Colourful costumes, wide smiles, distinctive music and Pokémon cards… lots and lots of Pokémon cards! This year’s Cyprus Comic Con, on its opening day yesterday, Saturday, felt more like a gateway into dozens of different worlds than an ordinary event at the State Fairgrounds in Nicosia. Mythical creatures, superheroes, anime and TV characters, gamers, collectors, families with children, couples and, of course, the… passers-by who simply came to see what was going on, all found themselves in the same space.
And perhaps that is ultimately the Comic Con’s greatest success: you don’t have to be a geek or a nerd to have a good time.
From early on, the venue filled with people. Among the stalls, visitors stopped to browse collectibles, figures, comics and handmade creations, while small businesses and independent creators had a particularly strong presence. If anything seemed to steal the show among the shops, however, it was Pokémon cards and Funko Pops, with collectors searching for the next piece to add to their collections.
And then there were the costumes. Some were impressive, others elaborate, some funny, and others so meticulously crafted that they were impossible to overlook. For some participants, cosplay is not simply a costume bought for a single day. It is a creation that can take months of work, from the initial idea to the final detail. During the cosplay showcase, that work was on full display, as characters who normally exist on a screen briefly took on human form in front of the audience.
Music had a role of its own. Familiar melodies from films, anime and beloved TV shows followed one another, creating moments of recognition even among those who would not consider themselves hardcore pop-culture fans.
And somewhere along the way came the memories. “Prepei kai boro” — the Greek-language intro to Dragon Ball that accompanied the childhood of an entire generation — was heard once again, this time in a venue filled with people who grew up with the same melodies. The song was performed both by the Asian artist and by the Greek singer who originally sang it in Greek, creating one of those moments that turn a piece of music into a shared childhood memory.
By evening, the atmosphere shifted from exhibition to party. The costumes remained, the music grew louder, and Comic Con proved that it is not simply a gathering of people with shared interests. It is a space where being different requires no explanation.
You can be a superhero, a mythical creature, a Pokémon collector, a parent with your child, a creator or simply someone who walked in out of curiosity. For one day, everyone fits into the same world.
