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2 weeks ago, I went to the biggest anime conventions in Houston, Anime Matsuri 2014. For those who are not familiar with Anime Matsuri or anime conventions in general, its a place for fans of Japanese animation, art and culture to be able to show their support in an number of ways. In this event there’s cosplaying, live concerts, booths for dealers to sell their merchandise that is specific to anime and Japanese culture, and did I mention, cosplaying?



Cosplaying is an art form that has grown over the years and continues to till this day. Cosplayers either purchase their outfits or the more experience/hardcore actually create their costumes from scratch. Some of which, can literally take weeks to months to create. Now I’m not so much into cosplaying myself but I love seeing others do it and make sure I have a camera ready every year just for it. It’s also the place for companies small and big to sell their anime products directly to customers who would usually not be so easy to reach. The anime market is growing here in the US but on the grand scale of things, I would say, it’s still small in comparison to big theater movies, talk shows, and TV series like Game of Thrones. Nevertheless, the crowd this event draws every year continues, to grow.

The dealer room is the prime location for cosplayers not only to get their pics taken but to be utterly annoyed by people asking for pics when they themselves are just trying to look at the different booths and see what’s for sale. In the Dealer room many different companies have not only anime items but items related to Japanese culture for sale and the selection gets better with each year.

With all that being said, you can’t forget the different panels with all kinds of events scheduled from morning to late evening. I attended a Japanese-speaking class held by Japan-America Society of Houston. It was great basic class that really got me interested in doing full classes as soon as I have the funds and time. Afterwards, I dipped off into the gamers room where people were able to bring their own consoles and hook them up to play with others along with participating in Card game matches such as YuGi-Oh and Magic the Gathering. Then (after sitting in line for over an hour) I had the pleasure of seeing the Cosplay Event. Arguably, the biggest event of the convention. Where many cosplayers show off their costumes as best as possible to hopefully win prizes.

Check out the video for more on the event and to see all the pics I took! 🙂

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