Author Topic: How family-friendly is Kumoricon?  (Read 4906 times)

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Offline UltimateOutsider

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How family-friendly is Kumoricon?
« on: August 27, 2009, 04:21:20 pm »
Hello, I have been scouring the site and searching the forums, and I know that younger kids are welcome (when accompanied by a paying adult), and that there are some activities scheduled for kids. But I was curious, not having ever attended a con before of any kind, how kid-safe Kumoricon is?

My son is a 6-year-old otaku. He is totally into Studio Ghibli, Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, Sonic, and the various Nintendo universes. He desperately tries to make his own Kingdom Hearts and Sonic costumes out of pieces from various other costumes we manage to find at halloween shops. He routinely has me show him cosplayers on DeviantArt and YouTube. He's made me promise to take him to Japan when he's 10 so we can visit the Akihabara district. I haven't told him that Kumoricon is coming, but HE WILL ABSOLUTELY DIE.

So, for people who've been to previous Kumoricons- especially parents- is it a safe environment for young kids? I've seen the cosplay rules, but I have no idea as to the overall atmosphere for the event. Would love to hear your experiences/opinions. Thanks!

Offline Romo

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Re: How family-friendly is Kumoricon?
« Reply #1 on: August 27, 2009, 04:28:55 pm »
I'd say for a six year old you'd want to be cautious, since a lot of the fans are very eccentric. Depending on the topic that can either be really good or bad, I've seen instances of people just plain out being inappropriate while wandering the con space. Yet at the same time it's the same way whenever you got out in public so it's not that bad. Though I'll admit, people can get really pushy in the halls while trying to rush to wherever their going; so just watch out for that.

The atmosphere is very welcoming and friendly, it's very easy to talk to the majority of people going and if you feel like someone is being unreasonable or rude you can easily find a different activity to have a blast at.
« Last Edit: August 27, 2009, 04:31:17 pm by Romo »
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Offline Rathany

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Re: How family-friendly is Kumoricon?
« Reply #2 on: August 27, 2009, 04:53:27 pm »
Overall, Kumoricon is rated PG-13.  We have expanded our programming aimed at kids over the past two years and have a 'chibi-room', which has kid-friendly activities during the day.  All anime shown in our viewing rooms has a rating listed.

Adult activities like sake tasting and 18+ programming have people watching the doors making sure no-one underage can get in. 

When the schedule is posted you might want to take a quick look through and plan your activities in advance.  That way, you can plan to only be here while specific events are going on and/or the chibi room is open.  Also, if you are not pre-registered, I would highly recommend buying your badges on Friday if you are getting weekend passes.  The line on Saturday is going to be long.  However, day badges can only be bought on the day they are to be used. 

We hope you have a great time! 
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Offline LtCommanderRichie

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Re: How family-friendly is Kumoricon?
« Reply #3 on: August 27, 2009, 05:17:09 pm »
Kumoricon is rather family-friendly, last time I checked. Yes, it's rated PG-13. However, all costumes have to comply to Washington state decency laws, which include full coverage of the lower... Er... Extremities and buttocks on males (the chest can be left bare) and those same extremities and the equivalent of a bikini top on females. Rikku from Final Fantasy X and X-2 comes to mind for minimal coverage, actually.

Also, there are plenty of kid-friendly activities during the convention, including cosplay. No doubt if he's only six years old and cosplaying he'll get tons of people finding him absolutely adorable. I know of at least two people on this board alone that have kids they're bringing to the convention that want to cosplay.

Beyond that, though, you'll get the occasional public display of affection. You'll get the occasional screaming fan. If you go into the exhibitor's hall, I would keep him away from the booths that I seem to remember as being marked 18+. But from what I remember, beyond the convention being pretty packed, is that I never saw anything that I wouldn't want my 8-year-old sister seeing during the brunt of the day. You'll be perfectly fine.

