What is acosta! ~AGF2019 Special~?
Taking photos, playing and interacting with other cosplayers while giving back to community
A large Japanese contents event like Animate Girls Festival is never complete without cosplay. Animate’s cosplay arm, ACOS and Hacosta organized “acosta! ~AGF2019 Special~” for all the fans who wanted to join in the festivities dressed as their favorite character.
What is “acosta!”?
acosta! is a cosplay event organized almost every month in different places all over Japan, mostly in Kanto and Kansai regions. Based on the concept “Take pictures! Play! Interact!,” it supports various ways of enjoying cosplay, from photogenic locations to venues where cosplay interaction is fun.
This year, acosta! was held simultaneously with AGF again, dubbed “acosta! ~AGF2019 Special~”. Cosplayers can enjoy AGF and other activities around Ikebukuro while in costume.
To join acosta! ~AGF2019 Special~, cosplayers must buy advance tickets priced at 1,800 yen. Cosplayers can take photos at designated areas, receive perks from various shops in Ikebukuro, and enter the AGF2019 main venue for free from 3PM.
Cosplayer Raku (@Ryh1n) as Kaito Kid from Detective Conan/Case Closed
Aside from being able to cosplay freely around Ikebukuro east side, cosplayers can also “give back” to the community by signing up to acosta!’s special project “Cosplay Ikebukuro Pika x 2 Walking 5th” held on November 9.
What is “Cosplay Ikebukuro Pika x 2 Walking 5th”?
“Cosplay Ikebukuro Pika x 2 Walking 5th” also known as Pika Walk, is a cleanliness project by ACOS where volunteers walk around a specified route picking up trash while in cosplay. “Pika pika” is a is a word that describes something that shines or sparkles, often used to describe things that are new or have just been cleaned.This year is the 5th time this activity was organized and 23 volunteer cosplayers joined the activity. Manga Planet tagged along as the cosplayers contributed to the cleanliness of the streets of Ikebukuro while parading in costume.
Volunteers were free to leave the line, if necessary, whenever they see trash to pick up.
Suddenly there’s trash here and there!
Volunteers tried their best to not break up the line while cleaning up.
Volunteers picked up trash even in Sunshine City.
What do you think of this activity? Are there similar projects like Pika Walk in your country? Let us know on Twitter!
If you are interested in manga and anime events in Tokyo, be sure to read our articles on Animate Girls Festival 2019 (Part 1 and Part 2), JUMP Festa 2019, DEVILMAN crybaby SABBATH SHIBUYA, Cheese!’s Ikebo x Shōjo Manga Genga-ten, Land of the Lustrous Exhibit at Yurakucho Marui, Kizu Natsuki at Manga10, Yoneda Kou’s Op: The Colourless Days of Yoake Itaru Book Fair@Shosen and Himouto Umaru-chan Exhibit.
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