Maboroshi Matsuri Shoujo II – Part I

(cross posted from Korobeiniki – Friki Magazine: http://korobeiniki.info/eventos/maboroshi-matsuri-shoujo-ii-parte-i/)

Pereira is a very small city, and sometimes it is really hard to imagine how many people are interested in the anime culture, and in general, in the oriental culture. If any event that has been held in the city has been able to help me calculate this amount, is this, that although had some problems, it managed to reunite a lot of people (that in a given moment I counted on more than 100). The Maboroshi Matsuri Shoujo II, held on October 6th, managed to give me fun and surprise me in many different aspects.

In a separate location, the trading card game contest was held, along with some friendly matches. This has become a staple of these events, specially with Magic the Gathering and Yu-Gi-Oh. Along it, an interesting class was being held to learn all about Magic the Gathering. It explained in a really interesting way the setting of the game, along with the different cards and universes that compose it. I wish I had that kind of teaching when I played Magic.

In a bigger room, the main events were held, and there I had my first revelation: More than 80 people were there. Some were sitting and watching the karaoke contest, or checking the interesting articles that the store stands were offering. In a special zone, a drawing contest was held. I was amazed at the quality of the artwork, even under the time constraints.

Intertwined among the sea of people, the cosplayers were even better than in past gatherings. The quality has improved a lot, showing off their creativity. However, what was lacking was quantity, as in past events we had between 30 to 40 cosplayers. This time, the number went up to 25. It didn’t seem odd for me, as Halloween is really near and it’s normal that some people are still working on their costumes.

As always in this events, there’s a lack of order, as the people was really disperse. Instead of having different ambiences, everything was held in the same room, by exception of the card games, as I mentioned before. Thus, the people walked all around everywhere, so they didn’t pay attention to what was being done on stage.

Nearing the end of the event, the organization issues were even worse, as they used up too much time with the karaoke contest, so they couldn’t hold the cosplay contest properly, that is -in my opinion- the highlight of any anime event. It was done hastily, without planning and without allowing us to determine the quality of the cosplayers acting, that is one of the most important things that I regard when I have to judge a costume play.

Leaving beside all these faults, I had a lot of fun taking pictures, recording some videos, and just walking around meeting people and watching the costumes, and the people that assisted. Thanks to all the cosplayers and to all the people that I pictured. Congrats for all the effort they put up making their costumes!

In the next part of this article, I’ll upload some of the videos, including one that probably, some people want off the Internet.