Offline Agent47

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Re: How family-friendly is Kumoricon?
« Reply #4 on: August 27, 2009, 05:52:21 pm »
However, all costumes have to comply to Washington state decency laws

You mean Oregon state laws? Or Washington county laws? Afterall, last I checked, K-con is held in Oregon. XD

But yes.. the con is generally considered PG-13.. and from what I've seen last year, there wasn't too much as far as borderline naked.. the worst I saw last year was a character with a bikini top and very tight, latex short shorts(a character from Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagenn). Again, that was the worst I saw.. typically, most of the cosplay is well within limits. And they definitely try to make the main halls and non-event areas of the con very family friendly. An example would be.. last year, somebody tried to cosplay as pedobear and they were immediately denied entry due to the nature of the cosplay.

And I did see entire families at the con as well.. adults with children ranging from pre-speech ages, to 12 year olds. May that were with their families were probably 8-10, or younger.

So, me personally, if I had a 6 year old child, I wouldn't mind taking them.. of course, I typically don't attent very many events in general, much less the adult events.

And for the record, this is an opinion from a 23 year old. The most revealing cosplays you'll see will most likely either be pokemon/digimon/whatever gijinka(human forms/cosplay as an animal), and again, a select few from the likes of Gurren Lagenn, or similar animes. But this is nowhere like comic con or dragon con or anything of that sort, that are huge, and often have the likes of models and similarly fit people, dressing in the skimpiest cosplay they can get their hands on.

The way I see it.. as far as inappropriate outfits go.. k-con is basically like going to the beach, on a day when 4/5 of the populace are wearing normal clothes, and the other 1/5 are wearing swimsuits and bikinis. But with a very comic/anime nature mixed in.
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Offline LtCommanderRichie

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Re: How family-friendly is Kumoricon?
« Reply #5 on: August 27, 2009, 06:22:51 pm »
Actually, Agent47, I'm looking at one of my programs from years past and it says Washington State decency la- WAIT. XD silly me, I'm looking at the one from 2007, when the con was in Vancouver. You're right. It's Oregon State decency laws. Thank you for clarifying that.

But yes, you're right. The worst you have to worry about decency wise is a bikini-sized piece of clothing. 

Offline allstarsniper32

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Re: How family-friendly is Kumoricon?
« Reply #6 on: August 27, 2009, 10:07:54 pm »
I say if you let your kid watch normal public TV then there shouldn't be anything more shocking at a con. He would love the Kingdom Heart cosplayers though. I don't remember what convention it was at but I saw someone dressed as sonic, that was awesome.

Offline UltimateOutsider

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Re: How family-friendly is Kumoricon?
« Reply #7 on: August 27, 2009, 11:01:54 pm »
Thanks very much for the replies. I have told him we're going and he's mega-stoked. I'm thinking of getting 2 weekend passes and showing up for a couple hours each day, because it sounds like some of the cosplayers will be wearing different things each day, and that's the main thing he's interested in.

He will be in some kind of costume, but it probably will not be anything recognizable... he just assembles various weapons, masks, and robes he's got, and assumes the role of Kingdom Hearts or Sonic/Kirby villains and whatnot. It's hard finding cool pre-made costumes for kids that are anything but spiderman and darth vader.
« Last Edit: August 27, 2009, 11:03:25 pm by UltimateOutsider »

Offline seshetaxhikaru

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Re: How family-friendly is Kumoricon?
« Reply #8 on: August 27, 2009, 11:13:11 pm »
Yay. My little girl is going as Snow white (or at least thats her plain atm). ^-~

I hope you both have a great time. ^-^
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Offline LtCommanderRichie

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Re: How family-friendly is Kumoricon?
« Reply #9 on: August 27, 2009, 11:29:06 pm »
Well if you show up Sunday at some point there are two Kingdom Hearts gatherings that'll have all sorts of cosplays from both games. I'll bet he'd love it.

