T5W#375-Top 5 Otakon 2022 Cosplays

While I could obviously do this kind of Top 5 the week after a Convention Highlights list, I like saving cosplay themed Top 5 lists for October, you know, Halloween and all.  While I think 2023 will be a bigger year for me when it comes to Conventions (not missing another Katsucon), 2022 saw me return to my first full Otakon in 3 years (last one was 2019).  You can check out the highlights list from back in August right here: (http://gundamanimeblog.blogspot.com/2022/08/t5w364-top-5-otakon-2022-moments.html).  Today however, I’ve got the usual tough job of choosing my 5 favorite cosplays from one of my favorite places on Earth and trust me, it never gets easier, sorting through thousands of pics and cosplays, and I freaking love it.  Ok, enough stalling, here are my Top 5 Otakon 2022 Cosplays.

 
#5-Yoko Littner (Gillian Foxglove)

I’ve known Gillian a long time and I’m always excited to see what new cosplay she comes up with.  It’s always fun and always unique, even characters I’ve seen cosplayed dozens of times look fresh.  Case in point, I haven’t seen to many cosplays of Gurren Lagaan’s gun toting femme fatale in a bit so seeing this one was a happy sight.  Yoko being a sharp, quick witted bad ass also matches the cosplayers personality perfectly.  She’s a character Gillian was born to cosplay.
 
Wanna see more of Gillian’s work?  You can check out her IG page here: https://www.instagram.com/gillianfoxglove/

 
#4-Yor Forger (Office Outfit) (Mangoloo Cosplay)

Holy crap, the breakout Waifu of 2022 was arguably THE most cosplayed character at Otakon this year.  Seriously, you couldn’t walk a couple of steps without seeing her Thorn Princess assassin look on hundreds of Otaku, all of which looked amazing, not a single miss in the bunch.  But if I did have to pick a favorite, it goes to another Cosplay favorite of mine, Ms. Mangoloo Cosplay, who’s wearing her Office Outfit, a Yor look that was pretty rare compared to Thorn Princess and her At Home look.  I believe she’s worn Thorn Princess too but this might’ve been Mangoloo’s debut as Yor (I could be wrong).  Big shock, it's a other hit for her.
 
You can see more of Mangloo’s expansive Cosplay Resume here:
https://www.instagram.com/mangoloo.cos/
 

#3-Ho’oh (Pokemon)

You can see dozens of Pokemon trainers, Team Rocket Operatives and Gym Leaders at any con.  And yeah I guess you can see a bunch of Pokemon themselves.  Plenty look super regal and this Ho’oh is one of them.  Not only does this one look like proper royalty, but it also lights up in the dark.  Seriously, the power kept going out in the Photoshoot room and at one point, this Ho’oh’s blue wings were all anyone could see for a few seconds, it was so freaking cool.  I’ve seen a couple of Ho’oh’s at Otakon in the past but one with working lights that lit up the darkness made it all the more legendary.

#2-Magic the Gathering Knight

Sometimes the best cosplays are the ones that don’t come from any Anime, TV Series or Movie.  Sometimes, theyre ones you never see coming or might never have thought of on your own, like Spider Man crying over Uncle Ben…who is made up of a ton of Uncle Ben’s Rice Boxes or Corona Knight (both I saw at Katsucon and Corona Knight was made up of a bunch of inflatable Corona Beers).  This year, we have this gentleman who has crafted a suit of armor and a sword…made entirely of Magic the Gathering cards…damn that is impressive.  I mean look at this, how long do you think it took for this guy to put together, especially that impressive sword?  He’d probably take home an award or two at a cosplay competition.

 

#1-Blaster (Transformers: Generation 1)

I’m a sucker for old school characters popping up in cosplay.  The older the title, the rarer the chance to see a character.  Case in point, I saw a pretty cool Botan from Yu Yu Hakusho on the last day of Otakon.  But the one that definitely got me cheering the loudest was seeing Blaster, one of the OG Autobots from the first generation of Transformers.  The size, the detail, the movements.  Even if he couldn’t actually transform (as cool as that would be to see), doesn’t change the fact that seeing cosplays like this really makes me feel like I’m seeing my favorite heroes coming to life, it’s one of the reasons I still love going to conventions and am glad I can again.