Event - Japan Con / Brussels Manga 2023
You must admit it: it takes Balls of Steel to organise a strictly manga cosplay focussed convention the weekend before the biggest strictly manga focussed event.. ànd to do it in the same city. So kudos to Japan Con (or Brussels Manga, I'm still not 100% which of those names should be used) to show their giant BoS to Made in Asia.
The fact that the tickets weren't sold out should have been a warning..
Still: an entry gate without a waiting queue, the free space in the expensive parking, the empty convention space to make pictures.. those are all very positive points.
Let's continue on this positive note:
What makes a cosplay convention?
Indeed: the cosplayers. and the ones that showed up were kind & looked great. They gently posed.. often with a big smile.. and sometimes with a hint of fear for the temporarily wildbearded photographer in their eyes. And since there was plenty of room in the halls and between the few stalls (unlike Comic Con last October) I could whip out the big 135mm lens and use all the space I needed. Delicious!
I even had both the time and a patient victim to shoot a short piece of training video for a future Sony Tech-video. An unsuspected win.
It would have been awesome to do some shoots outside since the sun was out.. but it was just too damn cold and besides: the light in Tour & Taxis is simply magnificent for as long as the sun is high enough!
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More positives? The crew was very nice. From the security guard who helped, over the cook, up to the media coördinator who doubled as my light-assistant for some shots. Great people.
The walking space in between the stalls was large enough to pass even with a wheelchair. Thumbs up.
The number of parents cosplaying together with their offspring was remakable. A nice evolution. Sometimes I'm not sure if it was the parent who inspired their kid or the other way around. I can only hope this will make - in time - the elder generation as accepted in the manga/comic cosplay circuit as it has become in the fantasy fair circuit.. maybe there's still hope for my old Gankutsuou then.
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Even more positive notes?
Hmm.. The catch was fun (eventhough I wonder how this qualified as the announced "Japanese catch"), as were the Taiko-drumhumans.
There were many cosplayers on stage during the catwalk? There were a few vendors, some good ones.. eventhough it's always the same ones.. with the same stuff.
Ow, don't listen to me complaining..
I'm deliberating over more positive points..
While I think very deeply let me quickly remind you:
that 3 short videos will be posted to Clapper and Instagram,
updates about the photo processing & next events can be found on Facebook
and ALL the photos are NOW available in this Flickr album.
Other costume events I covered recently are here.
Oh-yes, I have a final positive point: I was home early!
Beneath I'll post some more sample images everytime I process a bunch for Flickr.
If you want to search for yourself between all photos I made then click this suspicious link.
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Video 1 - The full version is on Clapper /
There's also a shorter version of this video on Instagram.
Note to all catwalkers: It was impossible to make both video/photo of each one of you on stage. Some are on video, some on photo, several on both, a few on neither. It all depended on the speed of your passage, the duration of your poses, the location you decided to halt at, ect.. you know what I mean.
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Video 2 - On Clapper / On Instagram
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Video 3 - On Clapper / On Instagram
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Do you want even more samples?
UPDATE: all photos have been processed and are in this Flickr album.
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Namaste & till another event.
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