My Experience at the Pretty Heroes Convention

I love a good anime and comic convention. So, I definitely couldn’t resist attending the Pretty Heroes convention this year. Ever since I was 12, I would go on deviantART and see people upload cosplays of themselves at these “mysterious” events called conventions. Being from Toronto, Canada, very young, and stuck behind a computer most of the time alone, I had never heard of a convention before. But what I learned about them through the 2007 Avatar: The Last Airbender and anime fan communities made me want to go one day.

Now, 16 years later, I’ve been to many conventions, some now extinct. From Atomic Lollipop to Anime North to Fan Expo to FrostCon. I have yet to visit an anime and comic convention outside of Toronto, but it is definitely my goal to head to San Diego Comic-Con one day, with the intention of meeting the creators of Avatar, of course.

My history with the Pretty Heroes convention

With my experience in the convention world, I’ve yet to encounter a convention solely focused on women in the anime and comic convention community. Enter the Pretty Heroes convention. When it first entered the scene as a small community event with a booth at Anime North advertising its first run in 2015, I was intrigued but didn’t make plans to go. This was partly because it was quite a far distance for me back then, and it seemed to be solely focused on Sailor Moon, as it was previously called the Toronto Sailor Moon Celebration. Now, it’s been rebranded as a convention to celebrate all heroic women in the anime and comic world, with “Girl Power!” being a key theme throughout the event.

I got two media passes and attended the Pretty Heroes convention at the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre on both the Saturday and Sunday of this two-day event. And let me just say, ANY excuse I can get to go to the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre, I will take. I absolutely love that space and have so many memories, going all the way back to my teens, related to this venue. Anyhoo, without further ado, let’s dive into my favourite parts about this convention.

My Outfits for Day 1 vs. Day 2

I don’t get many opportunities to dress up these days, especially working from home most of the time, but attending the Pretty Heroes convention was the perfect chance to wear my beautiful Selkie dresses. Since I was attending a “magical girl” event, wearing a Selkie dress seemed the most fitting. They’re puffy, fluffy, and filled with layers of fabric with beautiful patterns. I own two dresses: one is a cloud dress, and the other is a dark floral dress.

On Saturday, my vibe was “cloud princess,” with a fairylike lavender and blue hairstyle. On Sunday, my vibe was “dark floral princess,” with a more edgy look overall. These dresses sparked so much conversation, and truly, I feel like Selkie should provide some type of affiliate program, as their dresses often grab people’s attention.

Food options at the Pretty Heroes convention

Personally, I didn’t see that many food options at the convention. As soon as you walk in, which you’ll see in my vlog, there appears to be a snack table filled with chips, ramen, soda, and water bottles for purchase. There was also a vendor called Sweet Nutrionista selling baked items. The Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre had a kitchen offering onigiri, ramen, and an assortment of Japanese candy as well.

Smaller conventions spark great conversations

I love small conventions. I always have. Some of my favourites in the past have been Atomic Lollipop and FrostCon (may they both rest in peace). Interestingly enough, Atomic Lollipop used to take place at the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre too.

What makes small conventions so great are the familiar faces you see, more time and space to enjoy the artist alley, and way more opportunities to connect with people. When you attend a lot of conventions, you’ll see the same faces pop up time and time again. At a small con, there’s a better chance of greeting people you’ve passed by at bigger cons. People are way more relaxed, less siloed into their own friend groups, and may even attend a small con alone, making them more eager to be social and spark conversations.

I feel like I spoke to every single vendor at the Artist Alley. There were so many talented vendors, some of my favourites being Koemi Studio, Bao Bao Nails, and Birduyen.

My friend, who attended with me on Sunday, also made a new friend to game with. Her choice of cosplay sparked a conversation that led to her getting a new gaming buddy. I also reconnected with a friend from high school who I hadn’t seen in a while. It’s moments like those, often missed in the hustle and bustle of bigger conventions, that make smaller conventions shine.

I met Cricket Leigh – the voice of Mai from Avatar: The Last Airbender

I can’t believe I almost missed meeting Cricket Leigh. I’m on a quest to meet as many voice actors from the show as possible. So far, I’ve met Grey DeLisle, the voice of Azula. I attended Cricket’s panel on mental health, where she provided a lot of great tips as a professional and licensed therapist. During the panel, we discovered we shared something very personal in common. Afterward, I spoke to her and told her how I wrote so many Mai fanfics growing up. Meeting her was truly the cherry on top for me.

The Pretty Heroes cosplay catwalk

In the vlog, you’ll see this in more detail, but there were many cosplay performances and shows going on. I didn’t get to attend them all, but my friend participated in the cosplay catwalk, which was very fun to witness.

Overall, I’d recommend attend the PRetty Heroes convention at least once in your life, especially if you want to be around magical girl and girl power energy for a weekend.