I didn't expect that much. I have been to a small con the year before, and well. I didn't like it that much. These con' s are done by animefans for anime fans, and admirers for Japanese culture. There were a lot of merchandise stands that were all related to anime. Even the boardgamestand had all kinds of known game-titles like Risk that were all anime themed. Besides merchandise there were activities there are loved by this corner of the geek culture, like Yu-Gi-Oh, Dance Dance Revolution (a videogame involving actually moving your feet) and (retro) Nintendo games. Now, these are beloved activities within this community, but if your not into these kind of things there is not a lot to see here. In any case stay away from the karaoke if you love the opening themesong of 'Attack on Titans', like I do. That could kill your love for music forever.
So, is there any reason for steamers to go to Tomocon, and be honest, any con? Well...
Like I said, there are a lot to learn about Japenese Culture. There was even a traveling agency. The there are the katana-stands, sushi and noodlecorners and off course saké. If your interested in Japenese culture or cousin, give it a go.
The second reason are the artists. There was great art at display. Now I didn't take pictures, so I can't go in depth. But the most important reason, the atmosphere was great. In a gym that was probably to small for the number of visitors but the mood was great. People came up to me, and complimented my costume. Asked were it was from and I have some nice conversations with random strangers. And that is everything I really want from conventions like these. That is why I went in the first place. The people there were really interested in what I was doing and really loved to see some Steampunk.
This is the strange thing. Events like Elfia and Castlefest cater to visitors that are into anime, manga and even martial arts. Yet, cons like Tomofair seem to ignore the common fantasy, scifi fans. I was the one of the few non anime/videogame related cosplayers(?) Even Dutch Comicon have little to no fantasy, apart from knows series like Game of Thrones.
That also begs the question. What is the Dutch definition for Cosplay? I tried to write something one this before, but in the Netherlands Cosplay seems to refer to anime, movie or videogame related costumes, while original costume like those of Steampunks seem to be in another to be in a completely different corner of fandom. Is the latter even fandom? Much inspiration is based on pop culture, yes. But everything is based on something that has come before, so it is no real argument. But I'll leave that discussion for some other time.
I had a a lot of fun at Tomocon and if it is in Nijmegen next year I will visited again.
