[Kumori Con ’25] I’m a Hot Mess

I’m pretty but powerful. They wanna know how it go

I flew into Kumori Con on Friday, October 31. I wore my Yomiko Readman (Read or Die) cosplay on the flight. As mundane was the Japanese-British librarian’s clothes were, I wanted to be ready to explore and navigate Kumo Con as soon as I landed in Portland. I have never been to Portland, this was my first time.

I checked into the Quality Inn, a few blocks up from the convention center. It was an easy walk in cosplay high heels and boots. However, the vibe of the Quality Inn was giving Eastern Bloc of Portland. The house manager had to shoo an unhoused person causing a nuisance on the property. License plates hailing from Washington state filled the parking lot. Many attendees were traveling around the PNW for the autumn anime convention. 

I checked in with registration. While there was a hiccup getting my press badge in, the staff was very friendly in handling it. I also appreciate that Kumo Con is one of the first cons in a while that I have attended that allows attendees to have a pronouns sticker on their badge. Sometimes badge ribbons make it hard to see, especially if you’re a collector of them. Kumo Con had no shortage of attendees collecting ribbons to decorate their badge. (wish I had known about this prior!) 

I went into Kumo Con without much expectations. Friday morning was light. I was able to check out a few rooms. I browsed through the Gunpla lounge where one can buy gunpla, trade Gundam ribbons, and get free packs of the Gundam TCG game. I appreciated that there was a vibrant Wow! Cool Robot! community in Portland. I also went to the karaoke room next door. A Jinu cosplayer sang, “Flesh for Fantasy.” The wait wasn’t too long, so I carried on with “Vanish into You” by Lady Gaga. 

The vendor market opened in the afternoon. I browsed through the artist alley and various anime vendors. This was a smaller vendor hall compared to the larger cons I typically attended this year. Vendors consisted of anime figures, accessories, home decor, etc. This was also a haven for furry accessories (and also the first time I ever talked about my two fursona’s with a vendor!). There was no shortage of vendors selling different tails and ears for our furry friends. The vendor hall also sold spam musubi – people were waiting over half an hour for the pacific islander ice ball. Artist booths had folks selling bookmarks, prints, shirts, and hair clips. The latter surprised me; I saw a few booths selling Studio Ghibli and cat themed hair accessories.

I did like what the Kumo Con official merch booth had. As a panelist, I was awarded Kumo Rewards. I thought I could spend it at the merch booth – they did have a cat themed ita bags, pins, plushes, etc. I couldn’t resist, but alas, they did not take Kumo Rewards – those were redeemable at the prize pool in programming. 

Programming was very strong for this smaller convention. Programming didn’t stop at 6PM. I stuck around for the ballroom dance on Saturday evening. Throughout the weekend, attendees can learn ballroom steps for free. I attended as girl type Ranma from the second Ranma ½ movie. Most of the tunes were from video games and classic ballroom songs. I was surprised to find that “Legends Never Die” from League of Legends appeared in the queue. My friends and I were belting out the song instead of dancing to a night club two step. I liked the geeky prom vibes and the effort the ballroom team put into this. I loved seeing everyone’s formal outfits and formal interpretations of characters. 

I also attended Anime Taboo. This took a classic board game with an anime twist. Basically, you’re given an anime, character, or anime trope. You would have your team members guess what it is without saying some obvious giveaway words. A few friends and I entered as Neko World Order just for fun. The grand prize was a My Hero Academia board game. I didn’t have room in my suitcase to take a board game home, so we just played it for fun. Somehow, we ended up getting first place. We gifted the My Hero Academia board game to our other team member. 

