The 95th holding of Comic Market (a.k.a. Comiket 95), held in December 2018, would be a new experience for me, in that it would be my first time to attend as a cosplayer myself. I'd worn my Star Wars X-Wing fighter pilot costume (customized with various parts to more closely match the movie look than the commercially sold outfit) before to an event, Tokyo Comic Con. But that was my only previous experience as an event cosplayer, and being in Japan and the Tokyo area, I really wanted to add the Comiket 95 badge to my imaginary X-Wing hull, to go along with the imaginary Tokyo Comic Con badge. So...
I went with a friend, the same one I went to Comic Con with in costume. She had some previous experience, cosplaying at Comiket in 2015. And I tend to lean heavily on my local friends when it comes to new experiences and those times when not knowing the Japanese language too well makes things stressful and/or uncomfortable. Finally, going with someone with that particular interest in cosplaying (hard to find for me at Camp Zama) makes it more fun!
Normally I try to get to Tokyo Big Sight past noon, in order to avoid the initial crowds. But under the cosplay agenda I wanted to maximize the amount of time at the event in costume as much as reasonably possible. Getting in at around 1130 wasn't too bad; there were lots of people still arriving and making their way in alongside/ahead of us but it was steady progress.
The more difficult part was the waiting in line to get to the cosplayer changing rooms; it is against the event's rules to arrive/depart the event in costume so we had to wait in the cold until it was our respective turns to get in. But once that hurdle was cleared, it was pure cosplay fun.
We then made our way to the East Hall area and posed for a few photos in various backgrounds at the venue, finding a Tokyo Bay background to resemble the ocean scenery of Scarif (from Rogue One) and a vegetated wall that brought about visions of Yavin 4 (the Rebel Alliance base in Episode IV). And of course, we were able to get the "signature" shots of us in our costumes in front of the Tokyo Big Sight main building; that shot tells all that you were an active participant in the biggest fan event in the world.
It was also a surprise that so many photographers took our photos as well; I was not expecting that since the majority of fans attending were seemingly more interested in the local entertainment genres. But, some of the photographers who captured us either indicated an interest in Star Wars, or didn't know what our costumes were but liked the look so much that they wanted a photo.
Sadly, there was no time to check out any of the vendor booths or entertainment company exhibitions. Waiting in line to get changed, doing photos, eating lunch at one of the food vendors, and not wanting to wait too long to get back into normal clothes at the end (to avoid the end of event rush) prevented us from any leisure browsing/shopping this time. I felt far from cheated, though, as I'd earned my imaginary Comiket 95 cosplay badge and had an unforgettable new experience on my 10th visit to the event. Perhaps at Comiket 96, I'd attend as a "mere commoner" again to shop and take photos.
Recommendations if interested in cosplaying at Comiket:
- Be prepared to wait in lines if arriving at or within two hours of the event opening at 1000. Take that as a general guideline/warning but specifically, be prepared to stand around in the cold windy December weather or the humid blistering heat of August. Also:
--Go to the restroom before getting in line!
--Don't get in line hungry and/or without food, especially if you're not "you" when you're hungry.
--Wait times to enter the ladies changing room is around 2+ hours (compared to around 10-15 minutes for the mens room).
- If you arrive later, say 1300, the lines will be shorter, but so will your time at the event.
- Go with a local friend (who can speak/understand Japanese), or someone who's cosplayed here before. With so many people in attendance, the pressure on event staff is high and can make the language barrier tough to get around.
- When you pay the fee (1000 yen) for registering as a cosplayer, they'll hand you a colored paper handout before you enter the changing room. Keep it with you; you'll need to show it when you return to the changing room to get out of costume (as proof that you've registered/paid already).
- Don't worry about your costume being "substandard" quality compared to other cosplayers' outfits; yours will probably not be the best or worst. Just understand that yours will be somewhere in that sea of costumes. And personality (your actions/expressions/attitude) matching that of the character goes a long way, even at Comiket.
- If you're on the fence about this... just do it! You'll have a great experience and strong bragging rights to say you were a cosplayer at Comiket!
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