Anime!

We still have tons of pictures to get formatted and labeled over the next few days, including the ever popular CosPlay galleries, looks at all the con booths, and just lots of pictures of the con itself to say nothing of the small manufacturers and urban vinyl booths!

* Listen to local Japanese pop culture critic Kelly Haines detail the relationship of dolls to cosplay (“costume play”).

Anime distribution mogul Bandai Entertainment recently made history when they decided on a clever blend of parody, cosplay, and viral marketing to tell fans about the North American licensing of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya

Yesterday I finally went back to school. It was a relief, really. I was getting really, really sick of doing nothing but online roleplaying all day (oh, it’s immensely fun, don’t get me wrong - I just like my human interaction now and then - and some really funny quotes pop up now and then). Everyone was worried about me and was glad to see me back. And, Kaori-chan mentioned the coolest thing ever - a cosplay event that happens in the winter in Akita. OMG YES. Because I finally decided on next year’s CTCon cosplay (Iruka-sensei from Naruto)…I may just be buying the costume early (too complicated to make, for me).

Last Thursday, I went to Toronto for Anime North 2006. It was my first time to visit the real anime convention. Well, I did check out RIT Anime Club’s Tora-Con, just a small convention. Anyways, I went there with Lainey and her buddies who cosplayed there (Alright, I did small and simple cosplay as Toutaku Chuuei of Ikkitousen. Steve, I know you want me to be Kakouton Genjou of Ikkitousen).

Speaking of next year, I’ve already decided that I’m going to A) remember to register -early-, since it was cheaper, B) wear a costume at least one day of the three, and C) BUY A FREAKING CAMERA. I haven’t decided who I’d go as, but I have some ideas…

Now, if we can get President Bush to cosplay, I’m sure our Pacific allies would react with utter… amusement? He’d get the American otaku vote, though.

Cosplay (コスプレ) is a Japanese subculture centered on dressing as characters from manga, anime and video games, and, less commonly, live action television shows, movies or Japanese pop music bands.

The big thing coming up next weekend is of course halloween. I’m trying to organize some events for my classes and trying to get a costume together. I’m dressing up as a character from a Japanese Manga. The name of the Manga is Nana, it is very popular here and recently got made into a movie, i’m going as a character named Ren who is sort of a punk rocker japanese style.

Simple. Just play the game, and join us in our discussion about the game. The discussion may span our blogs, blog comments and message boards, possibly IRC, maybe even through telepathy! We can argue, congratulate each other, comment on one another’s comments, make jokes… Nothing is restricted; you can do whatever you want to express your feelings about the game such as take pictures, write/record songs, draw, paint, cosplay, do interpretive dance… anything at all. Text, pictures, audio, video, it’s all fair game. Spoilers should be kept to a minimum, but don’t let that keep you from talking about specific things in the game if you want to. Since we’re all playing it, we should all know what’s going on.

I’m just amazed at how people would go through great lengths for something they feel passionate about. I’ve come to realize the same thing when it comes to cosplay. Ito na yata ang pinaka-weirdong bisyo na talagang kinarir to da max ng lolah nyo.

one of my students invited me to an anime festival over the weekend. she told me that she and some other students were going to sing. what she didn’t tell me was that was going to enter a cosplay competition. my limited knowledge of anime prevented me from identifying her character however, she did manage to come in third place, though she lost to sonic and batman. after the cosplay, we watched some anime for awhile. I’m still trying to decide if it was more enjoyable to watch anime dubbed into spanish or anime with the spanish subtitles. also, by singing she of course meant singing karaoke.

Also, we have reserved the rooms for both the Cosplay Dinner and the wrap-up event at the end of the semester. The Cosplay dinner is a few months away (November 1st, the day after Halloween), so get your costumes ready! We’ll have more details about that event posted up when they get ironed out.

Over the top Japanese Cosplay. Do these kids know how to rock a costume or what (the last picture is scary, so don’t look at it).

Aoyama-san gets serious this time and the question is, “So what is your hobby?” This must be the most embarrassing question to an otaku when asked by a girl. Etto, let’s see, hmm, my hobby is watching animes, playing ecchi games, and hang out at some cosplay cafe, where the girls who serve you are dressed up like a maid? No, no, definitely not the answer. Wait, wait, I have another hobby. I like to surf the net.

World Lit. Our teacher started class with a short speech about our third eye, and then told us that our principal would like to cosplay Spiderman. Disturbing, in my most un-humble opinion. On a nice note, I’m in the same class as Becca AGAIN this period, and we sit next to eachother. Meaning most pair work performed by either of us in the class benefits the other.