Offline Wuntvor

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Re: How family-friendly is Kumoricon?
« Reply #10 on: August 28, 2009, 12:20:08 am »
My Daughter plans to wear her Silver the Hedgehog mascot costume again for a little while this con.  The rest of the time she will be a female ninja from Disgea.

Her she is with me at the con last year:



If you check the amazing cosplay picture thread You will get an idea of what kind of cosplays you will see at the con.  You can also search for pics from last years con.  They are scattered all over the forums.

Your child should have a great time.  I would also recommend attending some of the panels if possible.  Meet the Voice Actors!  Cynthia Martinez, the voice of Lina Inverse from the Slayers movies and Sora from Kaliedo Star, will be there  He would probably be thrilled to meet her.  Also, Kirk Thornton will be here again this year.  He is known as the Voice Actor to have done the most voices of any male VA in the business.  I am sure your son will know of at least one of the characters he has voiced during his career.  There is also a panel for people who want to try being a VA.  My understanding is that they will be recording voices and tutoring people on how to perform with a microphone.

Of course the biggest event is the cosplay competition.  This event is pretty huge, and requires getting a ticket in advance.  Some of the skits performed are really great, some are... welll not so great, but all of them are fun to watch.

I'll see you there   :)
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Offline BangBangNeko

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Re: How family-friendly is Kumoricon?
« Reply #11 on: August 28, 2009, 01:53:53 am »
BangBangNeko wants your little o-taco for the cosplay fashion show!

We need all the "Moe" we can get.

So bring him to the pre-meet before the show and we will put him on stage to let him strut his stuff...YES HE CAN BE A SUPERSTAR!!!

Offline Runa

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Re: How family-friendly is Kumoricon?
« Reply #12 on: August 28, 2009, 10:28:13 am »
....and if he wants to do a SKIT in COSPLAY, that would be awesome. We LOVE having the little ones perform.  :D

Offline nikkiolie

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Re: How family-friendly is Kumoricon?
« Reply #13 on: August 28, 2009, 10:35:11 am »
The main thing that I would want to stress is that there are a few people (like me) that will be wearing some revealing costumes yet they wont show too much. Basically girls have to wear bikinis or more and guys have to wear at least a spedo type thing.

The other thing is that people may be cussing around there. Sure you kid wont know what the words mean and if you don't make a big deal out of it they will have no clue what is going on.

Offline ZombieFace

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Re: How family-friendly is Kumoricon?
« Reply #14 on: August 28, 2009, 01:39:14 pm »
Pretty dang kid safe.  They don't allow Pedobear.


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Offline UltimateOutsider

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Re: How family-friendly is Kumoricon?
« Reply #15 on: August 28, 2009, 05:04:58 pm »
My Daughter plans to wear her Silver the Hedgehog mascot costume again for a little while this con.
OMG he will die. We have RP battles at home and I fought him as Silver a couple of times last week.

You mentioned you need a ticket for the cosplay events; is this different from the pass for the whole weekend? Because he'll definitely want to see the competition and skits.

Offline LtCommanderRichie

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Re: How family-friendly is Kumoricon?
« Reply #16 on: August 28, 2009, 05:14:17 pm »
I do believe that the tickets can be picked up at the information booth, though I don't remember if they're free of charge or not. Some events they are and some of them the cost something, I believe.

Definitely come to the cosplay contest, though! It'll be a blast!

Offline Jamiche

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Re: How family-friendly is Kumoricon?
« Reply #17 on: August 28, 2009, 09:41:36 pm »
Cosplay Contest tickets are free, and they will be available at the Info Booth Sunday morning.
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Offline RemSaverem

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Re: How family-friendly is Kumoricon?
« Reply #18 on: August 29, 2009, 04:09:50 pm »
Here are a few events a 6- year- old might enjoy:
The Chibi Room (arts and crafts projects for young kids);
The Manga Library (a quiet space, a lending library);
The Plushie (Dolly)-Making, Chibisplosion! (Chibi Doll-Making), and Fandom Bears (Teddy-Bear Felting) workshops at Creation Station (but only under close supervision by an adult, preferably with the adult immediately supervising any use of scissors and the adult using the sewing needle for the youngster);
The Cuddly Cosplay Contest on Monday (folks parading dressed-up dolls and stuffed animals and such).
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Offline Kurohime

