Perhaps one of the most popular events at Anime Expo over the years has been the Chibi Masquerade. Chibi, of course meaning short person or small child, this event usually draws in the most “oohs” and “ahhs” at the expo. I mean, you have to be pretty cold blooded to sit there and watch a child dressed as his or her favorite anime or video game character and not have some kind of cutesy reaction. There is nothing like seeing a little five year old come on stage in front of hundreds of people to show off their costume of their favorite Pokémon or Naruto character. Of course, over the years, they have been allowing some of the older cosplayers in the crowd to participate, but I will get back to that subject in a second.

Let me start off by saying that I give a lot of props to anyone, and I mean ANYONE, who is willing to cosplay. To be brave enough to put yourself on display like that for the thousands in attendance at AX is very commendable. And to then go on stage and stand up there, singled out for everyone to see as they do at the Masquerade… it is simply awe inspiring. I mean, we are talking about people and children here who are generally not seeking attention for themselves in their daily live who will go out and perform, because believe it or not being in costume you are all ready performing whether you believe so or not; but they go out there and perform for everyone to enjoy.

This year’s Chibi Masquerade was everything it was expected to be - a bunch of beautifully designed costumes that people have worked hard on for the crowd to admire and enjoy. Some of the more memorable displayed this year included a set of young Tokyo Mew Mew cosplayers out there dancing to Lady Gaga’s Telephone, a darling young girl dressed as Rin Kagamine from Vocaloid, a group of Yu-Gi-Oh cosplayers that featured a surprise proposal from one of them to another at the end (she said yes), and, not to sound too gay here, about the hottest and most buff Goku cosplayers I had ever seen. These were among the 30 or so participants that got on stage and performed for everyone to enjoy. Of course, just because the whole Chibi Masquerade show is as popular as it is doesn’t mean that it has no faults. It does, but that all lies with how the show is organized and run.

And that point also goes back to the older cosplayers being allowed to participate. In short, I have no problem letting the older cosplayers appear in the Chibi Masquerade. But if you are going to allow this, you have to let the children show off their costumes first. See, the older cosplayers go up their ready to perform these skits and dances that take up time. And the some of the younger ones do as well. But not as many of the children do these pieces that eat up the small amount of time allotted for the Chibi Masquerade. But most of the adults do, and that is where the problem is. By allowing the older teens and adults to go up during the time when it should be focusing on the children, often times than not over the years, you see some of the child cosplayers being rushed, especially when some of them willing to perform are cut off because of time constraints.

That happened this year again and is really what not only urged me to write up this review, but also ended up changing the overall tone of it as well. Remember that Rin Kagamine cosplayers I talked about a while ago? She went up there ready to perform a song and dance for the crowd. But because some of the older cosplayer groups were allowed to go ahead of her and some of the other children, she was cut short just two lines into her song. How do you think that made her feel? The young girl came off the stage quickly and ran right for her mother and father. How long did that girl work on her costume and performance just to get cut off like that on the account of some older cosplayer taking up nearly five minutes of time with some ridiculous dance? It must have been hurtful to that young girl.

I think that if you are going to allow older cosplayers to join in on the Chibi Masquerade, then the Chibi in the name of the performance must take precedence over everything else. Let’s be honest here, my friends - an older teen or adult can take being cut off way better than a child could; or they should be able to at least. And by looking at the ones who were rushed in their performances, you could tell the older set was very much okay with it. They may have been a little disappointed, but certainly would not be impacted to the degree that a little six or seven year old would. While many of the older cosplayers seemed to have no problem being rushed, you could tell the child cosplayers did as many of them opted to get out of line and go sit back down.

I know life is full of disappointments and a sense of being cheated out of things. And that kids will need to learn that at some time or another in order for them to grow and become stronger emotionally. But when you have an event specifically set up for children and have to cut them off short because you allowed adults to perform as well - sorry, that just doesn’t fly with me. The Chibi Masquerade is one of the best events at AX that somehow always gets cheapened when you see this happening to the children who were eager to participate and are then shut out. The older set all ready has a Masquerade event of their own to perform at. And while I don’t mind them appearing at the Chibi one as well, the people who run the Chibi Masquerade must take into account that the children should always be allowed to perform first since this event was designed with them specifically in mind so they would not have to face the stress and long lines of the adult Masquerade event. Where did the people of AX forget that part? I have no answer for you.