Posted on 30th December 2025 by

Animangapop: Behind the Scenes

The interviews

In this short series we take a look behind the curtain at some of the people who make the magic happen. These people give huge chunks of their spare time to bring these shows to life all around the country and are dedicated in making sure they put on the best show they possibly can, making sure everyone has a fabulous time and leave them wanting to attend Animangapop again. So without further ado, let’s say hello to… Debbie.

Hello Debbie, thank you for taking the time to sit down and answer some questions.

Can you tell us what your role here is at Animangapop?

I’m the Cosplay Manager at Animangapop. My role focuses on coordinating cosplay guests and creators, managing applications and communication ahead of events, and supporting everything cosplay-related on the day. On show days, I’m usually at the cosplay desk, supporting all cosplayers and helping the cosplay competition run smoothly behind the scenes.

How did you get involved with Animangapop and have long have you been here?

I got involved with Animangapop after Wendy, our Workshops and Panel Manager, mentioned they were looking for someone for the role and asked if I’d be interested. Around the same time, I attended Animangapop London in August and enjoyed it so much that it confirmed I wanted to get involved. I decided to give it a go and joined the team in 2025. Since then, I’ve really enjoyed being part of the events and helping bring the cosplay side of the show together.

What is one of your favourite tasks and why?

One of my favourite parts of the role is working with cosplayers during the cosplay contest and at the cosplay desk. I love meeting people from so many different fandoms and seeing the creativity that goes into their costumes. Through judging and chatting with contestants, I often discover series and games I wasn’t familiar with before, which makes the role really fun and inspiring. It’s great to see how passionate people are about their characters and the effort they’ve put into bringing them to real life.

What is the one task that is a grind but needs to be done?

Probably the physical set-up and pack-down. It’s hard work, especially with all the unloading and loading of the van, but seeing everyone pull together with such a positive attitude really shows how much teamwork goes into each event.

If you had to pick one memorable thing that has happened in the last 10 years of AMP, what is it?

One of the most memorable moments for me was the October Bristol event, which was my second time working as Cosplay Manager. It was the first time I was running the cosplay side of the show largely on my own, so I was nervous, but it ended up being one of the most fun and rewarding events. Bristol really stood out to me because the cosplay competition sign-ups filled up immediately, with people queuing as soon as the doors opened. Seeing that level of excitement made me realise how different each Animangapop location can feel, and how passionate each local cosplay community is.

Animangapop embraces all forms of Japanese POP-Culture. What is your favourite part of Japanese culture and why?

I really love cute idol music, manga, anime and games(Nintendo!), but one part of Japanese pop culture I’m especially interested in is the work of voice actors. I’m a big fan of voice actors and have attended Japanese VA events when visiting Korea, so I’d love to see more of that in the UK. I also really enjoy Japanese food, especially matcha, desserts and sushi!

What is your Favourite Anime?

I love character-driven anime, especially stories about growth and passion like Love Live! and Uma Musume. I also really enjoy emotional and thought-provoking series such as Violet Evergarden and Attack on Titan.

Tell us one funny thing that has happened to you at an Animangapop event in the past?

I once hid a pair of ears inside my cosplay hat as a joke (the character I was cosplaying is often jokingly speculated to have hidden ears), and people kept asking me what was in it all day. At one point, one of the ears actually fell out, which made it even funnier. Wendy filmed me finding it and putting it back, and the clip unexpectedly went viral on TikTok. It was definitely one of those silly but memorable convention moments.

Thank you for time time on this Debbie, we know you are super busy with Shows.

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