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Re: How family-friendly is Kumoricon?
« Reply #19 on: August 29, 2009, 09:17:25 pm »
I've mostly seen teens and young adults at the con- but he'll get the biggest blast out of the cosplayers!  From what I've seen, most people are well-behaved and quite friendly.  And any kid in costume will get lots of attention!

Offline Negima

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Re: How family-friendly is Kumoricon?
« Reply #20 on: September 01, 2009, 02:48:08 am »
It's pretty safe for kids.  Granted I haven't been there in a couple of years but the policies couldn't have changed THAT much.
Some things might need explaining or it's too far over a child's understanding but seeing/hearing such moments outside panels aimed more towards older audiences are few.  (I just reread this, did I make any sense?)

Offline makichan

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Re: How family-friendly is Kumoricon?
« Reply #21 on: September 01, 2009, 12:46:57 pm »
Be sure to bring a camera too. A lot of the cosplayers are, from what I've seen, more than willing to pose with kids. I've done it before, myself x3
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Offline shoe

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Re: How family-friendly is Kumoricon?
« Reply #22 on: September 02, 2009, 03:52:52 pm »
I read like four of the intelligent sounding posts, I probably don't know what I'm talking about.

I went to Kumoricon '05 I was 15 and TERRIFIED on the third day, when the sexual tension got too strong for all the hormonal young people to handle and two guys kissed (on the sides the girls cheered "YAOI YAOI" and probably some boys lmao) I was honestly scared, and I was 15.

Also there was a rave and that was my first time seeing two females grind and make out. It might be rude to stare, but it was dark and they didn't know.

Well I'm old now and there's nothing I can't handle, I think your son would die if he saw the merchandise there. Just go first day and leave before the vampires comes out.

With parental guidance I'm sure he'll really like it.

Like I said I haven't been there in forever >; D and I'm only mentioning the truly scarring parts. I was amazed by it too.

Offline BangBangNeko

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Re: How family-friendly is Kumoricon?
« Reply #23 on: September 02, 2009, 08:45:55 pm »
lol he'll do fine I went to 05 and I was 13. Being my first con, I was nervous, but everyone was nice, nothing was dirty or SHOCKING, and I even stayed till the curfew. And even then, it was fine. It's just like life you never know what kind of people will be there. But he'll have a blast, him cosplaying will make him even popular. ^_^

Offline murder_of_raven

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Re: How family-friendly is Kumoricon?
« Reply #24 on: September 03, 2009, 01:24:41 am »
I think the most important advice for parents is to be consistently mindful and most of all informed about whatever your child is doing at the moment (ie if you don't know what "yaoi" is you might not approve of your child interacting with a panel about it). I would also suggest steering clear of the exhibition hall because Japan has very different ideas about who toys should be marketed towards and although you probably won't find anything outright pornographic without looking at it, lots of the stuff has heavy sexual undertones.

I would also like to point out that Kumoricon and our sister-con Sakuracon are two of the most queer friendly conventions I've ever heard of and, as shoe pointed out, hormonal teenagers have a tendency to get a little bit -ahem- involved when they are given a situation for release. So if you do not want your child being exposed to queer relationships than Kumoricon might not be the best place to take them. Then again, Portland might not be so great either!

Children in general seem to be worshiped as little avatars of cuteness at conventions, especially the ones in cosplay, so I think overall Kumoricon could be a wonderful environment for an 8-year-old child, as long as you are careful and reasonably open-minded. If your son does end up cosplaying, you should take some pictures and remember to upload them on the after convention cosplay photo thread. I'm sure they'd be appreciated =3