All about Anime in the North

Last year for Anime North 2017 I had a BLAST meeting my fellow (original old school generation) Pokemon lovers! I was so busy with the convention and working and starting to get side projects together that I forgot to post about this shortly after it happened - I'm sorry!
So this post is a catch-up from last year.. and my next post will be a first look at my plans for this year!

My cosplay of choice was a Houndoom Gijinka (a.k.a "Moe anthropomorphism or Moe gijinka; where qualities are given to non-human beings, objects, concepts, or phenomena.) Some of you may remember seeing my teaser posts online about my costume in progress! I had alot of run listening to all of you guess which Pokemon I was going to be.

Houndoom has always been one of my favourite Pokemon (mostly because I LOVE Dobermans so much) it was kind of a crunch to decide what to wear for the weekend so I went with something more versatile & casual than complicated. I've always had a BIG deep love of theatre & costuming (mostly anything artistic and 'craftey' in general) and as I grew older costuming turned into cosplay.

Everything was hand measured, cut & stitched - I was especially proud of my tail, which lasted Friday until Saturday night before the inner wire cracked. But it was able to stand and sway all on its own attached to a belt I wore. If I had more time I would've loved to make a full mask/cowel or even a headpiece and paws.. maybe this year, haha!

I met alot of amazing cosplayers & coworkers, saw some great performances by Nagata Shachu (formerly Kiyoshi Nagata Ensemble) and Illuminair Entertainment along with attending some great workshops on cosplay building!

I met Spider_Seebs and Toronto_Dadpool along with the Symbiote_Spidey (it took me all 3 days to hunt them down, haha.) I was very excited to meet some of my fellow Pokemon who I had communicated with prior to the convention. It was a challenge finding them all because we were all running around looking for eachother!? But I met an awesome Charizard, the cutest Cubone, alot of great Pikachu, the best Solgaleo I've ever met (we kept texting back and forth trying to find each other,) James with his head stuck in a Wheezing and an amazing Steampunk version of Absol just to list a few!? I also met the coolest Kaneki Ken, a minion and lots of furries everywhere!

Here are some of my pictures from the convention, and please Click Here to find my album, it will also be updated with this years pictures too!

I would have to say my favourite memory from last year's Anime North though, (besides the great pool I got to relax in after everyday) was walking across my hotel parking lot (feeling like the amazing Houdoom that I am) and hearing a little girl scream and yell "OH MY GOD DAD! Is that Houndoom!?" When I looked it was a 12 year old Pikachu with her dad dressed as Scar from Full Metal Alchemist. I waved at both of them and we took some pictures together. I'm pretty sure I made her entire year lol her smile was worth everything I went through.

If you have any ideas that I should cosplay at the next Anime North, Fan Expo, Kingston Comic con or anyother event, please comment below!