Our children have been going to Momocon since they were four and six. They were rabid about Pokémon for a year or two and gravitated towards board games, one of them has fallen in love with wrestling and both of them have always loved the cosplay that they see. Eight years on they were both very eager to go to MomoCon, but I wasn’t sure what would interest them the most when we got there.
“I’ve been taking my sons since here they were that age,” said the lady who checked us in when we arrived at Momocon. She went on to tell me that they now have a local hotel room so that they can enjoy Momocon to its fullest extent. I could relate to her on both levels. Our boys have been attending Momocon since the youngest was three and a hotel room to crash out for a bit would’ve been nice. On an entirely different level, it was great to attend a con again and to that end, Momocon 2022 did not disappoint.
There are a couple of things every year that our family earmarks and looks forward to each season. For the boys and I MomoCon has been on that list for the past four years. They’ve loved every minute of it but always left with the same question, “When can mom come with us”? This year the schedules aligned and mom was able to attend MomoCon with us.
It’s important to point out that she’s not really into comic books, anime, cosplay, roleplay or video games. She enjoyed going to MomoCon because of how much fun the kids have had in previous years. Our boys are 9 and 7, they’ve seen a couple movies in the MCU and don’t know too much about anime, other than dad used to live in Japan and has some copies of that magazine in his office.
What they and the parents that I spoke with enjoyed about MomoCon is the atmosphere. During the daytime it’s great for all ages, has cosplay that is out of this world, but still OK for those younger audiences. Granted, there were some creepy clowns that gave out kids the willies, but they were the exception and even those costumes weren’t graphic in nature.
There were many instances of families that cosplay together; some as young as little geeklings who were being pushed around in a stroller or carried by mom or dad. Our two boys stayed for five hours the first day and four hours the second day and had a different, but equally fabulous experience each time.
They love the game area. There is every board game in the world at MomoCon for you to check out and play while you’re there. We started to play a Super Mario themed version of Trouble before the boys got distracted by some costumes and wanted to walk around. A couple hours later we came back through the gaming area and played Jenga.
Right beside that area is the video game area. This year it was broken up into classic arcade games and Asian video games. When it came to playing the games they were all in about the classic games. However, with an eye towards the future they spent more time watching the Japanese console games. They were peppering me with questions about how to play them, but I kept referring them to one of the multitudes of people who were lined up to dance, pound drums or touch cubes as quickly as they could.
Our kids are also 100% down with Con protocol when it comes to vendors. They should touch nothing, ask lots of questions if they’re interested and compliment those who are cosplaying near the tables. The merch was jammed with all manner of KPOP, Japanese manga, anime and statues that pronounce their enthusiasm towards it.
And it was all 100% family friendly. We heard worse language on the train to the event than we did at MomoCon. There are some night time events that skew towards college ages and up, they’re certainly a bit more risqué, but well past the bedtime of a 9 year old. Perhaps it’s something that they’ll enjoy in 10 years when they’re in higher education.
MomoCon happens in Atlanta ever year over Memorial Day Weekend. It’s the friendliest con for families that you’ll encounter because it has the real cosplay that elementary and middle schools will recognize, without the gore or sexuality that might populate other cons.
Geek life, parenting, family, pre-teens who like manga or anime and college students who want to cosplay and party. To some extent all of those variables exist at any con; however, at MomoCon they exist on a level so perfectly other cons wish that they could bottle its secret sauce. The tricky part of that equation is the family element. If you have a con that’s too family friendly then it won’t be interesting to the kids. If the con has too high of a demographic then it’s great for adults, but too much for children.
MomoCon manages to assemble the standard elements that make a con fabulous, but has deftly managed to keep it incredibly family friendly. A family that cons together stays together and families that attend MomoCon can usually be divided up into two groups. There are the families that go there to cosplay and those that go for the games.
Continue reading Plan ahead for MomoCon next year, May 24-27, 2018
Our second year in attending MomoCon was even better than the first. Part of that was due to our kids now being 4 and 6, but part of that was due to us knowing what to expect. MomoCon is a fan convention that bring together anime, manga, games, animation and comics-and it is all age friendly. We’re 100% down with cons that up the ante and make it more for the adults, but a good all age Con is that ensures a future fan base and lets the parents have fun is welcome.
Continue reading Photos from MomoCon – Anime, Manga, all age Con in Atlanta
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