If you're a fan of otome games, a genre of story-based romance games targeted towards a largely female audience, then you're probably fairly familiar with the global phenomenon of Love & Deepspace (LADS). The 2-year-old, award-winning mobile romance game that mixes combat gameplay, minigames, a lifestyle simulator, gatcha mechanics, and more with 5 attractive digital men, all vying for your love and affection in a fictitious sci-fi future that takes up an ungodly amount of space on your phone. As LADS continues to grow in popularity, the company behind the smash hit, Infold (Love Nikki, Project: The Perciever, Infinity Nikki), noticed that their audience craved something more than just engaging with the digital love interest on their phones. Because of this, InFold started collaborating with large brands and hosting live Love and Deespace events for its player base. However, those official events, while grand, do not serve the large range of fans due to factors like capacity and location. But that hasn't deterred passionate LADS fans who want to bring those same kinds of events to their communities. Enter Neo Culture Co., a K-pop-inspired beauty and accessory brand that is branching out into hosting fandom events for the Central Florida community. And in their pursuit, they just hosted the first-ever Love and Deepspace live event in Orlando.
Some highlights from the event were the sheer number of attendees pouring into the Ding Tea restaurant. LADS fans lined the walls outside of the event and filled the restaurant to the brim. It was exciting to see so many fans in one place. Some wore cosplay, some dressed in themed outfits, and almost everyone was showing off their LADS merch. Also, the energy was so fun; everyone was just excited to be around each other. This is definitely thanks to all of the tiny details put in by the organizers to make this event special. One of my favorite aspects of the cafe experience was the collaboration between Ding Tea and Neo Culture on the menu. Together, they crafted an adorable menu of genuinely delicious-sounding drinks and snacks, such as the cookiebutter iced coffee named 'kitten', the tiramisu croissant waffle named 'stardust cafe', and the valcono poke bowl called 'Dragonfire to the Max'.
Additionally, the inclusion of vendors and themed merch was a brilliant idea. I attend a ton of events, and I always get excited when vendors are present, as it gives small businesses opportunities to build brand recognition and to make an income. The event was vended by Heidi Po Art, Arte De Alexa, Dulce Spells, as well as Neo Culture Co. The vendors sold original artwork, fan art, and fandom merch. I also enjoyed the merch tiers participants could grab during the event. There were 4 tiers you could purchase that included items like handmade beaded bracelets, magnets, stickers, keychains, and photo card holders. This, in addition to keychain plushies and other themed merch, made for an adorable LADS-themed shopping experience if you were looking for that special item to represent your favorite love interest.
All that said, I did leave this event after 45 minutes because while the event was super cute, it was a bit unbearable inside the event space. One reason is that Ding Tea is a very small restaurant, probably no bigger than a decent-sized living room. On a normal day at Ding Tea, the restaurant is small, and can feel full quickly when only 10 or so people are around. With an event like this, with around 30 people running in and out at any given time, alongside vendors' booths that took up an entire wall space, there was very little moving around to be done. I mentioned earlier that the menu sounded delicious, and that's because, unfortunately, the line to grab food was so long and slow-moving that I didn't have the energy to wait to get to the register, let alone wait for my food to be made. The lines for food and vendors were in the same place, so to speak, due to the limited space, so you could never really tell whether someone was purchasing from a vendor or waiting to grab something from the cafe. Internal seating was limited and filled, and outside, there was no seating.
On top of all of that, it's Florida, so even though it's April, the heat outside was intense, and with so many people in one confined space, so was the heat inside, even with the A/C. So while everyone genuinely was having a good time, there was some frustration on folks' faces while waiting in line. I also think this can be a large safety hazard for folks with disabilities and heat sensitivities. With such a small walk space, limited seating, and how hot it was inside the restaurant, individuals who use walking aids or who may not be able to sit in hot areas for a long period of time may not get the opportunity to enjoy this adorable fandom event.
I understand why Ding tea was selected, as they have proven to be a community space for folks looking to host events; however, the space is still incredibly small and would need some strategic planning to create a better event experience. One of the things I would suggest that was done at another local event, hosted by Goblin Mart in collaboration with local decora fashionistas Glo (Glopop.exe) and her friends, Cayla Joy and Winter Kero, called Decora Day, is time-blocked reservations. Creating reservations through a service like Eventbrite would allow attendees to not only reserve their time for free, but also allow for add-ons if participants wish to pre-purchase their event tier merch. I would also suggest coordinating with Ding Ting to set tables outside to allow for outside dining and to allow for more space with the cosplayers, as it was difficult for me to see, let alone get a photo opportunity with the cosplayer they brought out. Finally, as the event grows, it may be beneficial to work with other community venues such as The Bao Spot and K-Poppin Orlando.
Despite my critiques and advice, fandom events such as Sylus's Cat Cafe are necessary, especially in an area like central Florida, which has a large underserved fandom population just dying for events outside of large, commercial, and expensive conventions. Neo Culture Co. has an amazing opportunity to fill that gap, and they are taking that opportunity with full gusto, which I am genuinely so excited to see. Their team is small and growing quickly, as are the frequency and size of their events. It'll be interesting to see how they grow and change as they continue to host these fandom events around Orlando and the large central Florida area. If you are someone who loves girlie pop fandom events themed around your favorite K-pop groups,otome games, and nerdy Ips, I still encourage you to go and support Neo Culture Co. and all of their future events. I, for one, am still looking forward to all of their LADS events and will pop out at a few to have fun with my community.
For more articles about local events, check out my coverage of Orlando's first Decora Meet-up, or check out our coverage of Ongaku Overdrive’s event, Warriors of Light II.
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