Cosplayers and a street preacher convened on Lancaster's Main Square on March 25, the first day of Zenkaikon 2022.
Writings and photos by Wes Cipolla
Originally published in the Pottsville Republican-Herald on April 2, 2022.
LANCASTER — Last weekend, the streets of Lancaster were filled with ninjas, superheroes, knights, angels, demons and men in duck costumes.
Some of them were from Schuylkill County.
Zenkaikon, the annual convention celebrating anime, video games, comics, fantasy and science fiction, made its triumphant return after two years of pandemic absence. Zenkaikon puts special emphasis on Japanese pop culture, but the atmosphere in the Lancaster County Convention Center was more reminiscent of the Venetian carnival — and not just due to whispers of a lingering plague.
There were masked revelers, colorfully dressed as their favorite anime and game characters (their elaborate designs are called cosplay, a portmanteau of “costume” and “play”). There was art, video games, books, figurines, plushies and other memorabilia for sale. You could buy a drawing of your favorite anime character, or a pillowcase with their likeness on it to snuggle with at night. There were even Schuylkill County natives who joined in the fun.
“I was interested in cosplay and just the nerdy stuff,” said Wade Palamar, of Minersville. “I thought it would be like, ‘Ah, yes, my people.’ ”
Wade Palamar of Minersville at Zenkaikon.
This is Palamar’s fourth Zenkaikon. He likes dressing up as his favorite characters from movies and TV and meeting fellow fans through his cosplays.
On Friday, it was clear that despite the two-year gap, all of the usual suspects had returned to Zenkaikon without missing a beat. There was the fire-and-brimstone preacher who pontificated to the cosplayers in the town square, and the well-heeled wine-sipping businesspeople who gawked at them.
There was the inevitable guy dressed up as Jesus Christ. This year, Jesus was in the game room, playing the fighting game “Tekken” — and losing badly.
The highlight of Friday night was the formal cosplay ball. The ladies wore puffy, glittering dresses, waltzed to Japanese love songs and fanned themselves. It was as if Edith Wharton and Speed Racer had a baby — that is, until Super Mario and a host of cartoon characters started doing the Cha Cha Slide.
The Friday night cosplay ball.
Meanwhile, the wigged wallflowers checked their phones or lay collapsed on chairs in a state of half-consciousness. One of them was Mark Patrick of Williamsport, who was alone at the ball because his girlfriend, Cheyenne Klinger, of Girardville, wore out her feet from walking around the convention all day.
Mark Patrick and Cheyenne Klinger.
“It was boring because you weren’t in there,” he told her outside the ballroom, putting his hand on her shoulder. This is Patrick’s first Zenkaikon, and Klinger’s second.
“I enjoy the camaraderie and the general kindness of those who are here,” said Klinger, 22. “I have a lot of conversations where I talk to someone and I don’t even know their name, but we become like friends.”
Klinger started cosplaying in 2018.
“I enjoy the transformation, taking the time to try to recreate something,” she said. “Even if it’s not in the same image, but in your image. I enjoy the artistry that goes into making it.”
On Friday, Patrick and Klinger cosplayed as Shaggy and Velma from “Scooby-Doo.” On Sunday, they cosplayed as Jack and Sally from “The Nightmare Before Christmas.” Patrick wants to learn more about cosplay thanks to Zenkaikon and his girlfriend.
“It’s kind of fun, seeing everyone interact,” he said. “You see everyone’s costumes, some big and bright, some dark and emo. It all just blends together.”
Saturday’s highlight was the Masquerade, a cosplay and performing arts showcase, but it wasn’t until later that night that Bryan Ludwig got to show off his talents. Ludwig, of Cressona, did his eighth annual live sing-along of music from movies and video games.
“I love to share my passions with like-minded people,” said Ludwig, 42. “The joy it brings when you can inspire a younger generation to do the same makes all the time and effort worth it.”
Ludwig is part of Children Driving Robots, a group that performs and does panels at conventions in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. He has attended Zenkaikon for ten years. His interest in gaming started when he was in middle school and received a copy of the video game “Final Fantasy” for the NES.
“It allowed me to escape the real world on a grand adventure while challenging my brain,” he said.
He also practiced karate, which inspired a greater interest in Japanese culture. That, and his background in music and theater, combine at Zenkaikon.
“The great thing about conventions like Zenkaikon is the inclusive community around it,” he said. “We are all there to have fun. Nobody is being judged, except in the cosplay competitions.”
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