Campus & community, Events at Berkeley

Anime fanfest brings out the best in cosplay fashion

Over the weekend, students and devoted fans attended Anime Destiny, an annual convention put on by Cal's anime club, Cal Animage Alpha.

By Public Affairs

Artists selling artwork — Berkeley alum Jennifer Sy (center) often draws elaborate and detailed scenes of her favorite anime. Her work can be found on DeviantArt as hasuyawwn.

February 24, 2016

Students and anime lovers donned their flashiest cosplay Sunday — dressing up as their favorite characters from popular shows and movies, like Pokémon and Attack on Titan — and enjoyed some competitive rounds of anime “Jeopardy!” or browsed a collection of anime merchandise made by local artists.

The occasion for such Japanese cartoon-inspired fandemonium, which drew a crowd of nearly 500, was Anime Destiny, an annual convention that celebrates all things anime, put on by Cal’s anime club, Cal Animage Alpha.

Berkeley News photographer Josephine Wu stopped by the daylong event and captured these moments:

High school student in animé Cos Play — Kiba, a high school student, is dressed as Cloud from Final Fantasy.

artist with artwork — Renée developed an interest in drawing cartoons after visiting anime events. She soon began to create a collection of her own artwork that includes zines, notebooks and postcards.

Finalists for the masquerade pose for the judges.

judges decide masquerade winners — Judges decide on the winners of the masquerade, who received gift cards to JoAnn Fabrics and Crafts for future costume-making.

Winners of anime masquerade — Winners of the masquerade (left to right): Jojo won Best Performance, Cloud from Final Fantasy won Best in Show, and Ninetales from Pokémon won Best in Craftsmanship.

Tina Nguyen, Head of Publications, has been part of Cal Animage Alpha for the past three years.

People playing video games — The anime club meets a few times a week on campus. On Thursday nights, members meet to play video games, board games and card games.

student in cos play — Berkeley student Kevin So dressed as a swordsman named Yamatonokami Yasusada from one of his favorite video games, Touken Ranbu.

Cal Animage Alpha — one of the oldest anime clubs in the U.S. — started in 1989 as a group of friends who wanted to get together on campus and share their appreciation of anime. Almost three decades later, the club now boasts more than 500 unofficial members, some of whom who meet weekly for raffles, manga socials, game nights and new anime screenings.

To learn more about Cal Animage Alpha or to become involved with the club, visit the website: http://calanimagealpha.com/.