SDCC 2009 on Star Wars Day

San Diego Comic Con 2009 was a thrilling experience. It was my first time at a Comic Con and second time at a conference of this species (my last one being a Stargate SG1 conference in November of 2006). What made this perhaps the most exciting was the fact that I held a pass for Friday, which was the Star Wars day (Stormtroopers and Vaders and Leias–oh my!).

On top of the Star Wars fandom, there was also the powerful presence dominating both negative and positive enthusiasm from among spectators; the much rumored Twilight energy maintained an omnipresence throughout the Friday’s events (both in the form of anti-Twilight T-shirts and pro-Twilight titilations throughout the air). Hollywood probably figures any hype is good hype–after all, it is free advertising (and look, another blog mentioning it).

While there was a strong Twilight presence, I could not help but become immersed in the extensive art, free loots, and amazing cosplayers at every turn.  I myself was dressed as a Japanese School Girl Kendo Master going by the name of “Yumiko.” Ironically enough, there is no such anime, I simply ran out of time and ideas as to what on Earth I could cosplay as. I was originally considering Tifa from Final Fantasy VII, but then I decided a lesser-known might be better such as Kanzaki Kaori from To Aru Majutsu no Index. Kanzaki’s weapon and boots proved to be difficult finds, and Tifa’s costume a bit too frequently done (and well done at that).

As a result I, focused on simply finding something that would allow me to dress up and have fun in my own imaginary anime heroine. She needed to have a cool uniform (which generally means bowtie) and was REQUIRED to have a weapon (I decided Kendo was a good Japanese-centered, regulation Comic Con accessory). I think the costume turned out great, I just wish I had more time… but then again, there is always next year.

I was ecstatic to see how much anime was at the convention, including anime cosplayers from Bleach, Naruto, D-Grayman, and other mainstream shows. What also impressed me was the fact that so many cosplayers were very much in character, including an adorable girl cosplaying as Nyu from Elfen Lied who would chant the Japanese word for meow or “nyu” when greeting people. She fit the role perfectly and did such a wonderful job on her costume; I was amazed.

Perhaps the special mention should be for my childhood hero, whom I myself dressed up as for Halloween in my kindergarten years. None other than Shera Princess of Power was at the Comic Con–I naturally, was star struck and needed a photo opportunity. He-Man was also there, but I think it is safe to assume that most girls such as myself who grew up with He-Man and Shera would naturally gravitate toward the one we most wished to emulate: for the honor of Grayskull!

There were so many great costumes and cosplayers at the San Diego Comic Con in 2009. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, it might be a better idea to simply show the amazing cosplayers rather than venture to match the hyperbolized word count symbolically represented within each image.

Most of the pictures have me in them, since I of course wanted to pose in the pictures with comic book and cartoon celebrities. It was such an exhilarating and memorable experience being around people who shared my passion for comic and cartoon heroes. I know that this will be the first of many Comic Con conventions for me in the future.

I will be adding more pictures over the next few days.

Cosplayers from the 2009 San Diego Comic Con