BLOG

I went to Kupocon: Pomfinity 2025! (09/02/2025)

On the 8th Februrary 2025, I went to Kupocon! It was hosted in Glasgow, Scotland it was my second kupocon to attend. Originally, I was supposed to go with my best friend but unfortunately they couldn't make it this time so I went alone which was a shame but not the end of the world! This year's kupocon was the 20th con, labelled Pomfinity and it was so much fun with lots of lovely people attending. I am talking about this con without even introducing what it is about!

"KupoCon is a celebration crafted by passionate Final Fantasy enthusiasts for fellow fans of the series. Whether your affection lies with the entire series or specific games within it, KupoCon welcomes you with open arms. Diverging from the conventional convention experience, our event fosters an atmosphere where attendees instantly feel enveloped in a community of friends. Attendees often liken KupoCon to an expansive Final Fantasy-themed birthday bash, where the joy of shared fandom takes center stage."

- Kupocon Website

From that description alone you can tell it is a very warm and inviting experience and I provided the link above for you to check out more! It is a really well organised event, especially with so much love for Final Fantasy sprinkled in every corner and moment for the con. Today I will talk about my time there for 2025.

Leading up to Kupocon, I managed to secure an autograph bundle to meet Hedy Burress, Adam Croasell and Nina Yndis who represented Yuna from FF10, Ignis from FF15 and benedickta from FF16 respectively. I was initially super excited to meet Hedy since I have loved Yuna as a character ever since I was 9-10 years old, when I first played Final Fantasy 10, my first and favourite Final Fantasy that helped shape me to be who I am today. Growing up with such impactful characters and meeting the voices behind them I never thought id have the pleasure to do in my life so I am very honoured to meet them today. For each FF I played, every character brought it to life and gave me lasting memories for each game that I will cherish and never forget.

Originally Kupocon was something of a bonus as for me, it was the perfect event to meet up with my friend and then spend the rest of the day or weekend with them but since I went solo this year, I got to absorb more of kupocon itself. I will now detail from beginning to end, my experience this year!

First of all, it was a nightmare to arrive on time. I woke up very early and left home at 7:50 AM, reminiscent of my university days to catch the early bus. Thankfully it was a Saturday so there was no rush hour to accomodate for. However, the venue was a 30min walk from the bus station which was quite brutal! Glasgow is fortunately easy to traverse through, until the road and crossings were blocked in many streets making it a little bit of a journey like trying to walk a straight line in the grand canyon. Arrived on time and was at relief seeing fellow cosplayers arrive at the same time hehe. I got myself signed in and sat in the main hall well early before the opening ceremony. I admit, I felt quite sad to sit alone this time, everyone was happy socialising and enjoying themselves whereas I did mostly keep to myself this time. I did feel a little out of place for being alone and to not have a cosplay but these things are okay, you can't control such outcomes! So I did keep my chin high and went to enjoy my day, spoke to some amazing people too.

The opening ceremony was super fun, all the Voice Actors scheduled for this con arrived and the crowd were cheering and roaring. They all then were tasked to read, dare I say it...SMUT. I can't believe I heard in Yuna's voice, smut. It was so funny but I barely remember it, other than hearing "Booty shorts under the Zanarkand Sunset". Why do I feel like Ignis talked about recipe's here. Speaking of Ignis, he got a few volunteers to see who can say his best line, "I have come up with a new recipe!". I swear I picked up a rock or something in FF15 and he blurted that out, what a stoner. The next thing was described as an ATB (I love the nerdy names for such events) where everyone had to toss the balloons that were randomly filled with random amount of gems from the back of the stage to the front to be popped by some volunteers. We were split in half to compete and our side won (although it was mostly luck based, I guess we just had a lot of fortune spheres handy).

