#ids2935swampcon

[adrianasbizarreadventure]

Swampcon

Going to Swampcon was so much fun! I went both on Saturday and Sunday and had so much fun looking around and being surrounded by other anime fans.

On Saturday, I went dressed as Hange Zoe from Attack on Titan, specifically their season 4 design, though a low budget version. And by low budget I mean the approximately $12 it took to get an eyepatch shipped in time for the convention. At first, I was nervous to show up to the Reitz dressed up as an anime character, irrationally fearing that I would be the only one dressed in cosplay. That is, until my friend texted me that she felt out of place because there were so many people at the convention and because she was the only one not in cosplay. So, I let her borrow my scarf and gloves so she could go as low budget Joseph Joestar. My boyfriend tagged along as Shinji Ikari as well. 

The first thing we noticed when we approached the Reitz was the Pokemon themed car parked right outside, which, of course, we just had to get a picture with. Also, there was a woman announcing that there was going to be a villains versus hero fight starting within the next few minutes, which shows how people try to embody the character that they’re cosplaying as. We didn’t stick around for it, though, since we wanted to explore more of what was inside. 

One of the first few things we did inside was go to the Artist Alley. There were so many artists selling prints of their art, as well as pins, jewelry, stickers, and more. I didn’t buy anything the first day, but I did end up getting something on Sunday. 

Many of the artists were either selling fan works or art of their original characters. This ties into what we discussed in class about otaku culture, specifically about how otakus seek to “own” the fiction they consume either by cosplaying or creating their own derivative works. Many of the artists were selling original artworks of their favorite anime characters; each artist had their own unique style that you could see reflected in their artwork.

The next thing we did was go to the Idol Fest. I had no idea what to expect from Idol Fest since idols aren’t something that I’m particularly familiar with and we only stayed until the first intermission, but I had a great time nonetheless. 

One thing I noticed from many of the costumes are how it reflects the idea of moe characteristics discussed in Database Animals. Many of the performers were wearing maid outfits or school girl uniforms, which was something that was mentioned in the chapter. The characters from Tokyo Mew Mew that one of the groups were cosplaying as also had cat ears, tails, and bell collars in one of the videos that they were using as a background, which were also traits that were said to be in the moe characteristics database. 

Another thing I noticed was the audience involvement. Many of the people in the audience would join in on the chorus, and many were waving around light sticks to the beat of the song. It reminded me of one of articles that we read in class, which discussed fan culture and mentioned how fans of Rocky Horror Picture Show would go to midnight viewings and shout out the lines along with the characters. Here, the audience shouted out the lyrics to the songs along with the performers, showing off their shadow cultural capital as they were familiar with the songs that the performers were lip-syncing to.

Side note: my friend Sofia was literally one number away from winning the raffle. 

We took a break from wandering around the Reitz to grab lunch. It was kind of funny seeing characters from anime such as Demon Slayer and Attack on Titan just casually eating. The event itself wasn’t limited to just anime; there were cosplayers dressed as Star Wars and Disney characters as well. What really stood out to me was the families that all came dressed up. There was a family dressed as The Incredibles and another family where the mom was dressed as Misty from Pokemon. It was very nice to see that there are parents that are supportive of their kids’ interests. 

I got several compliments on my closet cosplay and even ran into another Hange cosplayer. It was so fun looking at other people’s cosplays. There were so many and they all varied in intricacy. Many people did closet cosplays (like me) and others went all out. I follow several cosplayers on TikTok and the cosplay creation process can be very intensive. Many competitions only allow a certain percent of your cosplay to be bought, and the rest has to be handmade. I could see that a lot of people opted with the DIY route, and they did an amazing job putting cosplays together. 

Again, this ties into the way in which otaku try to possess anime and manga. Because it is not possible to own a piece of fiction like an anime, otaku must own it either by cosplaying or creating their own derivative works. Most of the attendees at SwampCon were either dressed as an anime character or had some form of anime merchandise on. I saw several people taking group pictures with others cosplaying from the same source material and even acting as the characters that they were cosplaying, While it might seem as these people were confusing fiction and reality, they were easily able to switch from their cosplay persona to their actual personality quickly. 

The next thing that we went to was K-Pop Random Dancing hosted by the Genesis Dance Team. I’m not into K-Pop, I just tagged along with my boyfriend. It was also during this that I realized I had physics homework that I had yet to start. Anyway, the way that random dancing worked was that a snippet of a K-Pop song would play, and those who knew the dance would jump in and dance along. I didn’t jump in as I didn’t recognize a lot of the songs. This also reflects the idea of shadow cultural capital. There were some people who knew a few dances, and some who knew most of them (shoutout to the Venti (I think) cosplayer who was in the dance circle for almost every song). Those who knew more of the dances have more cultural capital than those who knew a few or none of the dances. K-Pop fans are also similar to anime fans in the way that they can’t possess their interests physically, so they possess it by learning the choreography to their favorite songs.

We left the convention shortly after this, but my boyfriend and I did return the next day. 

My boyfriend and I wanted to attend the Five Nights at Freddy’s panel, which recounted the lore of the entire franchise, but we showed up too late and the room was full. We moved on from that and returned to the Artist Alley. Pictured above is me very excited to have gotten a Sailor Moon sticker which is now located next to Shinji on my laptop. 

I took a picture of the tipping wars jars because 1) I thought it was hilarious and 2) it reflects how conventions are a safe space for people with similar interests. While Twilight is a rather mainstream series, it and many other fandoms have their own inside jokes that those who are unfamiliar with the series would not understand. The inclusion of Twilight also showed how SwampCon was not only limited to anime, but to other series as well. It also showed how the franchises ranged from niche to mainstream.

We also went to a K-Pop Guess That Tune. As someone who is not into K-Pop I could not guess that tune. We arrived late, so we only got to listen to a few songs before the panel ended. The songs that they played ranged from niche to popular. Those who know the more obscure songs and the popular songs had more cultural capital than those who don’t.

Since the Vocaloid Best Of seemed to have ended earlier than what the schedule said, and there weren’t any panels that caught our interest, we decided to go to the game room and bowl instead. It was absolutely hilarious seeing characters such as Yoshikage Kira and Spike Spiegel playing pool. While there, they were playing anime openings. I was able to recognize the themes for Attack on Titan, Jujutsu Kaisen, Your Lie in April, and more. After getting absolutely obliterated, we decided to call it a day. The highlight of my day was a Publix worker coming up to us and saying “Shinji Ikari and Joseph Joestar!” 

Overall, SwampCon was a very fun experience. The convention provided a safe space for fans of different franchises and allowed them to collectively geek out over their favorite shows and games. Similarly, SwampCon was a safe space for groups such as furries and those in the LGBTQ+ community and any other groups whose interests don’t line up with mainstream culture. I can’t wait to attend next year!