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Anonymous11/28/25, 03:14No.10964788
What keeps you coming back to cons? Even /cgl/, as small as it is, shows there's a billion possible combinations to explain: "Why?" Some answers, but definitely not all, would be
>Cosplaying
solo, group, admiring, meetups, photography
>What the event itself offers
Guests, shops / artist alley, rave, game room
>The social element
Parties (unofficial), hookups, meet new folks, mutual friends flying in from different areas
>Hanging out
People watch, the weird experiences only cons can provide, that one time in the year "the gang gets back together"
And of course any reasons I forgot to include are always encouraged. The floor is yours, gulls.
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Anon11/28/25, 03:41No.10964789
Because I work 40-50(sometimes 60) hours a fucking week and I want some shit to do that keeps me motivated, going to the gym and then have a 3-4 day weekend where I can just forget the mundane bullshit of adult life and slam some beers with the bros, shit talk terrible seasonal anime, chat it up with other weirdos my age, and not remember oh yeah my 9-5 is there on monday.I have fairly low standards as long as I don't have to hear some drama queen bitch or some retard from pol/KF show up or deal with underages trying to get into a room party. Just let me get in my goofy ass cosplay, sit my ass down at a bar, meet some friends, go to some silly panels, buy some retardedly over priced merch, have a good hangover brunch on sunday, and go sleep for 12 hours so I can wake up monday at 8am for hell.
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Anon11/28/25, 18:24No.10964813
the fact that without them I have almost nothing. Hell, just starting to go to these made me realize how lonely I was before, and how tired I was of being lonely.
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Anon11/28/25, 19:09No.10964816
I haven't been to a con in ages. I'm just here because of habits and to see the drama leak through reminding me that cons aren't worth it anymore.
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Anon11/28/25, 22:19No.10964827
It's a mini vacation where I see friends and drink way too much
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Anon11/28/25, 22:44No.10964829
The hot girls
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Anon12/03/25, 11:23No.10965066
I will be completely honest - because I love photographing cosplayers and events and this particular fandom is most friendly kind of one, next to wargaming/scale models community (at least in my country). I especially enjoy cosplay contests, fan idol groups performing on stage and when I manage to get good shoot. My heart literally melts when I make photo of some amateur or starting cosplayer and they are visibly and openly happy that someone noticed them and their effort. I was doing this for nearly 10 years now and nobody mind that I get older. It's amazing.Meanwhile I'm still too afraid to try and ask people for actual sessions, especially since I'm not really into social media and wouldn't be able to maintain IG account the way pro photographers do (just have my private site where I upload all my galleries, since last few months also IG account since a lot of cosplayers and performancers suggested me to make one but no idea how often I should upload here, what to drop, etc). Maybe I should, just to have a memory of at least trying to do that once. But so far, cons are rare cases where I can fully relax and feel welcomed and accepted.
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Anon12/03/25, 13:57No.10965067
it’s fun
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Anon12/03/25, 22:13No.10965080
There's an overwhelming sense of camaraderie, a sense of "these are my people". Even though I know people IRL who watch, its a different beast to be in such a celebratory space.
>cosplay
I absolutely love the act of turning myself into my favorite characters. Something about studying the details, the accessories, the hair, and being creative and putting work into bringing the characters come to life just has such a satisfying and amazing feeling (come to think of it, like Marin when she jumps around being so happy about "I AM Shizuku Kuroe!", I totally get that feeling and vibe).
>events
Definitely love the events. The raves/parties are always very fun.
>Guests
I've recently gotten pretty into different VAs and who voices what characters. If a favorite character's VA is showing up, I'll try to cosplay their character and get pics/autograph. Just a lot of fun.
>hanging out
I go with friends/my partner and we just really have a super fun time of it all.
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Anon12/04/25, 02:28No.10965103
I like cosplay but going to cons makes it a vacation.
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Anon12/11/25, 15:37No.10965389
Honestly I got a bit of a con bore going on. I wouldn't say I have seen everything. But I have seen enough of what most cons can offer. Colossal con east was interesting with the party culture and water park alone.
I think I mostly go for cosplay. To cosplay and to see others unique costumes. But I find some con-goers kinda lackluster people with forumalic costumes. It feels like every guy has to do Leon Kennedy and most of them do bare minimum so it feels cheap.
I sometimes go to game but I can do that at home. Most panels have cringy presenters or topics so I don't bother. Especially since some of the people that attend are complete drama queens that can ruin your reputation. So I feel more hesitant to get close to new cosplay friends.
I usually do go if my friends go but otherwise I started going when i had fewer con friends and mutuals. So in a way I almost go because its just a nerdy event you can't find elsewhere that lets you embody a character you love. But its getting expensive and some cons seem to have become more lackluster now. Like Otakon having less profesisonal staff or the many controversies with Thy Geekdom con that at least for me shattered the prospect of going there now.
So yeah parties which I will look forward to doing this upcoming MAGFEST and debuting new costumes is always fun for me. always better with friends.
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Anon12/11/25, 16:19No.10965390
I like the vibes and buying art. Any panels I think are neat are a bonus.
Kinda getting the itch to put on a panel myself, and maybe it's the influence of my cosplaying friends but I'm starting to want to give that a shot, too.
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Anon12/11/25, 22:50No.10965403
I still go for artist alleys. That's also why I liked going to a Japanese con twice and would like to go back a few more times, buying doujinshi and reading them whenever I want makes it worth it. I don't care about other parts of cons anymore because I don't care about the cosplays I see or don't recognize them, guests are random tiktokers who just happen to like DBZ, there aren't anymore concerts by Japanese artists in the cons where I go, and professional sellers just sell bootlegs of anything you can think of.
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Anon12/21/25, 11:19No.10965790
I am more in my element with a bunch of nerds and weebs. My friends arent really nerds, so cons help me find a community with that side of things, if only for a weekend.
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Anon12/24/25, 23:10No.10965983
NGL I've only been to two cons this year, a smaller one and Dokomi, and for both I didn't need to pay for tickets because I was helping a friend with her booth or modelling for the J-Fashion show. I still bought regular tickets for Dokomi 2026 because the whole fashion show thing might not work out this year due to a change in how they handle volunteer helpers, as well as the new organisation team that got implemented this year for the fashion stage sucking major balls.
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Anon12/27/25, 03:20No.10966079
Quite a few things actually:
>partying with the bros
>a reason to travel
>that warm feeling when someone recognizes and complements your cosplay, usually only obtainable when someone enjoys my cooking
>good panels
>the positive energy from seeing my friends also have fun and contributing to that how I can, thus creating a positive energy tide that floats all boats
>the chance to discuss shit I like irl and meet more people into said shit
>the nearly impossible chance that I might meet a woman who clicks with me, which for some reason I haven’t written off as entirely impossible