Lights, Camera, Cosplay!: Daigaku-Con in the UTRGV

For the first time at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV),we saw the first convention of anime, video games, k-pop and more.

A nice fun fact about the name of the event is that the Japanese word “daigaku” (大学), means “college” or “university,” based on the English translations of WordHippo, which also speaks a lot about the organization of this event, which would be Campus Activities Board (CAB), an organization in the UTRGV.

Conventions also attract a lot of students, which can include cosplayers, dancers, and more. Having an anime convention on campus mademany of students enjoy what can sometimes seem impossible due to the lack of time, money, etc.

With the help of my co-worker Stephanie Hauser, photographer of Pulse Magazine, we were able to have some interviews with the people around the event!

UTRGV student and Cinema Chair of CAB Ann Solis is the Host for the anime convention that was being held. Character: Soma Yukihira from Food Wars.

“I’m Yukihira; he’s pretty much someone who’s really passionate about achieving his dream of being a culinary chef, kinda related to how passionate I’m to achieving my dreams,” Solis said. 

UTRGV students Ryan and Jorge from Omega Delta Phi have a vendor table with anime stickers. 

UTRGV students Valeria and Juan Castellano (Marketing Vice President) from Campus Activities Board have a table of prizes for the winners who play the Kahoot anime trivia game. 

UTRGV students Mikaela Martinez, Naria Garcia, and Alexandra Aguila at a table where you can draw your favorite anime character on a piece of glass. 

UTRGV student and CAB President Audrey Solis hosted the anime trivia on Kahoot!

UTRGV students gathered around to play an anime trivia game on their cellphones.  

UTRGV students participate in a game where they catch the most significant number of gummy bears in under 30 seconds. 

UTRGV students playing Just Dance together on the Xbox One. 

“I think [the event] is good so far; there’s a lot of activities besides us, so that’s pretty cool,” said Xochitl Castillo, senior and president of the Korean International Student Society (K.I.S.S.), who had a table, doing a Just Dance competition for the students and giving prizes.

She also stated that it was a good idea to hold another convention next semester.

UTRGV student Ricardo Balvanera dressed up for the convention. Character: Pochita from Chainsaw Man.

UTRGV student Jorge Medrano dressed up for the convention. Character: Aki Hayakawa from Chainsaw Man.

“I just like this character a lot because he’s the most serious one out of the group,” Jorge said during our interview.

UTRGV student Camila Pesquera dressed up for the convention. Character: Power from Chainsaw Man.

“I think they should put more activities [for the event]. ‘Cause as much as the gummy one and the drawing is really cool, I think a little bit more and maybe a little bit earlier on the day would cause more audience to come,” Camila stated.

UTRGV students Jorge Merando and Camila Pesquera dressed up as a duo together. 

“We were trying to do the character’s little dance, ‘cause in the intro, there’s a dance but, we didn’t have a third person to do it with, so we kinda just improvised,” said Camila after her performance with Jorge on stage during the cosplay contest.

UTRGV student Gabby Hurtada dressed up for the convention. Character: Rengoku Kyojuro from Demon Slayer.

UTRGV student Tiana Price dressed up for the convention. Character: Yor Briar from Spy x Family

UTRGV student Cindy Zamudio dressed up for the convention as Emily from the Corpse Bride.

UTRGV students Tiana Price, Gabby Hurtada, Camila Pesquera, Jorge Merando, and Cindy Zamudio who dressed up got their costumes judged. 

“It was really fun; it was nice to see a bunch of other students come together with their creativity to make costumes and represent anime characters as well as other characters,” stated Audrey Solis, one of the judges from the cosplay contest.

With that in mind, there will be more activities for the students to engage in as well as more students to come and cosplay that can enjoy the event. It is something that brings the students together because of an interest that they love and want, making a community with the students to showcase that other people love the same anime or manga as them. 

Without the event, there would not have been a more incredible opportunity for people to come and become friends or have a friendly debate over their favorite anime or manga. Being able to bring the students together for fun makes them more eager to go to their classes or see the new friends they have made.