The Scarlet Rhapsody crew got together and rocked Back to the Future cosplay in celebration of the 30th anniversary of the trilogy. Deb went as Marty McFly. She was among the many of the Marty’s at Comikaze. Marty McFly cosplay at Comikaze was as prevalent as Naruto in the mid-2000’s anime convention scene. It was cute seeing Back to the Future fans of all ages represent the franchise. Eri Kagami and Jared went as Lorraine and George in the Enchantment Under the Sea Dance variations. Saturday is the popular day; this is where Comikaze gets the most turnout. It also helps that Saturday falls on Halloween – people brought their best costumes on day two.

TAPS West Coast Paranormal Panel by Eri Kagami
I was always under the impression that TAPS was more of an east coast organization, but the west coast branch hosted a panel on the science of ghost hunting. This was the perfect panel for Halloween. Handouts were given on how to detect if your house has a legitimate haunting. The hosts shared stories about haunted homes in Orange County. They went over misconceptions and what people tend to perceive to be a haunting. In one such case, they shared one about a Fullerton woman who had several cats and gas leak in the house. She claimed to be seeing things, but it ended up being hallucination. However, we did get to see and hear exclusive material from on site investigations. TAPS also covered that these services – detecting if your house is haunted – is always free and no one should be charged for an investigation.

The Writer's Journey: Breaking Into Comics and Hollywood Scriptwriting by Jared
This was a different kind of writing panel, instead of exploring ideas and the do’s and don’ts the panel was about the different methods for getting noticed. The panel went over various writing contests including the return of the Star Trek short story contest. However, this wasn’t just a list, the panel talked about the pros and cons of different contest and publishing methods. More than that, the personal anecdotes from the panel showed that there was no one true path toward becoming a successful writer. It was an interesting panel that showed the difficult reality of breaking into the world of novel and script writing.

Storytelling 101: Industry Professionals On How to Tell a Ripping Good Yarn by Jared
This panel was aimed at those who are in the early stages of their writing career. This was an overview panel on how writers structure their stories and what programs they use in order to produce their manuscripts. While this panel may not appeal to more advanced writers it is always a good idea to brush up on the basics because there may have been things that have been forgotten. This panel was different from the usual writing panels and it is a good way to brush up on the basics.

Kids Cosplay Contest by Eri Kagami
The kids cosplay competition took place in the South Hall Hot Topic main stage. It was held before the main show that was going to host the national qualifier for some cosplay competition that’s not World Cosplay Summit. Essentially, kids entered in costumes and were interviewed by the hosts. While the Hot Topic stage is a huge step up from last year where a crowd circled around a parade of competitors, it was really hard to see the stage. There were no seats, it was standing room only. It was really to have your view obstructed and the video feed was too high up to see the costumes entered. The Hot Topic stage is a step up, but seats would have been beneficial for people wanting to see a costume parade on Halloween.

Star Wars Psychology: Dark Side of the Mind by Jared
It may not be common knowledge, but there is a book of essays on the psychology of Star Wars and this panel was a discussion by several of the writers about their thoughts on the franchise. Each of the essay writers talked about their work and how they came up with their topic. Once discussion about the book was over it was time for audience questions. Most of the panel was interesting, but not everyone in the audience agreed with the opinions of the panel mainly due to differencing opinions about character and the fact that some panels had a bias agenda. It would have been interesting if this panel had been longer and done in a seminar format.

South Hall: Everything in Between by Eri Kagami
In the past four years, Comikaze held their home in South Hall. It was surreal for Comikaze veterans to have both West and South Halls used. Only half of South Hall was used. This was housing the main Hot Topic stage that held the main events and guest Q&A sessions. This also had fan groups such as the 501st, Rebel Legion, etc recruit new members. Some artists were scattered in South Hall. There was a Bob’s Burgers comics signing in one area. Of course, this is where you could find cosplayers who were signing and selling prints. Though I did find it hilarious that signs were pointing to South Hall to see cosplayers when the whole convention center had them! South Hall wasn’t as crowded as West Hall, but this is where you could also grab a bite from the food court or outside vendors.

Day two Comikaze was packed! There were so many fans of everything present. It was almost hard to navigate the main west hall and see everything. Later in the evening was the Cosplayers Ball at Club Nokia. It was hailed as the Comikaze after party. However, our crew decided to leave the area around 7PM to go grab a bite to eat in the South Bay.

Pictures are copyright by Scarlet Rhapsody . If I took your picture, feel free to use it on your site or cosplay gallery. While you're here, do sign the guestbook. This site was brought to you by the font Devonshire. Many thanks to Dream Host, Adobe Bridge, MS Photodraw, Picasa, and Dreamweaver for making this site design possible.