Towson student dressed as Link from The Legend of Zelda. (Photo by: Stephanie Gutierrez-Munguia)
It’s a peaceful Saturday morning. The sun is bright as ever and peeking through curtains in a residential apartment. A repeatedly sound interrupts the silence that filled the apartment. Beep. Beep. Beep. The alarming sound comes from a bedroom where there is an outline of a person under the covers of the bed. A pale hand shoots out from underneath the covers and slams on the snooze button. The alarm becomes silent once again and a groan resonates throughout the room. Stephanie Mehle sits up and stretches out the sleep out of her body. She gets up and walks to the bathroom to do her morning routine. 15 minutes later, we find Mehle in front of her closet taking out her costume for today. She puts on her black slacks, an orange lengthy long-sleeve button up shirt, and a black blazer. She then grabs an afro-like wig and a pair of circle-shaped sunglasses, fixes her hair, and leaves her apartment.
“I’ve had this costume for a couple of years. It’s one of my simple costumes, so it only took me half an hour to get ready,” Mehle said with a grin.
Mehle is among many other people who dress up in unique costumes for the annual Tigercon, an anime convention held at Towson University.
“Tigercon is a good introduction to Anime. It’s free and it’s local so what do you have to lose,” Laura Jones, a Towson alumni and a vendor at Tigercon, said.
Tigercon began in 2008 by the Towson Anime Club. The convention is primarily for fans of anime, which is Japanese animation. This year, the convention did things a bit different. The schedule went something like this: comedy shows, video game room with tournaments, musical performance, panels and workshops by guests and artists. There was also a cosplay (costume play where someone dresses and acts like that character) masquerade, hall contests, free screenings of various shows and films, a full artist’s alley, and several vendors.
“Tigercon is special because it’s entirely student run. That’s not something you see every day. I know of a few college campus run conventions, but not many. It’s possible that we are the largest free-convention on the east coast, but then again, we might be the only free-convention on the east coast,” Catherine Cronin, head chair for Tigercon, said.
Around 800 people attended Tigercon this year, even though over 400 people pre-registered. Only 700 people received a general attendee badge since it wasn’t expected that that many people were going to attend.
“Most of the time, its just four people running the main Tigercon stuff. To actually set up Tigercon, I couldn’t begin to tell you because Towson tech and set-up crew do all of that. To run it, however, most of the anime club pitches in at least some volunteer time. We had about 20, or maybe around 30, people working most of the convention,” Cronin said.
Tigercon is also famous for the variety of vendors that they have each year. There are people who make anime drawings and sell them at reasonable prices. Others create unique things that relate to anime or Japanese culture. Laura Jones has been a vendor at Tigercon for three years. Her business is called ShimmerWing Studios, where she makes earrings and necklaces out of origami paper and sells them.
“My business has been growing since I started selling my things at Tigercon. I used to go to Towson, so that’s how I learn about Tigercon and started selling my jewelry. I’ve been doing other events where I sell my jewelry and I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t start at Tigercon. It’s a nice thing I do at the side,” Jones said beaming with pride.
Jones, along with many other vendors, began their business at Tigercon. The vendors dress up like many other attendees. Like Mehle, some people take cosplay to a different people. Mehle said that she once dressed up as Volpe, a character in video game series Assassin’s Creed where she wore seven different layers of clothing.
“The cloak part has to be hooked on a different layer otherwise it falls apart. There was the vest, the belts, the cloak, the hook, and the weapons! It’s a pain, but it’s fun,” Mehle said, laughing.
There are other people who dress up in costumes that are complicated and expensive. It takes them hours to get ready to wear a costume that they would wear for a day. Some people paint their whole body to be a character.
“I think it’s interesting to see people spins on different things. That guy over there looks like a unicorn. It’s hard work and it takes a long time to dress up. People spend thousands of dollars just to get their costume right,” Taylor Green, vice president of the Towson Anime Club, said. “I have a lot of friends who are deep in cosplay and their houses are filled with beads and hot glue. There are some friends who bring their sewing machines to the hotel room to fix their costume on the day of the convention.”
Many people who cosplay usually do it all their lives. They walk down the public streets dressed up in their costume and they get many reactions from those around them. Some reactions may be positive; some may be negative.
“If I’m at a convention, the usual reaction is ‘Oh man, that’s so cool, where did you buy that? Did you make it? Can I take your picture?’ But if I’m wearing something like a brain slug or a cosplay costume to the grocery store, I get stares, laughs, and judging eyes.,” Cronin said. “Despite this, however, I run into people that find what I’m doing to be really cool, though weird, and variety is the spice of life. At the very least, every person I meet while I’m out dressed up has a story to go home and tell.”
Tigercon brings a variety of people together. Friends are being made and those who are shy are being confident as ever. There are other anime conventions that occur in Maryland, but they cost money. Tigercon, on the other hand, is open to college students who may be interested in attending a convention, but never had the money to do so.
“It’s stressful, but it’s also rewarding. Like the day of when you see everybody having fun, everybody is thank you for doing something like this. It makes you feel good that people are happy,” Green said.
It’s noon and the vending room is filled with people in their cosplay costumes walking around, chatting animatedly to their friends, and checking out each vendor. Mehle is looking at an anime drawing while talking to her friend, who’s dressed in a black leotard, black blazer, black tie, black fishnets, and a black top hat. It’s her third year attending Tigercon, and even though it’s a hassle to dress up, she doesn’t regret it one bit if it is to have fun and be with other people who are just like her.
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