Nov. 8 to 10 marked one of my personal favorite times of the year– Kumoricon! Kumoricon is a yearly anime convention held at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland, OR. I’ve been going to this convention since 2022, and the last two years they were so kind as to offer me press badges so that I could attend and write about the convention! So, how was my Kumoricon 2024? I’d love to tell you!
We’ll start with Friday. On this day I went as a casual Chrollo from “Hunter X Hunter.” I normally go all out with cosplay, but this time I decided to keep it a little more simple, so that I had the opportunity to actually walk around and enjoy everything without having to worry about a wig headache 30 minutes into the convention.
I started out the day by meeting up with my hometown friends and spending $75 on a cup from Wild Bill’s Craft Beverage Co. A tradition I have for this convention since the cups come with unlimited soda refills and overall just look super cool. After that was my first event of the day, a K-Pop dance class. K-Pop classes and gatherings have started taking up more space at anime conventions, and I’m honestly here for it.
These fandoms tend to overlap a lot of the time, so it’s nice to see that they’ve started including K-Pop activities at conventions! Shortly after was a K-Pop random play dance (RPD), where they play sections of a K-Pop song and if you know the choreography you go out and dance! These first two events were put on by a group called REV PDX, a group that I’ve come to know very well from seeing at multiple conventions running RPD’s and classes just like these!
Up next we have Saturday, the busiest day for almost every convention. This day was when I decided to walk around the artist alley and vendor hall a little bit more, just to get an idea of what there was. One thing about conventions, you will see some of the most amazing art. There was of course a ton of anime fanart being sold, but there were also many artists selling original works that were just as beautiful.
In the vendor hall you’ll also see more insane art, just in a different form. Many vendors at this convention were selling handmade clothes, accessories and I even saw someone selling beautiful ceramic pieces. However, I didn’t make any purchases this day. Word of advice, always wait until the last day of the convention to buy anything. This is because you’ll see so many amazing things throughout the convention that you’ll wanna snatch up immediately and that’s a great way to go broke real fast.
My rule is that if I’m still thinking about it by the last day, then I really do need to get it. This day of the con had two more RPD’s that I, of course, had to go to. One was held by a group called BrightNRose, a group that both hosts K-Pop events and performs K-Pop covers, and the next was another one hosted by REV PDX. Both were such amazing events, and I even signed up for a performance with BrightNRose afterwards since I had such a good time!
Now we come to Sunday, the last day of the convention. This day I just did a casual Yor Forger cosplay from “Spy X Family,” wanting to be cozy since it had started to get a little colder out. This day was mostly spent making purchases in the artist alley and vendor hall and seeing some amazing cosplays!
On this day my friend Huy was dressed as vigilante Deku from “My Hero Academia,” a cosplay he made completely himself! This has always been one of my favorite things about conventions, seeing all the creativity and hard work that people put into these cosplays. These cosplayers, to me, are very similar to the artists seen in artist alley. No two cosplayers ever look the exact same. Even if they’re dressing as the same character, they always add their own flair whether it be the wig, the outfit or the makeup.
And sadly, Kumoricon 2024 had to come to an end. This convention is one of my favorites for a reason, especially going as press. The press staff at Kumoricon is made up of some of the kindest people I’ve ever met, always wanting to help out and being so attentive. The staff working the doors or checking badges always have a smile to give people, and just overall they make sure that the convention runs as smoothly as possible. So, if you’re ever in Portland in November, maybe stop by the convention center and have a look for yourself.
