Pizza, cupcakes, cookies, and cosplay. The anime club filters into the room as pizza arrived and sponsor Mrs. Harrell put Death Note on the projector for the members to watch.
“The cosplayers have only 30 minutes to get dressed,” Anime Club president Brittaney Candia said. “So, food first, then we get dressed.”
Everyone in the room rushes to the back tables to fill their plates with a myriad of different treats, provided by the members. They soon quiet as the lights turn off and the anime was projected on the front screen. Some chatted quietly as others watched closely, all the while enjoying pizza and desserts. The episode ended and the members began talking louder and getting seconds of food.
“You have five minutes to mingle,” Mrs. Harrell said, “but once the cosplayers come in here, we’ll do the contest.”
Soon after, the cosplayers began to come into the room from getting dressed. Cosplays included cloaks decorated with red designs, bows in hair and Candia wearing a maid outfit with cat ears that responded and moved according to brain waves. They all moved over to Mrs. Harrell, where she entered their name into a survey so the remaining members could vote.
“Everyone who’s cosplaying, get to the front!” Candia instructed. “Go down the line, tell your name and what you’re dressed as.”
The cosplayers all went to the front and lined up. They told their names, their character’s name and modeled their costume. My Little Pony, the White Rabbit and even Sherlock were all represented. The remaining members scanned a QR code and began to vote, the cosplayers at the front waiting patiently in the midst of concentrated silence. Voting was soon over and sponsor looked at the results.
“And our winner is,” sponsor said, “Pinkie Pie!”
Everyone clapped as sophomore Azriela Arevalo placed her hands over her mouth in excitement. Members complimented her on the attention to detail to her My Little Pony cosplay, including a bright pink wig and intricately decorated boots. All contestants sat down or either began taking off their cosplays as they played a brief game called “Zoom In.”
“You look at a picture that’s super zoomed in and you try to figure out what it is,” sponsor explained.
The game became heated as everyone screamed their answers, competitiveness making them jump up and down and point at the screen. The game was soon over and the members waved goodbye or hugged as they left the meeting to go home.
