[Otaku Around the World] MOE Fires Up University of Hawaii at Manoa!

The Anime and Manga Society is a ragtag bunch of enthusiasts who meet twice a week on the Manoa Campus of the University of Hawaii. From Your Lie in April to Parasyte to Fate/Stay Night, local otaku have a place to stay every Thursday and Friday taking in the latest anime episodes together. The club is also known to have local holiday parties including Halloween, Christmas, Girls Day and Singles Awareness Day (Valentines). These parties usually take up an entire floor of a building and consist of anime viewings, video games and unusual traditions like pinata bashing. But the top heads of the club thought of a crazy idea: to have their very own anime convention right on campus!

After a successful Kickstarter campaign of the first event last year, MOE or the Manoa Otaku Experience rolled into its second year on Feb. 7, 2015 at the UH Ballroom located in the Campus Center. Though in a smaller scale from last year, there was no shortage of activities that day. Vendors filled tables with both new and secondhand anime, manga and character goods to sell. Fans of Vanguard, Magic or Weiss Schwarz were welcome to bring their decks for some quality time at the Table Top Area. The Video Gaming Room returned buzzing with competitive titles like Super Smash Bros. for the Wii U. There was also a mini Cosplay Cafe where attendees could rest, play mini games and enjoy pastries for a small fee.

The highlight of the day was definitely the Cosplay Contest where attendees showcased not only their costumes but also their acting skills. Judges challenged attendees to stay in character during the questioning portion while asking about their creative process. After awards were distributed, the second big event of the day was the unusual Cosplay Chess, as both cosplayers and non-cosplayer attendees battled for supremacy under the control of two master chess players.

In all, it was a great opportunity for the local anime fans of Oahu to meet, mingle, buy and play games with their peers. In many ways MOE serves as a precursor to the major convention, Kawaii Kon, that looms ever closer. (Coming soon this March-) Many budding cosplayers may take this mini events as an opportunity to test drive their work before strutting it on the big stage of the Hawaii Convention Center. To others, it was just another fun day for our local otaku ohana. Whether your taste is in anime, cosplay or video games, the Anime and Manga Society will be back next year for another day of mayhem and enjoyment.

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Photo Credit: Tom Quach