I’ve always been sort of ambivalent about my name. It’s cute, I guess. Substitute teachers can’t pronounce it and the story behind how I got it is totally wack (it’s a mash between all of my aunt’s names), but I’ve never really cared one way or the other. That changed recently.
I went to GalaxyCon in Richmond and met my all-time favorite female anime dub voice actor. Her name is Brittney Karbowski. She voices Rimuru from Tensura, Yachi from Haikyuu!, Black Star from Soul Eater, and about a hundred other people I could pick out of a crowd because I’d know her voice anywhere. Anyways, I got her autograph and she told me my name was pretty so now I could never change it even if I wanted to. I met a lot of my favorite VA’s at this con. I was so close to crying just hearing them speak in person when I have this mental catalog of their voices. Aaron Dismuke (Tamaki from MHA, Lucifer from The Devil is a Part-Timer), for instance, is my second favorite male VA and was one of the first voices I learned by heart. I recognized his voice before I recognized his face. Needless to say, I was fangirling hard all weekend.
That doesn’t even account for the cosplayers I saw. Surprisingly, or should I say unsurprisingly given the popularity of the shows, most of the anime cosplays came from Demon Slayer or Chainsaw Man. MHA was also pretty high up there, including me going as Deku the second day, but it wasn’t as much as I thought it would be. One Piece was like that too. I guess it’s just easier to throw on a haori than create an intricate costume. But everyone looked so good. I wanted to compliment so many people but my anxiety kept flaring up and I couldn’t say anything unless they came up to me first. I’d say I also looked pretty good that weekend considering I got a marriage proposal five minutes after arriving in Richmond.
Honestly, that kind of scared me and I was prepared for obnoxious catcalling, especially since I was wearing shorts, but people were so nice with their comments. The guy that “proposed” wasn’t even at the Con. He was just a rando on the street that saw me trying to eat lunch before the doors opened the first day. The event hall had “Cosplay is NOT Consent” signs posted all around the venue, but I didn’t hear any stories of Con Creeps. It was my first Con ever so I’m glad I didn’t have that negative experience. I went to an “anime rave” Friday night, which was way more fun than I thought a room full of nerds dancing would be. Everyone was so encouraging and forced me into the dance circle. If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to be hyped up and blown kisses by a girl dressed as a San Romero Knights cheerleader from Lollipop Chainsaw, I know firsthand it’s awesome. Also, there was a JoJo Stand pose battle and I expect every single anime-themed party I go to in the future to have one.
All in all, 10/10 would recommend this Con to anyone interested. It was great for a total Con baby like me and there were also hardcore vets in the crowd having just as much fun. I was pretty much only there for the anime stuff, but there was stuff for Marvel, Star Wars, D&D, Gaming, LOTR, and just about any nerdy thing you can think of. I watched a tap dance version of Avengers: Civil War and then debated whether CareBears or Smurfs would win in a war. Obvs, it was CareBears. Did I lose my voice and my sanity? Yes. Was it fun? Also yes, and I’d do it again.