Panels were very strong at this convention. I liked that all the panels were all in one place. I referred to this area as the “couch zone.” I was curious about the Utena panel, but the panelist was a no show. Instead, we had a room full of geriatric millennial and gen x’er otaku in a room ready to discuss and re-live their adolescence through the OG sword lesbian anime. We just turned the panel into a roundtable discussion of “<Name> Didn’t Do Anything Wrong” and other unpopular Utena opinions. I also attended the Filk panel. I never attended a Filk circle since these are not common in the anime scene as much as the science fiction / fantasy scene. I felt there was a strong variety of fandom discussion panels, game shows, and “how to” thematic cosplay panels at Kumo Con. This is one of the most varied programming schedules I’ve seen on the west coast. 

I also attended the cosplay contest. I was surprised that this event filled up seats fast! I feel that cosplay contests can be hit or miss. I love cosplay contests when it’s ran by seasoned veterans over the influencer style of cosplayer. Kumo Con very much emphasized performance and craft in their show. A few acts I loved included Misa from Death Note preparing Halloween treats for an unsuspecting Deku, a Sailor Moon transformation presentation from Usagi’s signature bunny PJ’s to Sailor Moon, etc.

I didn’t stick around for the awards, I ended up joining friends at the Kumo Con lounge. I’m not a huge drinker, but I picked up their version of a pina colada to call it a night on Saturday. 

I presented three panels during the weekend – Sailor Moon and both Y2K era anime and convention fandom panels. I presented in the morning and in the evening. Both panels were very well attended. I even had friends who kept count of how many people attended. I was able to get some good numbers (and good ratings) at these presentations. Cosplay Wrestling Federation was held on a Sunday, but we managed to get a good groove going. I entered as Sailor Mars in hopes to take the Cherry Tempest belt from Edgelgard, but lost to Homura from Madoka. I got work to do for Sakura Con. 

Perhaps my highlight of the convention was attending Kikuko Inoue’s panel on Saturday. I was so focused on preparing to attend two PNW conventions back to back that I forgot to look at the guest list! After my morning panel, I went straight to the legendary voice actresses Q&A. Kikuko likes to joke that she’s forever 17 at the ripe age of 61. She has not aged a day since I last saw her at Anime Expo 2001 in Long Beach. The Belldandy voice actress talked about motherhood, working on her voice range, and talking about lesser known roles. I asked the voice actress which of her characters she is the most like – she responded with Kasumi Tendou but with a bit of Lady Dimitrescu thrown in for fun. She recommends Spy x Family as an anime the whole family can enjoy. The best part of this panel was Kikuko and I throwing hand hearts at each other. 

Overall, Kumo Con’s vibes spoke younger, this is evidence by the amount of fandoms populated by Gen Z – Demon Slayer, My Hero Academia, Delta Rune, Twisted Wonderland, and others. But if you’re in the right spot, you can find folks from the late 1900s. Everyone I met was super nice. This was really giving vibes from when I first started going to conventions. You can strike a conversation with anyone. I didn’t spend anything in the dealers room, but I was gifted a Ghost Fighter keychain, fidget toys, stickers, and candy from convention attendees. This is a ribbon con, so be prepared to make some ribbons to give out and trade. Friendly vibes like this are why I love going to anime conventions. Someone had asked me what anime Yomiko Readman was from. I answered, “Read Or Die. The white house blows up in the first two minutes. It’s on Youtube!” (Dear gods…someone please rescue license Read or Die…or give the manga a proper anime series…) 

I would definitely come back to Kumo Con – the staff, attendees, and even the security guards were super friendly. Even our hotel manager was really nice in helping us make waffles at the continental breakfast this morning. This is a kindness that I find unexpected and I admit, it took a while to adjust to. I liked that there were “all access” bathrooms in the convention center to accommodate folks of all genders. Out of all the conventions I have attended, this was one of the more inclusive ones. I hope conventions can look to Kumo Con as an example to make nerd events more friendly towards all. 

I left Portland via train on the way home to Seattle. Though Sailor Mars didn’t get the Cherry Tempest title, she will return to the kingdom of Seattle and win the Cherry Tempest belt in the name of Mars and the red high heel.

Nothing more, nothing less, but I confess. I’m a hot mess