Last night The Best Weekend of the Year ended and I am so happy I was a part of it. This post is going to be more like a diary entry. I want to save this feeling forever!
THE WAIT
Last year, in April, I attended my first ever Comic Con. Needless to say I was at the top of the world. I couldn't believe my eyes. There were so many cosplayers and people who shared similar pop culture interests with me. There were people who had the exact opposite taste as me when it came to anime or movies and yet I was happy to meet them. That's because we had something in common - Th crazy love for pop culture; be it movies, anime, comics, graphic novels, etc. The feeling was surreal. And I couldn't wait to feel it again.
After one and half years, Comic Con was scheduled on 12th-13th November, 2016. I cannot explain how happy I was just to know the dates. I was disappointed to know that this year the event was supposed to last only 2 days. Still I couldn't wait...
THE PREPARATION
I had just a few months for my preparation. Preparation for what you ask?... COSPLAY!!! Last year at Comic Con, I went up to every Cosplayer I saw in took pics with them. I was amazed to know India had so many people who loved their Anime so much that they would cosplay. And to see some of my favourite Anime characters such as InuYasha, Kikyo and Edward from Fullmetal Alchemist... It was amazing.
I remember seeing a girl cosplaying as Spock and rushing up to her to ask for a pic. I took a pic with her and after that she said something to me; something that stuck with me for one and a half years. She saw how excited I got seeing her in a cosplay and she said "How come you're not in a Cosplay?"
That's when I decided that the next time I attend Comic Con, I WILL COSPLAY.
I started practicing my Jedi moves with my Lightsaber. It took me months to perfect the Obi-Ani spin from the Mustafar Fight sequence from Star Wars Episode III - ROTS. So many hours spent on YouTube practicing the spin... Here's a little demo.
Since I didn't have experience cosplaying, I thought of ordering a costume online. It took almost a month to get here. I had to send them my measurements. I had ordered from AliExpress and the thing with these chinese websites is that they are very risky. Plus there is no limit to how long it will take for the packages to reach India if you order them via IndiaPost. So I had to pay extra for delivery via Aramex. Later I had to make small adjustments to the costume. I got them done in Patna.
In the end the whole costume looked amazing.
As many of you will know, I was at Patna for Diwali and Chhatt Puja. I came back on 10th November, 2016 which was a Thursday. Yes, I came back on a Thursday even though I had fever for the past 3 days just to attend the best weekend of the year and let me tell you - IT WAS WORTH IT!!!
DAY 1
I woke up at 12:30PM on 12th November, 2016. Half asleep I start getting ready. I get ready in full costume in an hour. I call an Ola. The guy parked the cab just outside my gate. It was time now. All I had to do was get down and get inside the cab. But I was embarrassed. I had to ask my college friend and roommate to drop me off. This feeling of embarrassment didn't last long though. I left it in that cab once I stepped out at KTPO Convention Centre, Bengaluru - Comic Con 2016.
As I started walking towards the entrance, I could hear people saying things like "Anakin" and "Skywalker" as I passed them. I was so happy. I was among my people. I didn't feel embarrassed or shy at all. These were my people. And I felt proud for participating in this year's Comic Con.
I went in and got registered for the Cosplay Contest. Then I took a small stroll and came back to the registration booth. I had missed an important part of registration - the Photoshoot. As I was in the line with other Cosplayers waiting to get my pics taken, I saw another Jedi at the end of the line. I went up to her and asked if I could get a pic with her. She politely agreed and we stepped out of that place to get a pic. As we ignited out lightsabers, so many people surrounded us. It was amazing. We couldn't take one step without having out pics taken. There was a Rouge One section where we could get our pics taken with Storm Troopers. So we decided to go there. It took us so long to just get there. It was amazing...
A billion pics later I went roamed about and finally it was time for the Cosplay Contest. It was a nice experience. And guess who won in my category... It was the Jedi I was talking about earlier. I don't want to mention her name without permission.
While in the line for the Cosplay Contest, I met Spiderman. A man with his 2 year old son came to him and said - "Look. SPIDERMAN!!!" Then the man said - "But he is not wearing how mask right now." And then I looked back and said - "It's like Civil War all over again." And we laughed about it. That was priceless.
