No worries! I would have been completely at sea if I hadn't been in a group with so many people who'd been there before.
It sounds like something like that (specially since I'll be using my own hair) would be fine to get in with. Basically if I tried going in full cosplay into the center I'd have a problem. Do I have that about right?
Sounds about right to me. They may change the policies a bit year-to-year, but I'm sure you'd be safe that way.
Culturally, I'm weirded out by the whole concept of not being able to enter the center in cosplay but when in Rome...
Yeah, me too. I hear all cosplay events are the same. Weird fashion is fine on the streets, but cosplay is over the line for some reason. IDGI either.
Also, if your friend is going to be there cosplaying Aeris tell her I hope to see her.
I'll check with her next time I get the chance. She's working in Japan and speaks the language fluently, and knows all this stuff a lot better than I do.
My other cosplay question is about the rest of the center while in costume. From what I gather so long as one is not stopping to pose for pictures or causing a nuisance with bulky cosplay, it should be fine to wander about?
Yup, absolutely. You're not allowed to bring any big props for obvious reasons, but you're completely welcome to wander. A couple of my friends even managed to get given free tickets to a game demo just by standing around looking awesome. *g*
The other question I had was not for myself (since I'm more of a cosplay whore than anything else) but my friend who isn't and will want to see events and exhibits. The first day you said you got there at 7 to queue up and still didn't get into the square-enix showing... is it just me or are people there queuing up at 5AM or possibly earlier? You mentioned the second day you were there at... 5:30 if I read that correctly? Yikes.
Technically I think we got there at about 6-6:30 (5:30 was when we got up). We were staying at a hotel within walking distance and pretty much just threw on our clothes and ran down. The thing about Square-Enix is that they're ridiculously popular, and have a lot of exclusive stuff at their booth - both the theatre and the game demos. To prevent people from having to queue up all day they were handing out tickets early on, and getting them was first-come, first-serve. There were separate queues for the theatre and for each game, and they moved fast - you literally just got in the queue and got handed a ticket at the end. I think every ticket for everything that was on that day had been handed out by about fifteen or twenty minutes after they opened.
I think most other booths are probably not that bad (to get an autograph from the creator of Guilty Gear, I only had to queue for half an hour or so) - it probably depends how big and popular they are. It may depend what your friend wants to see, but you could easily stand in queues all day there.
It almost sounds worse than the ride lines at Disney during busy season.
I think, knowing Disney only by reputation, it may be exactly like that.
For the other photoshoot I plan on finding a place in Tokyo that reminds me of some of the game scenes. I'd like to find a nice older style area too for a few pictures. Obviously I have nothing particular in mind so if you have any suggestions I'd absolutely love to hear them!
All I can really tell you about cosplaying in Tokyo is that we did a big photoshoot in Shibuya and had a blast, though I don't know that any part of it particularly looked like FFVII. One of the big fashion districts might be a good call on general principles (Shibuya, Harajuku and Shinjuku esp). I'll see if my friend has any good suggestions.
no subject
It sounds like something like that (specially since I'll be using my own hair) would be fine to get in with. Basically if I tried going in full cosplay into the center I'd have a problem. Do I have that about right?
Sounds about right to me. They may change the policies a bit year-to-year, but I'm sure you'd be safe that way.
Culturally, I'm weirded out by the whole concept of not being able to enter the center in cosplay but when in Rome...
Yeah, me too. I hear all cosplay events are the same. Weird fashion is fine on the streets, but cosplay is over the line for some reason. IDGI either.
Also, if your friend is going to be there cosplaying Aeris tell her I hope to see her.
I'll check with her next time I get the chance. She's working in Japan and speaks the language fluently, and knows all this stuff a lot better than I do.
My other cosplay question is about the rest of the center while in costume. From what I gather so long as one is not stopping to pose for pictures or causing a nuisance with bulky cosplay, it should be fine to wander about?
Yup, absolutely. You're not allowed to bring any big props for obvious reasons, but you're completely welcome to wander. A couple of my friends even managed to get given free tickets to a game demo just by standing around looking awesome. *g*
The other question I had was not for myself (since I'm more of a cosplay whore than anything else) but my friend who isn't and will want to see events and exhibits. The first day you said you got there at 7 to queue up and still didn't get into the square-enix showing... is it just me or are people there queuing up at 5AM or possibly earlier? You mentioned the second day you were there at... 5:30 if I read that correctly? Yikes.
Technically I think we got there at about 6-6:30 (5:30 was when we got up). We were staying at a hotel within walking distance and pretty much just threw on our clothes and ran down. The thing about Square-Enix is that they're ridiculously popular, and have a lot of exclusive stuff at their booth - both the theatre and the game demos. To prevent people from having to queue up all day they were handing out tickets early on, and getting them was first-come, first-serve. There were separate queues for the theatre and for each game, and they moved fast - you literally just got in the queue and got handed a ticket at the end. I think every ticket for everything that was on that day had been handed out by about fifteen or twenty minutes after they opened.
I think most other booths are probably not that bad (to get an autograph from the creator of Guilty Gear, I only had to queue for half an hour or so) - it probably depends how big and popular they are. It may depend what your friend wants to see, but you could easily stand in queues all day there.
It almost sounds worse than the ride lines at Disney during busy season.
I think, knowing Disney only by reputation, it may be exactly like that.
For the other photoshoot I plan on finding a place in Tokyo that reminds me of some of the game scenes. I'd like to find a nice older style area too for a few pictures. Obviously I have nothing particular in mind so if you have any suggestions I'd absolutely love to hear them!
All I can really tell you about cosplaying in Tokyo is that we did a big photoshoot in Shibuya and had a blast, though I don't know that any part of it particularly looked like FFVII. One of the big fashion districts might be a good call on general principles (Shibuya, Harajuku and Shinjuku esp). I'll see if my friend has any good suggestions.