Freaks, weirdos, geeks, nerds, otakus, weeaboos all these different labels and names that people find for us but none capture fully the true essence of what we are. Passionate! About a culture so refined and foreign to us that damn near everything about it pulls you in. The time honored history, values and culture that is passed on through not only the people but also the media that manages to leave its country and make its way overseas for us to partake in. It has been 50 long and noteworthy years since Jamaica first partnered with Japan as countries in arms and I am proud to see such an out pouring of support from so many for events such as Anime Nation. This will now be the 5th year since this event took Jamaica by storm and oddly it shows no signs of slowing down. Every year more and more people show up and every year the lovely people at JA Cosplayaz have to find a bigger and better venue to house all the passionate anime/manga lovers out there.
JaCosplayaz is primarily spearheaded by the above 3 individuals; from left to right: Tetrice Afayah Prendergast, Zane Francis, & Fabian Pinkney. AS you can see clearly they have a strong passion for the culture and all it offers whether through gaming or animation. It was this passion that has led them into a long standing partnership with the Embassy Of Japan that has helped bring awareness of Japan in Jamaica to higher heights every year. From the various cultural exchange programs such as JET (The Japan Exchange And Teaching Programme) to more local based events such as Anime Nation, Japanese presence and impact is at an all time high in Jamaica. Just want to take this time to say kudos to the aforementioned people and all the countless hours and sacrifices they made to make this recurring event the success it is today. Also want to give a very honorable mention to the three main admins of the JACosplayaz Facebook page Tara Sham, Sherae Morrison & Stephen Brown.
 |
| Stephen & Sherae Spent The Night Terrifying Patron Young And Old |
The event started off well and granted some items ran overtime somehow managed to progress smoothly into the night. The day started off with a one of a kind interview segment with one of Japans animators of legend Masami Suda. One of the main driving forces behind such classics as Gatchaman aka G-Force and Fist of the North Star. Not to mention all the cultural displays and merchandise on sale; and if that wasn't enough there was a wide variety of live performances on display for the patrons from musical to animated. Hell there was even a video game tournament played for Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3. The night culminated into an epic costume parade to showcase some of the cosplayers in attendance. Local cosplayer extraordinaire Steffi Singh made a clean sweep of Anime Nation 2014 by winning not only the award for cosplayer of the year but also best costume of the event. Kudos to you Steffi you made a lot of people proud, really wanted to get one of your water paintings but my outfit broke my piggy bank so sucks to be me.
 |
| Steffi Singh |
All in all great event, great turnout and great people. I am very happy with my first experience cosplaying even though I was pretty nervous about my outfit and being around so many people. The highlights of my night would be all the lil kids I took pictures with, seeing all the Japanese people instantly recognize my cosplay and wanting to take pics and getting to snap a picture with a fellow Dragonball Z cosplayer who was cosplaying as Gohan. Can't wait for next years event to roll around definitely going to cosplay a character that isn't short so I don't have to crouch for all my pics to stay in character, its been two days and my legs are still jello and ache. Sorry to those that would have preferred to see video coverage footage but my camera has issues and dies super fast if I record video so I focused mainly on taking pictures so feel free to look through the 200+ pictures I managed to get and remember to like our Facebook page. This is your friendly neighborhood gamer Zalgo Cometh signing off...
