Pierrot Lives: Tampa's Anime Convention Comes to Life

I attended the METROCON Anime Convention - as an observer only - that is being held for three days in Tampa. Today's more complete adventure is on my Tampa Daily Photo post. Check out the longer story and photo. The convention, "Florida's largest," attracts participants in full costume and utter over-the-top enthusiasm. Because our convention center is minutes from my home, and I did need photos for today's posts, I grabbed my camera and gave myself 30 minutes to explore and shoot a few pictures if the convention-goers proved to be decent subjects. Well, they did. And I had a great time. And I'm still out of breathe and cannot fully describe what I saw. This young lass, that is known as "otaku," a Japanese word for those who absolutely love this cartoon phenomena. Obsessive. She was dressed in a fantastic, full Pierrot costume. Anime may be hard to understand or explain, but it is very popular. I thoroughly enjoyed my photo assignment today and may have to return tomorrow to make certain that what I saw today wasn't just some cartoon figment of my imagination.