Attending Anime Expo for the fourth consecutive year, this year's schedule was packed as usual, and the four days of feeling like being imprisoned were truly solid. Every day I had to wake up very early to prepare hair and makeup, put on the heavy full costume, carefully brush and fit the blue long hair wig, and wear those glossy black gloves and heavy tall boots, standing in the exhibition hall for a full day. This time I'm cosplaying a character from Azur Lane. Although the clothes look white and blue, the layered skirt hems and plush shawl, after being worn continuously for several hours, are indeed a huge test of physical strength. Makeup touch-up items and props carried around had to be stuffed into the backpack behind me, because I also had to cooperate with booth interactions, and sometimes work together with that cute dog wearing pink sunglasses. The dog in the pictures was very cooperative, quietly lying by my side, and by the end of the day, both of us were exhausted.
There was almost no time to rest during these four days of the convention. Every time I wanted to go say hi to other friends, I would get interrupted by booth procedures or photo-shooting work, flusteredly dealing with all kinds of unexpected situations. Flipping through my phone album over and over again, I found that my photo collection pictures with others were pitifully few, and many group photos were taken hastily with friends during breaks between shifting events. Some clips of interactions with friends were recorded on video, and I plan to start editing a vlog after returning to organize these fragments.
During my time at the booth, I am extremely grateful to many fellow fans who specifically came to the Azur Lane booth to take photos with me. Whether posing with cardboard standees or making expressions for the camera, interacting with everyone in front of the wooden bookshelf and red curtain wearing this outfit and communicating face-to-face was truly wonderful. At the same time, I also want to say thank you and great job to all the staff on-site; maintaining order and flow is not easy for everyone.
What was most unforgettable for me was after getting off work on Day 3, without even having time to change clothes, I rushed straight into the Vocaloid special rave wearing my tall boots. Americans really ate so well this time; the live performances by Hachioji P, KZ, and TeddyLoid were simply of ultra-high quality. Even though my legs were almost numb from standing all day, in that atmosphere, my adrenaline skyrocketed. With lights and sound waves hitting down, the intensity of jumping was completely no less than going to EDC, and at that moment I truly felt that no matter how tired the daytime was, it was completely worth it.
When changing clothes in the backstage of the exhibition hall, I often ran into many familiar cosplayers. Everyone helped each other tidy up clothes and wigs. Although each encounter was just a hasty greeting, this atmosphere was particularly warm and friendly. Although the tall boots I wore this time looked good, my soles really hurt after walking a lot, and every time I returned to the resting area, I had to quickly find a corner to sit for a while. At the Day 3 Rave scene, the vibration of the ground came up through the soles of the boots, and at that moment I completely forgot about the exhaustion, keeping up with the rhythm and jumping until the very end. Although raving in a cosplay outfit might look a bit unconventional, that sense of contrast actually made me even more relaxed.
The only regret was that this time I really had no time to properly browse the booths. The empty suitcase I brought was originally intended to be filled with merchandise, but in the end, I barely even passed by the stalls and didn't buy much of anything, having to go back with an empty suitcase. Although busy and tired, the four-day experience still made me feel extremely fulfilled and happy. Let's fight again at AX next year, striving to have time to look around more.