So on day 1 I got to see some amazing Cosplays - Spiderman from Spiderman: Homecoming, Wolverine, Lara Croft, Joker, batman, Leia, my all time favourite Digimon - Angemon, Deadpool, Wednesday Addams, Master Chief, Wonder Woman, Cardcaptor Sakura, Kylo Ren, Darth Vader, Green Lantern, Scissor, Scyther, Ash and so many more. There were more than 250 Cosplayers on day 1. All the Cosplayers were so friendly and nice. Everyone I mean. It was awesome.
DAY 2
I woke up late again - 1:00PM. I got ready and booked an Ola Share. Yes, Ola Share and I was going in full costume. As I said earlier, I was not feeling embarrassed anymore. The Ola cab picked up a girl just outside Corner House. She sat beside me. She kept getting calls from her elder brother and her ringtone was Darth Vader's Theme Music. The magical day was just starting. She was going to Comic Con too. Later she asked me if I was with another Jedi the previous day. I said yes and we talked for some time. I got to know she was from Ranchi. Small world. She took a "cab wali" selfie with me. I was so pleased.
On day 1 I couldn't spend time looking at stuff. So I decided I would spend the other day looking around and talking to people. But I had to register for the Cosplay Contest. So after I was done with that, I started looking for something fun to do.
I visited a section where a quiz was going on. It was a comics trivia quiz. I wasn't there long but I did get one question right as an audience member which no one knew the answer to. The host asked what metal is Wolverine's claws made of? Everyone said "Adamantium" which is correct. But the host said it wasn't the correct answer. I immediately knew the answer he was looking for. I screamed out the correct answer and someone patted my back. It was "Vibranium" - the metal with which Captain America's shield is made. I don't know why he was looking for that answer.
I moved out of there and met with the Jedi I mentioned earlier. She wasn't in cosplay that day. We went to two comic stalls looking for a comic book she wanted and we talked forever!! We talked about so many things - Dexter, PPG, Swat Cats, Star Wars, Graphic Novels, DC, Marvel, SNL, Extreme Ghostbusters!!
I mean who remembers the original Ghostbusters Animated series. I never watched it. But I do remember watching Extreme Ghostbusters. And no one and I mean no one has ever mentioned that show to me EVER!! It was a surprise someone remembered it.
We also talked about Dexter's TV movie - Ego Trip. She was the one who mentioned it and I had watched it again(just the second time) literally few days back. It was amazing talking to her.
I know a lot of people wouldn't get this - It's really rare you find people with so much common interests. It's not about just interests. It's more than that. People to whom you do not have to explain your pop culture references. They just get it. It's rare. Very rare. And I am thankful to Comic Con India to bring all such people under one roof for a few days.
It was very humid inside. So I went outside for some fresh air. And I met Ray from Beyblades. He was resting outside. I sat with him and we talked about Beyblades(obviously). And we talked about how our toys got thrown away by our grandmothers and now we understand their true values. It was nice talking to him.
Later while in the line for the Consplay Contest, I met another delightful person cosplaying as Mario. We talked about how there are so many Marvel Cosplayers and he told me about the Cosplay Community in India. We also talked about Daredevil and The Punisher. He is from Vizag and he had come to Bengaluru just for Comic Con. We talked for the whole time we were in the line.
On day 2, there were almost 350 Cosplayers. I a few Cosplayers - The Punisher, Obi-Wan, Matt Murdock, 2 Jedi, Ray from Beyblades, Han Solo, 2 Darth Maul, Shego from Kim Possible, Charizard, Harry Potter, Mario, Chacha Choudhary, Angewomon and many more.
THE BEST WEEKEND OF THE YEAR ENDS
It finally came to an end. Nothing good lasts forever. The amazing weekend ended.
This year I actually participated in Comic Con. I was part of it. I went there and BECAME one of my favourite characters from Star Wars for 2 days. And no one was judging me. In fact, I felt proud.
On Day 2, there was this girl who couldn't register for the Cosplay Contest but she was there up on the stage. She was cosplaying Hermione Granger. She was shy and was little embarrassed being on stage while casting her spell. That's when the host asked her to look around her. He said she doesn't need to feel embarrassed or shy. She was at Comic Con. She was among her own people. And that everyone shared the same love and craziness for everything pop culture just like her. And he helped her out.
That, to me, is the essence of Comic Con. It really was the best weekend of the year. Thank you, Comic Con Bengaluru.