Cosplay


Apr. 27, 2009

Cosplay - An otaku activity

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Ashitaka Cosplay (Mononoke Hime)
Otaku Fest 2008
(model/cosplayer: Ioan N.)		   Mikan Cosplay (Air Gear)
Nijikon 2008
(model/cosplayer: Irina D.)		   Youko Cosplay (Juuni Kokuki)
Nijikon 2008
(model/cosplayer: Livia V. - photograph taken with her consent)
Mar. 26, 2009

To Cosplay, or not to Cosplay?

Have you ever done a Cosplay? Tell us what character you were and how you felt! If not, would you want to? And who would you cosplay?


  • Well i cosplayed Mikan from Air Gear. It was an extraordinary experience and the fact that i won 3rd place for my cosplay made it more special. At first it was weird due to the fact that the costume was a little extreme. But a lot of people liked it.
    Apr. 23, 2009

     

  • Last year at a convention I cosplayed as Misa from Death Note. It was fun experience and my first time cosplaying. I plan to do it again this year! I want to cosplay as Sugintou from Rozen Maiden and Sakura from Tsubasa.
    Apr. 12, 2009

     

Apr. 27, 2009

Convention Photos

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A wall with characters from different anime.
Nijikon 2008
Photographer: Irina D.		   Art for sale.
Nijikon 2008
Photographer: Irina D.		   People doing cosplay
Otaku Festival 2008
Photographer: Irina D.
May. 04, 2009

Cosplay and Conventions

Have you ever seen people dressed up as all sorts of monsters, heroes and villains, and wondered how come Halloween came without you knowing? No? Then you haven't been exposed to cosplayers.

Cosplay is short for "costume play", and it means not only dressing up as one of your favorite (or, perhaps, less favorite but more glamorous) characters from cartoons or anime, comic books or manga, video games, movies, but turning into one of them. Cosplay can be from just having a pin that is the same as a character's, to more hardcore cosplayers that dye their hair or buy wigs, change the color of the eyes (contact lenses), build humongous weapons and even put a lot of make-up to change the color of their skin. Personality-wise, it is important to be able to act like the character, whether that character is a charming prince or an unsocial villain.

Of course, you don't just make a costume so you can parade in the backyard, there are conventions all over the world during the year. Here you can meet up with a lot of other otaku, including cosplayers, and participate in group and individual cosplay contests. In Romania, for example, there are two annual conventions, Otaku Festival and Nijikon, and there is also the very famous Sakuracon in Budapest.

So, what do you do at a convention? Well, if you're not into cosplay, there still are many things left to do: first of all, there are always dozens of stands that sell otaku-related items, varying from manga and original anime, to posters, badges and skillfully made fan art. There are AMV contests (anime music-videos), anime screenings, video-game contests and all sorts of workshops.

Apr. 27, 2009

Citations

  • ashitaka.jpg

    Picture of team member Ioan, cosplaying Ashitaka from the anime-movie Mononoke Hime at the Otaku Festival in May 2008.

  • mikan.jpg

    Picture of team member Irina, cosplaying Mikan from the anime Air Gear at the Nijikon Festival in November 2008.

  • youko.jpg

    Picture of Livia V.- photograph taken and published with her consent, cosplaying Youko from the anime Juuni Kokuki at the Nijikon Festival in November 2008.

  • wall.jpg

    Picture of the Nijikon Convention created by team member Irina, November 2008.

  • art.jpg

    Picture of the Nijikon Convention created by team member Irina, November 2008.

  • cosplayers.jpg

    Picture of the Nijikon Convention created by team member Irina, November 2008.