這些有如返回古典的景致，能再印在你的Cosplay相片中嗎？

I just got back from Portcon, as you could probably tell from this update. So I should probably do my shoutouts now to my fellow comic artists. The guys from Life for Breakfast shared a table with me in the quiet corner, and had to put up with me for the weekend. Then there was the ever popular Dave Lister from Paradox Lost, with his hot cosplay fans. Instant Cassic was a smart guy. Dominic Deegan had beautiful man-hair. Then there was Nami (who's in the sketchbook) and Rika from Seraphic Blue. The guy from Applegeeks was a wicked nice guy, and the girl from Shine Get Dumplings Go-Go Tower was a cutie. Finally on the otherside of the room were the guys from Prototype, peddling their print comic, who are telling me about an online project coming up. If I missed anyone it was because they were entirely unremarkable.

De 21 de Setembro a 2 de Outubro (2005) irá decorrer no FIBDA mais um evento dedicado ao cosplay.

I decided to partially Cosplay it - going for a generic anime fan look - so if anyone sights a woman in a hot pink wig with a pint-sized Incredibles girl with her, that would be me. And on Sunday I will the Goth cowgirl, if anyone cares. I never get to wear my clubbing clothes to actual dance clubs anymore, so geeky conventions are going to have to do!

Today I attended another cosplay event, Cosfest 2005, at Pasir Ris NTUC Downtown East, because I had the urge to see pretty girls.

Looking forward to the trip to Vegas.. Also looking forward to seeing if my friends at work who are going to Otakon this year will be able to figure out what they are going to cosplay as… They want to do a group thing but there is a lot of resistance amongst the group.. (one person is always the odd person out on what they want to do…) as a result of this I’m back to debating doing cosplay for NDK this year… But I’m not sure… gotta find a character I can pull off… Kinda hard being male, with long hair and glasses… The glasses can be removed but I’m not cutting the hair… I like it too much…

Slackware is really cute! I love the overalls. I so love them…

And a friend has told me just now that maybe I could cosplay Arch… Hmmmm…

TWell.. now, because I have no concept of money and value and savings, I will gush my newest obssesion: Gothic Lolita. Will I wear it in public? No, unless it’s at Kunicon. But this site, cosmates, has gorgeous costumes that I just adore. And here’s some exciting news [vanity] everyone knows that on average, Japanese woman are very small in frame when compared to American woman. But those Lolita dresses, they only come in a certain size range, and I can fit it! I’m so proud of myself.[/vanity]

Anyway, you are all probably wondering why we chose to visit the Disney-MGM instead of something REALLY fun like Universal Studios Islands of Adventure.

There was only one reason: It was the last Star Wars weekend at Disney-MGM, and, as a huge fan of the movies and cosplay fanatic, Cheri wanted to take her custom-made Tusken Raider baby doll around the park and have its picture taken with all of the dressed up Star Wars characters. Since it was also her 32nd birthday, we clearly had to make this happen.

The goth cosplay extravaganza! Yes, every Sunday scores of young ladies get decked out in wild outfits and prance around the park. The main theme is gothic, with lots of black and frills:

The grandfather of cosplay took a lot of photos. Miyagi still cannot let go of the fact he was once a prefect. And a new blogger babe is ‘discovered’ - blinkymummy.

Actually there were some girls in the area, but guys definitely seem to predominate. So were does a strapping young Akihabarite go to meet members of the fairer sex? A Cosplay café, natch! Cosplay (“costume play”), for those of you who may not be familiar with the term, refers to dressing up in a costume and role-playing the character represented. Nerdy guys really dig it because:

I’ve always been fascinated at full-grown adults carrying their role-playing, fantasy lives with them into adulthood in the form of Cosplay or sci-fi fandom. I’ve also been a little jealous that these people have been able to place their imaginative life in such a central position in their lives, between jobs, relationships, and other muggle concerns. But it’s amazing and a little disturbing to read about Lovecraft fans reenacting rituals meant to raise an ancient, all-powerful, squid-headed god from his ocean slumber. My fantasy life contains a lot of darkness, but I guess I’m just too much of a believer to not worry that these folks are tempting fate just a little bit.

Another cosplay and photos day. Today event was the comic’s train at Montparnasse station, in Paris. Thanks to some top secret contacts in the staff, I had privileged access to the changing room. It’s always better to take good photos without having a lot of people around.

Here r some of the photo I have taken for the cosplay event at the Art festival

Some of the cosplay ladies. I still don't know for sure who they're cosplaying as, but I'm guessing it has something to do with Final Fantasy. Some of the costumes get pretty revealing, especially the girl who was cosplaying as Rikku. She had that booty floss thang goin'. I'm not feelin' that.

