Cosplaying. A hobby? an art? Actually, defined as a type of performance art. Kingdom Hearts is among many of the video game franchises that are popular to cosplay. KH has its own cosplay celebrities too. Definitely something that requires money, time, and lots of dedication.
Manga. The KH manga sprung off from an attempt to better explain the KH story line. Not a lot of fans read it, but it might offer insight to certain things video-game-only fans might miss out on. Of course manga on its own is not exclusive to and was not created by KH, but there’s the stereotypical connection between hardcore fans of the game with manga/anime and all things nerd, especially with those who cosplay.
Portable game devices. The predecessor to the cellphone… as in, to keep kids distracted or that thing kids won’t look up from. Still going strong of course. Did anyone see the ad for the Nintendo Switch? A console and a portable in one… innovative.
Kingdom Hearts anything appeals to me. However, I never really understood cosplay– I figure it is kind of like an extra Halloween. However, I noticed that cosplay has become more prevalent. I remember when you had to travel to go to these, but there was an event recently at a civic center in my city (which is pretty middling). I kind of understand the Manga idea, it comes off as fan fiction, but I feel that this takes a lot more effort and time. How involved can a person be in a fantasy world? Strange hobbies… but most hobbies are pretty strange and time-consuming when you think about it. Also, portable game devices for children can be a god send. I remember how awesome it was to have a Gameboy color.
Fans of Kingdom Heart can still be seen at anime and gaming conventions. Did you go to FLSuperCon this year? I believe I saw some Kingdom Hearts cosplayers. The art of dressing up as your favorite character (at the moment or of all time) is very popular but in the K-Pop world it is more of dressing up like the K-Pop artists. Maybe its because their TV shows (anime) isn’t as popular as Japan.
I love to read manga. I’m constantly looking for something new when I’m waiting for a release from an ongoing manga. Whats even better is that Korea’s webtoons are also being considered part of the genre even though they have their own manga (called manhwa). How has manga changed the way authors can tell a story? Are they even considered as novels since they span several volumes?
I think the portable devices are struggling to catch the public’s attention. Since almost everything has an app for it, most people prefer their phones for games. The portable devices are several times bigger and it doesn’t easily fit in your pocket. It might be losing battle with smart phones