{"id":18236,"date":"2021-06-03T07:00:31","date_gmt":"2021-06-03T07:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/scarlet-rhapsody.com\/?p=18236"},"modified":"2021-06-03T07:02:02","modified_gmt":"2021-06-03T07:02:02","slug":"socal-concom-welcome-back-okaeri","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scarlet-rhapsody.com\/?p=18236","title":{"rendered":"[SoCal ConCom] Welcome Back ~ Okaeri"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome Back ~ Okaeri, a free anime themed festival, took place during Fridays to Sundays in the month of May at the Anaheim Gardenwalk. Anaheim Gardenwalk is a shopping center not too far from Disneyland. In fact, sometimes we park here anytime we want to hit up Downtown Disney for a few hours. We went on Saturday, May 29th. We found out about this event through Maid Academy Cafe who had mentioned the event on their socials shortly after the Tsun Scoops<\/a> grand opening. As of this post, 43% of Californians are vaccinated. Welcome Back ~ Okaeri could be what to expect when small cons start sprouting up again.<\/p>\n

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Location: Anaheim Gardenwalk<\/strong><\/p>\n

This place has changed since the last time we went to the shopping center! There were more tea and coffee shops in the area. There was even a store that sold merchandise from Tokyo Disneyland (though Downtown Disney is right across the street!). I liked that there were plenty of places to sit down and have a snack. I also liked we had plenty of option for a quick pick-me-up. Unfortunately, coffee and tea places don’t validate parking. Yet, I do appreciate that we were able to pick up boba for an anime inspired event.<\/p>\n

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I also liked the fact that in spite of the pandemic shutting down businesses, I did see more life into the shopping center than the last time we went.<\/p>\n

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Shopping at Okaeri<\/strong><\/p>\n

While there were a few outdoor kiosks selling decals for cars, laptops, etc, there was an artist alley set up for Okaeri. This artist alley also had more decals to buy. Popular fandoms included Genshin, Pokemon, Demon Slayer, Sailor Moon, Konosuba, Kingdom Hearts etc being sold. Many of the vendors were happy to be making money again. I did spot a few booths selling acrylic charms, face masks, and prints. However decals for itasha were all the rage.<\/p>\n

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The artist alley also had a video game console set up in the small space.<\/p>\n

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I felt the main draw of Okaeri was the shopping aspect of it. I mean, I did collect a few Genshin decals while I was there.<\/p>\n

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The Cosplay<\/strong><\/p>\n

The number of cosplayers were few. However, I did appreciate seeing people represent their fandoms. I spotted a Sailor Saturn, a handful of Genshin Impact cosplayers, several Demon Slayer cosplayers, and a few Star Wars cosplayers (R2 unit included). I didn’t feel compelled to cosplay at a shopping center that I normally associate with parking, but it was cool to see some “normal” convention culture slowly return. There weren’t plenty of cosplayers, but it was fun to see people bring the ultimate expression of fandom over.<\/p>\n\n\t\t