The week before AN I wasn’t feeling too well. I had a runny nose, cough, and possibly a fever (oh my o_o). Then on Friday (27th) I stayed up until 1:30 am working on my haku cosplay. I had to get the head thing done (I have no idea what you call it, btw) and then on Saturday (the only day I stayed at the con) my headband was falling every now and then (omfg), plus I didn’t buy too much (ugg =__= I hear my mom telling me in my head that spending is bad, I hope she will repay me by letting me go shopping crazy at HK) but I managed to stay...

The sad part about this is, when I am done posting this, I’m going to go play KotOR, while I fall farther, and farther into the obis that is “CosPlay.” Help me, steady employment and personal hygiene, you’re my only hope.

UGG Pro was great. I never went to a gaming convention nor a cosplay event before because I never thought I’d be interested, but this one was just great. The games were really cool, and the cosplayers looked really cute. Two really wonderful bands played at the closing ceremony too - one played progressive rock, while the other one was into J-Pop. All was great.

I've always wanted a cloak. Can't wait for a cosplay industry to blossom in Malaysia...

Anime Central 2005 was a lot of fun. It's probably the best con I've gone to so far, although that may be more because I'm a whiny bitch than actual content, but I had a great time in any event. I could write a lot about what happened but for now here are my photos. (Dial-up and slow connection warning).

Well, I just left the Switch Island Odeon cinema about 50 minutes ago and let me be one of the first in the country to say the newest Star Wars film was awesome. It definatly without a doubt makes up to the last two films poorerperformances but that’s not to say they were terrible, they were alright in my opinion but of course nothing beats the first trilogy. The cinema was packed when we got there and so I expect the film at other cinemas will also be packed, especially during peak times, ie the weekend at 6pm. Whilst we were there we even...

That was shameless plugging number one. Anyhow, my sister and I are cramming the costumes for the cosplay. Ack! I still need to get myself a belt and a brown bonnet. And purple hair color gunk that is temporary.

cosplay dilemma: sam and i need either unitards or leotards/tights for our saint seiya costumes, turquoise and lilac ( >P ) respectively. i did find one place that has lots of unitards in many different colors for fairly decent prices but almost all of their items say “allow 3 to 5 weeks for shipping.” plus the colors aren’t exactly right. like the lilac/lavender is a bit too dark, or the turquoise isn’t quite the right shade. but since our armor is going to be so awesome, and the characters are so obscure, getting the exact shade of the unitard right isn’t vital. and so i emailed the place, asking about rushing an order, and here’s what they said:

and my shinigami cosplay outfit is finally done ^^, i’ll try to post up some pics soon when i dye my hair, so then i’ll look more like hanatarou hehe. but i also need the belt too, then i’ll have everything i needed to be hanatarou.

Aha! I'm back and as cool as I can possibly be... especially after you see THESE pictures of my weekend at AniZona! Our First Anime Convention here in Arizona! I did a little Cosplay and I ran the artists alley which was pretty successful.... anyways... too much work to catch up on and it's kind of hard to post pictures without anyone seeing them... ha! What would my office space coworkers think?

I have never seen a war re-enactment in person, but I imagine it must impose a striking sense of surreality watching men willingly re-enact such mind-bogglingly horrific events. Maybe in some twisted way it highlights that senselessness, and that's the point -- to make you realize the folly of it all.

On the other hand, maybe it's all just a bunch of hyper-violent macho cosplay.

Hmmm. Well, for less "colorful" 3D photos, check out my main 3D gallery as well as my Cosplay 3D gallery. Of course, my posts on the topic here can be found in the 3D category. If you're interesed, join the 3D Stereoview Exchange, a group of 3D photographers from all over the planet who share their work with one another.

The main characters in Naruto are supposed to be NINJAS. These two sad specimens look NOTHING like ninjas. When is the last time you saw a ninja who looked like he’d been eating lunch at all-you-can-eat buffets for the past 8 years?

Now the latest craze is deep black lenses that make their peepers look like the wide-eyes of manga characters.

Thanks to a steady diet of manga and anime, Tokyo teens have come to admire the outsize peepers on hand-drawn heroines. “The bigger the character’s eyes, the cuter they look,” says 15-year-old Yumi Koba. And now, thanks to Share Generate’s Nadesicco Black, emulating Sailor Moon is no longer a dream.

