses one after another after another. We quickly workshopped a couple of poses she might be able to try, and when it was her turn she went for it!!!
She looked amazing!!! It looked so incredibly difficult to keep that pose for long as she did to get photos to come out well, but she pulled through!! It was like Herta was actually being controlled like a puppet, it looked really cool. But she said that she wants to practice poses even more, and I want to somehow support her in doing that!! All I had to do was put my hand out for mine so I had it easy lol, so doing some more involved and intricate poses is something I could also benefit from!!
Solution: Must practice JoJo poses.
The next thing it was time for was our print shopping!! We always go ahead and buy a print for each other, it's a tradition at this point. So we went our separate ways! I spent some time looking down all the different aisles, until I spotted out of the corner of my eye the perfect print. A FINAL FEST PEARLINA PRINT I HAD TO GET IT FOR HER
AND SHE GOT ME THIS BEAUTIFUL LINK PRINT THANK YOUUUUUUU
After this, we had basically done everything that we had come to do! We weren't interested in seeing any of the guests, and originally Miku wanted to participate in a Just Dance stage they had there, but ultimately decided against it. There were a lot of people there watching after all haha. So it was time to leave!
We had a funny interaction on our walk back to the station. An elderly man walked up to us and asked us what event was going on. I said "oh there's actually a convention over that we just came back from!". He was like "any chance I get a feed?" (aussie translation: is there any good food there) and I was like "uhh yeah they do have food there! It's not cheap though", referring to the fact that you have to pay to get in, but before I could relay that part he was well on his way. I mean....technically I wasn't lying so I don't feel that bad. It was a pretty funny interaction hahaha.
Once we made it back ot the city, it was time for us to wander around and get a few more photos! We wanted the opportunity to take some videos as well somewhere, but first we got some photos at a local crane game location as well as a cool little shopping arcade area!
We then got some food for sustenance from HJs, before heading over to the botanic gardens for some more scenic photography!! We got some REALLY cool shots here that I'm very proud of! I love these photos in particular:
We continued wandering around trying to find a spot to record some videos where we wouldn't disturb the other parkgoers, but we were really struggling to. The gardens were only open for about another hour at this point, so we were almost at the end of our rope to be honest. Eventually we just found a spot out in the open in front of a greenhouse looking building, plonked down the tripod that Miku had brought along with her, and recorded about 3-4 videos. It was a lot of fun despite our struggles!!
Soon enough though, one of the gardeners rolled up on their vehicle and informed us that it was time to leave as the park was closing. So we packed up, and quickly left through the front gate. By this time, it was about time for karaoke!! But first we wanted to go to a nearby photo booth to get some more photos. Except.....unbeknownst to us, it was closed on Sundays. ONLY Sundays.
Regrettably we had to pin that for another time. Next time! But after that little hiccup, it was time for our second act of karaoke. This time around we had a much harder time picking songs to sing. We're desperately running out of songs!!!
Some of the songs I sang included PSYCHO (by Hakos Baelz, VERY fun song to sing), ENAMEL (by SID), and Unravel (by TK, i had to), and some of the songs Miku sang included Cyberangel (from HI3, was such a banger), DEAD OR LIE (from Danganronpa 3), and Crossing Field (from SAO)!!! By the end of it all we were absolutely TOTALLED, just so incredibly exhausted hahaha. But it was so much fun, karaoke is always one of my favourite parts. Singing is a lot of fun when you're with a friend!!
This marked the end of the weekend. Comic Con was heaps of fun, the highlight for me was most definitely getting to meet so many new cosplayers, AND getting their socials as well! It was so much fun getting to catch up with some of them over messaging after the convention when everyone was everywhere sharing their photos and stories, it really feels like we're part of the local cosplay scene now.
Getting to spend the weekend with Miku was amazing, that initial moment of seeing her in cosplay especially was such a magical moment. Thank you for spending the weekend with me!!! It was tons of fun with you and I look forward to even more future conventions!!! ^^
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