The Scarlet Rhapsody crew skipped out on Friday, day one of the event. According to sources, we found out that there was hardly anyone there on the first day. Not to mention, the Anime Music Video contest was lacking in entries and quality music videos. Deb, Emerald, and I decided to help out with this year's masquerade. Joel Carbajal (Master Zero) was the coordinator and this would be his last time doing the show. Deb and I won Best of Show last year, and we thought it would be fair not to compete, but rather, help out with this small time con's cosplay contest.

The San Fernando valley was an oven. It must have been over 90 degrees. Even Anime Vegas did not feel like the second level of Hell. However, that did not stop some cosplayers. For the most part, Mikomi Con cosplayers brought the simple, summer friendly costumes for Mikomi Con. People chilled outside underneath the tables with the umbrellas, or if they wanted to brave the sun, they sat around the main plaza watching a sing a song band or two.

For the most part, I was helping out with check at the masquerade office. It was nice and cool indoors. Because I was wearing a long sleeved outfit with heavy lining, it was the wiser choice to stay in the nicely air conditioned office space. The space also served as a cosplay repair station for those extra safety pins or a case of duck tape. Emerald brought her baby girl to the room. She really caught everyone's eye as she was cosplaying from Street Fighter. She made fellow Street Fighter cosplayers play a game of Chase the Shadowloo. For a two-year-old, this chibi Shadow Doll was very energetic!

Jared also had a tiny girl to take care of while the misses had to do staff-ly related duties.

Mikomi Con also had outdoor food and drink vendors. I am used to convention centers where the water is for free, but different settings mean a different set of rules apply. Either you find a drinking fountain, or shell $1 for a can of soda - which is not all that bad if you ask me. As far as food goes, Jared packed a few lunch sandwiches.

Although not necessarily official, Deb and I started the Nintendo gathering.Nintendo cosplayers, represent! Pokemon wins this round.

The dealers room was very tiny, but do not let the size judge of you the quality of the products. If you are a DVD collector like me, you will find tons of bargain anime box sets for insane prices. These are not Hong Kong bootlegs (or "imports" as Brian Doan likes to dub them). These are the official release, so you are getting what you pay for. These are not the inconsistent and oftentimes poorly translated subtitles. Black Lagoon (both seasons) was going for $55 and individual box sets of Marmalade Boy was going for $15.

The Artist Alley was a very nice set up. I was lucky to request a comission from Jessica G. The Gijinka Persian I requested was ready by the end of the day. Thanks, Jessica!

One of the best things about Mikomi Con is that the guests of honor were easy to find and easy to approach. Kaiji Tang and Marianne Miller just walked out of the dealers room when I ran into them.

In all honesty, there really was not much of interest going on at Mikomi Con as far as live programming goes. So, I was taking naps in the cosplay office (too hot to be outside the whole time) and snapping shots of cosplayers (when I did not feel like I was getting a heat stroke).

Jared, Deb, and I decided to cosplay from Pokemon on Saturday. It was a last minute decision. We thought it was appropriate since Deb and I won Best of Show wearing Pokemon. Funny fact: Shane and Jared had originally asked to be in our skit last year, but we had to turn them down because the script was already written.

This is Deb's Sinnoh League Ash. The "Gotta catch 'em all" mantra is so 90s. Nowadays, seeing them all counts just as much.

This is Jared's Fire Red Giovanni. And damn, that's an awesome Giovanni.

This is my anime series Sabrina. I used Sherry (Custom House Choa) as Sabrina's doll. For a Korean face mold, Sherry sure does have an Oakland booty. My arms were hurting by the end of the day.

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 You Don't Want To Know. Many thanks to Chaz Boston Baden for the image resizing and watermarking program.