So… The massive cosplay went underway Friday. As I was not there, I don’t know how pathetic it was - nor how good the movie was. I’ll likely hear both rants and raves on school on Tuesday, but that’s to be expected. Some people will bitch that it wasn’t an exact carbon-copy of the book, others that it was too much like the books, and so on. So… people who went, post reviews about ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy’ here.

Well, I finally got a chance to watch He is My Master. For those of you who have been following my blog, you’ll know that I’ve been bitching about how no one’s been fansubbing it. Well, three weeks later, someone finally did. So now I finally get to see the latest work from my homies over there at Gainax. I liked it, but I still have some very mixed feelings that need to be worked on.

We woke up Sunday hoping to see Travis Willingham, the voice of Col. Mustang from Fullmetal Alchemist. I had some merchandise for him to sign, but he was nowhere to be found. I later found out that he had a plane to catch earlier in the day, so I’ll just hopefully catch him another time. After this we got to see Rob Paulsen and George Lowe again. Mitch got Mr. Paulsen to record a phone message for him in the voice of Pinky. After Lowe, was the cosplay contest, which was O.K., but some of the acts were just boring. Anime Family Feud was next. Stay tuned to read about it…

Bleh, I’m so overheated. Damn this cruelly warm weather. >.< I want it to be 60s, 70s. Not 80s. If I do dress as Sanzo, the heat will kill me. Thank goodness I'm not going to Baltimore.

Yes, the next two weeks will be entirely cosplay and con babble. I am so insanely excited.

Yeah, I’m so not going to be able to cosplay this year either. Screw it. If I had a machine… *sigh* I might as well get started on next year’s cosplay now.

Currently on the program are the basics that one would usually find at an anime convention: anime-music-video contest, “artist alley,” fan panels and cosplay gatherings — all with a Naruto emphasis, of course. Some interesting tentative events that are not so common are the Ramen Eating Contest, Narutimate Hero Game Tournament, Ninja Auction and The Unofficial Naruto on Ice. Also on the agenda is the convention’s official band, The Random Ninjas, who will be performing Naruto music to fans’ head-banging delight. Supporting this all-out bash before the actual convention, from July 29 to July 31, were some fundraising events such as a White Day Celebration on March 12.

I am going to be judging a cosplay contest! You cannot possibly have the slightest idea how exciting this is for me.

This category rewards the costume wearer for their live performance. Judges will be focusing on the skill levels of the participants. What can you do to perform? Singing, dancing, drama, skits, improvisation (as long as you know what you are doing of course), poetry, public speaking, music......Nearly everything is an option. Please check with the cosplay director if what you are planning to do is not on the list above.

How are you, cosplay geek ! Now, six nine cosplay photos gallery again.

Tell the truth,m this time I picked up 57 photos from my cosplay photo album. not 69.

but i decide I call this series as 69 cosplay gallery.

Click the picture to see 69 cosplay pictures.

good pictures masa.cosplay always seems weird.

What is the reason cosplay is so popular in Japan?

Japanese cosplay is very different from other lands' cosplay. Around the world we get very ugly cosplayers in shabby outfits, but in Japan they at least pay attention to the quality of their suit. Also, Japanese seem more self-conscious: they don't dress up if they know they are ugly.

Another great set of cosplay pictures !

Great pictures masa :-) love those cosplay costumes, they are great. i don´t know much of all character animes... could you put the name of the animes that characters are from? arigatoo ;-)

Cosplay always amazes me. I really wish someday I can fly to Japan and see them with my own eyes. I went to couple of cosplays in America, but they.. how do I put it? Hmmmm.. not as good as the one in Japan. I think cosplay is a common thing in Japan, while in America, only certain group of people like them. And they are usually geeks/weirdos who never take shower and sit in front of their computer all day downloading anime; and they never take too much time to actually make the costume so it looks bad. No fun for me, no fun for you, no fun for everybody!!! MASA ROCKS!!!

By the way, I dunno why but it seems to me quite scary to see japanese people with blue eyes (contact lenses, I guess). Anyway, good work and keep on truth (and on cosplay photos too, of course XD).

Does mature people also make cosplay in Japan?

Great Pictures, these cosplay pictures are better than the ones from before. They are better because the costumes are better and they have more variety. This time you took pictures of guys.

Masa-sama, your photo (like this) makes me happy! I love cosplay photos. ^___^

Posted by: CosplayOtaku at April 11, 2005 11:24 AM

This weekend I went to Sakuracon with my friends. I enjoyed watching (most of) the cosplayers in their costumes during the convention. In addition to this there were 3 different theaters constantly playing anime as well as a couple of gaming rooms. There was also an exhibitor’s...

Cosplay. COSPLAY!