Cosplay and Meetups
Cosplay is a major attraction of MCM Comic Con. A huge number of visitors have come here to cosplay their favourite characters and meet their friends, usually outside the venue. Most cosplayers will meetup in the grassy field outside ExCeL to have photoshoots.
This site is ideal due to the fact that it is situated right next to the Royal Docks, which makes for an excellent place to take cosplay photos. Fans will also have a meetup based on the series of the character that they have cosplayed as. As such, you can see large gatherings of Attack on Titan cosplayers. There are also Fullmetal Alchemist and Dragon Ball cosplayers which were very popular.
Apart from anime cosplays, there are a lot of other cosplays too. Scooby Doo, League of Legends, Star Wars, Marvel, and many others. Asian cosplayers tend to cosplay the characters that are currently popular in Japan such as Kantai Collection and Touken Ranbu.
Probably the most anticipated events of the MCM Comic Con have to be the Cosplay Masquerades and EuroCosplay Championships. These events showcase Europe’s best cosplayers. Although otaku fans need to keep in mind that cosplays are not all about anime characters, thus you would see the cosplays of popular characters from all genres of media, including even original characters.
After the event ends, most cosplayers will gather around the west entrance and partake in activities such as singing and dancing. With winter approaching soon, the sky was essentially dark by the time the event ends. The effects of this can be seen by seeing the contrast from the bright outdoor screen which showed anime advertisements by the UK distributors.
Special Guests and Discussion Panels
Panels at pop culture conventions are something that Indonesians are not too familiar since it is not as widespread yet. In MCM London Comic Con, special guests from famous series came to give a panel on what they are bringing to the fans, as well as having a Q&A session at the end of each panel. Last year, Hideo Baba, the producer of Tales Series came to MCM Comic Con to reveal the plans for the European release of Tales of Zestiria, as well as observing how western fans react to Tales of Xillia 2. There’s always a signing session right after the panel has ended to have a chance to speak to the producer/actor and speak with them more personally. I had a chance to speak with Hideo Baba and he was surprised about the fact that I could speak some basic Japanese to converse with him. He did learn about one thing, though, that “Eri” is, in fact, a boy’s name in Indonesia whilst in Japan, it’s considered as a girl’s name. I hope that this conversation sparks the interest of expansion in the South East Asian territories.
Last May, I have the privilege to attend Hidetaka Tenjin’s panel where he teaches the audience on how he crafts his mechanical designs. And this year, I attended Shigeto Koyama’s panel on how he has been involved in mixing American and Japanese ideas in designing for Heroman, Star Driver, and Panty and Stockings while also working on titles such as Gurren Lagann and Kill la Kill. UK Anime distributors such as All the Anime, Animatsu, and Manga Entertainment UK also have panels about the new releases and acquisitions that wereannounced here. Bandai Namco had a Tales panel showcasing the 20th Anniversary of Tales games by briefing each game and sharing some details about Tales Magazine and Shop in Japan.
There’s a special panel from Sunrise announcing the simultaneous worldwide release of Gundam The Origin II: Artesia’s Sorrow in both streaming and Blu-ray Collector’s Edition along with the original Mobile Suit Gundam release of BD BOX 1 in November and BD BOX 2 in winter 2015, as well as the English Dub announcement that will be produced by Sunrise with Bang Zoom Entertainment which will be available in early 2016. The rest of the panels showcased the Blu-Ray releases of Gundam series that will be released in 2016 which include Z Gundam, Gundam ZZ, Turn A Gundam, and Reconguista in G.
Cannon Busters panel showcases LeSean Thomas, a South Bronx NYC native who is a television animation producer, director & illustrator operating out of Los Angeles, California. He is currently producing, directing and writing an animated pilot Cannon Busters with Satelight animation studio. Cannon Busters is expected to be released in early 2016.
The most interesting panel came from Viewster announcing the launch of OMAKASE. Viewster is a company founded in Zurich, Switzerland in 2007 which focuses on mobile app + website for video streaming with anime as its largest category and main focus. It is currently supported by ads and available in the US, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Inspired by the Japanese concept of “omakase” (“chef’s choice”), OMAKASE is a curated package of artfully selected merchandise alongside a premium anime streaming service with digital exclusives. It will include original and exclusive comics, manga, music, and unique items, all wrapped in a collectible uniquely stylised box. Some of the items include Senketsu scarf and gold foil hardcover Kill la Kill Vol.1 manga. This will also unlock the ads in the Viewster as well as introducing new acquisitions of the anime that never made it into the UK by focusing on bringing old series such as Key the Metal Idol, Meine Liebe, Sora no Manimani, and Saint Beast.
Panels happen in large halls separate from the exhibition hall and the schedule are packed with different panels happening at the same time in different panel halls. This year, all anime related panels are held in the Platinum Stage. There are also other panels happening at the same time in the Gold Theatre which is larger and hold popular panels and events such as Sherlock panels and EuroCosplay Final.