The opening ceremony was really fun and now the event properly started. I spent this time before my autograph queue starts to go to the markets! There was so many stalls filled with merch and I was tasked to find this mug for my bestie that was the classic " you are the best looking guy here" of Squall's face and I wanted one of my own but sadly there wasn't any this time. However, there was plenty of merch and artwork I got for myself! It is not official Square Enix endorsed merch but fan made, but it is equally as valuable. It did feel like there was more merch to browse through compared to last year's in Birmingham but I was still very satisfied with today. I bought plenty for myself, my brother, my best friend and a knitted toy for my nephew. I may come back to this blog and post a picture of the merch all together (can't show everything yet, the contents although not much is still a surprise for my bestie!). Those behind the stalls were lovely, one complemented that I was a Persona 3 fan because I bought a Minato pin and it feels good hehe. I mostly bought keychains and art pieces since no offense to the artist but some art pieces just don't attract me well. I do miss seeing that naked Estinien piece, it is a shame it wasn't here today (not that I was interested, I just thought it was really funny).

I arrived bang on time to the autograph section and yet there was such a long queue ahead of me. I stood in the queue for over an hour in a small room, hearing conversations of what everyone'e elses favourite FF is, what they hate about FF, why they hate their life etc and I just kept to myself like the lunatic I was. I kept trying to rehearse what I wanted to say to Hedy but I can never come up with something but my time was near. The nerves were kicking in and after a long wait, I finally met Yuna! Hedy was super sweet, sweeter than I could imagine, very understanding of my nerves and just made me feel super welcome. It is impossible for anyone to not smile after talking to her. She was extremely kind to sign my FF10 copy with my name signed by hers so now my favourite game feels even more personal to me! I told her how much Yuna meant to me since I played the game since I was a child and she was super pleased to hear that, she really cares about the fans for FF and her character. We took a selfie whilst joking about our height difference and she signed my 2025 diary. I then moved onto Nina. Nina was as expected, very sweet and kind. She talked about how she used to live in Glasgow for 3 years and talked about how she feels her role in FF16 was short and sweet whilst many said they wanted more since they loved the character so much. Sometimes, a short role can be equally as impactful and it shows that if you want more, you really admired the character and I think any voice actor would feel pleased to hear that. Ignis was a super charming dude, I couldn't talk much w with him unfortunately due to the queue having to speed up so we don't clash with their lunch break but he was super cool and talked about how he couldn't believe it had been almost 10 years since FF15. I remember the launch as if it was yesterday. They all signed my journal so in the future I can always refer to the day and remember what a wonderful day it was and to cement my FF journey.

I walked around, exploring the markets again and just watching everyone go by having fun with the cosplays. Dang, people really nail the cosplays very well, I saw a few tonberries, someone had their own pet chocobo that they walked around and someone was dressed as Ambrosia! People were very creative and of course, those with Aerith cosplays look the best, I am just bias for them hehe. I did suggest the idea a while ago for me and my bestie to dress as Aerith together for fun but maybe next time! I love seeing cosplays of more obscure characters such as Irvine, Firion and Rufus Shinra, you have to spread the love to ALL characters, not just the main ones!

The last thing I did was sit in the main hall to listen to the same actors I met talk about how they got into voice acting for FF. It really puts into perspective how difficult it was back especially in early 2000s where video games were considered as something niche instead of anything serious and how it is more difficult today due to how, especially for FF, timeless the characters are so you have to deliver that standard. They all enjoyed their characters, their experiences and are super grateful for the experience and the fans that came along the way. They also talked about the fun stories they had with their fans (Hedy is such a troll lol) pretending they arent the voice actor to only intercept them later at a autograph signing and its just super wholesome and breathes more life into the actors behind them. It is powerful to just see how these characters and the voices for them come a long way, as if they coexist.

Although kupocon had 3 more hours to go, I decided to leave early as I saw everything I wanted to see and I felt super tired. Next time I will absolutely stay for the whole day, perhaps even for both days since its a weekend con. My interactions with the actors, especially Hedy really made my day to the point I will never forget a moment of it. I will definitely aim to try and see Hedy again at another con but I honestly, would love to meet every actor for every character in FF, they all deserve equal respect and love. Despite not having an autograph signing last year, it was a great pleasure to be able to meet and greet Barnabas, Gav and Balthier along the way. It really just cements FF in my heart even more.

And I went home and bought myself an entire pizza ALL for myself! That pizza was not old enough to even blink. It was gone, just like that.

Overall, kupocon was a lovely time filled with fun and new experiences. I hope I can go again next year! I will most likely make a few additions to this blog entry in the future such as pictures as I currently lack time but all will be revealed when im back home!

Stay well and I hope to see you in the next one o/