[CRX] Awesome gaming cosplay and thoughts on Crunchyroll Expo 2018

NieR Cosplay Gathering

While it wasn’t “huge,” the NieR Cosplay Gathering was by far the most organized and fun cosplay to shoot.  Put together by cosplayer Yamini.Chan, who cosplayed as a sultry short-haired A2, the NieR Cosplay Gathering was more than just about dressing up as your favorite character.  Various scenes from NieR Automata were reenacted, various things only YoRHa units would say were spewed, and 9S went a little too kawaii.

Closing Thoughts on CRX

Crunchyroll Expo made a clear improvement from year one to year two, and it was highlighted by the fact that the venue was changed from within the Santa Clara Convention Center to the much bigger San Jose Convention Center.  At that, it’ll unfairly draw many a comparison to FanimeCon, which is held over Memorial Day Weekend and could see greater numbers because of the fact that it’s been around longer and has activities going on through the wee hours of the night. FanimeCon is also a tad more affordable and since it takes place as the summer starts vs. Crunchyroll happening as people are going back to school–it just makes it more packed.

That said, the reason CRX works the way it does is because it wasn’t packed, despite a record 45,000 people attending. With a few rare exceptions, *cough* Dan Salvato *cough*, you easily could walk up to any booth or merchant without much of a wait.  You could get into any panel room or anime viewing premiere without worrying what time it was.  You can show up to the autograph ticket collection like five minutes late and still get your top priority autograph (as long as it wasn’t Sean Schemmel).

Of course, since it wasn’t packed, there wasn’t nearly as much as cosplay, and if you go to these things for the cosplay, you’ll be leave a little bit disappointed.  It’s definitely bound to improve though, especially with all the great feedback Crunchyroll has been receiving in this area.

As a gamer that missed out on PAX, I don’t feel like I missed out at all simply because of the various game-oriented guests Crunchyroll had.  The fact that I got to see Yoshitaka Amano (Final Fantasy artist) draw last year and finally meet Yuji Horii this year is all due to the fact that Crunchyroll Expo had the presence of mind to bring such esteemed gentlemen in as guests of honor, and I hope this sort of tradition continues next year.  Could CRX get famous Nintendo composer Koji Kondo?  Or maybe Hideo Kojima since he loves conventions?  Or maybe even Shigeru Miyamoto?  My head is about to explode thinking about the possibilities, and I simply cannot wait until next year.