That Time We Got Isekai’d to Cosplay Carnival 2023

Otakus Who Conquered the Fair

Cosplay Carnival 2023’s program included some old and new activities. Cosplay Auction was a big hit with the crowd, while Cosplay Karaoke, Cosplay OTP, Razer x Genshin Impact’s Cosplay Finals, and Cosplay Dance Duet were great displays of talent and craft. In case you missed it, Crunchyroll was also at Cosplay Carnival 2023! The world’s largest anime streaming service across the globe held the Shinobu Showdown on stage. It was filled with all sorts of anime-related trivia questions and I’m glad to say (again) that my colleague, Rob, was one of the winners.

Among the best cosplays we saw at Cosplay Carnival is the epic Ruin Grader who won the Razer x Genshin Impact cosplay contest. His large and spectacular performance, especially the spinning part, is what won the crowd’s cheer. It was also a hilarious time watching Miss Scarlette’s comedic performance as Albedo who drew a derp Paimon and was also “dropped” by his backup guy dressed up as Albedo’s elemental skill (or elevator, as fans joke.) It was also a crazy sight to see con-goers get competitive over a Q&A portion with Blessing of the Welkin Moon prizes.

Cosplay Carnival 2023 also gave out Con-quest Maps for con-goers to complete. The adventure spread out through the exhibits, sponsors, and cosplayers in the event. Successful con-goers got a special prize for their successful adventures.

Let’s Go SHOPPING!

The Blockbuster, Collectibles, Lifestyle, and Art Fair had a lot of our favorites and it was definitely a shopping paradise (or a broke nightmare, if you’ve spent your budget…like me.) For example, Aniporium was filled with so much anime merch and goodies while their brand ambassadors cheerfully invited many con-goers to visit the shop. Aezer was also one of the fan-favorite spots of the convention with its wide array of Genshin Impact merch. It was also hard not to miss Gamdias, Razer x Genshin Impact, and Razer x Tower of Fantasy with the crowds gathering to see their dynamic game set-ups. District 1 Cosplay Studio also received a lot of visitors with its themed pop-up studio. 

The Art or Fan Fair space was massive this year, taking up almost the hall’s end-to-end space. Every artist proudly displayed their work and it was a collective and lively place of everything pop culture. For instance, one of the kawaii local artists we discovered this CosCarni 2023 is Fiberfairy Pilipinas, a shop of handmade crochet creations including hats, Pokemon, anime characters, and my favorite, a “smol” Pochita from the Chainsaw Man. 

Major traffic around comic artist SSKAIT was also noticeable as enthusiastic fans came to buy the famous eggplant plush, mugs, shirts, and the most recent sunny Eri Neeman stickers. 

Coming next — our Cosplay Carnival 2023 cosplay gallery!