A few months ago, I signed up to be entered for the COSParade at Hyper Japan this year. Only earlier last week did they get back with confirmation! Excited and also freaking out (I had nothing planned!) I looked up and Tahitian dance moves, practiced and created my own dance routine in a matter of days. On the day of the COSParade, we got our numbers of what order we were, I was 43; the last to go on. Lining up as I got the nearer to the stage, the more real it became and I got really nervous. I was taking deep breaths, trying not to panic and remind myself this is something I really want to do, above all I wanted to face my fears and up my confidence. Now was my time to do it as Moana! When I hit the stage, I did my 1 minute performance to ‘Logo Te Pate’ and did all I could to own the stage. This was my moment to shine! It also helped to see Mo in the audience cheering me on and waving right at me 🙂

Once finished with my performance, the COSParade was over. I am so happy with myself for doing it! So many of the other cosplayers were in awe of my performance too. A girl said to me once you hit the stage with the music and we saw your amazing dance routine (and hips!), we all went silent and everyone backstage was watching you – you were so AMAZING! So many of the girls loved it and it really flattered me, I couldn’t believe it! I’m so proud of myself to have ‘felt the fear and do it anyway’! I’m even more touched it got across to a whole bunch of people – I found a tweet of a photo someone took saying how excited they were to see Moana! Whilst walking around Hyper Japan afterwards, everybody commented “Great performance!” to me and asked for a picture. I loved it! I love to cosplay, I’ve always wanted to do it since I was a teen but everyone called me weird or childish for it. I am so happy to have finally found a place where I can be myself, be accepted and cheered on by everyone! Little 13 year old Aliyah will be crying tears of joy.