Do You Want Cosplay?

01.07.10 / Cosplay Costumes / Author: admin
Tags: cosplay

So you are thinking about cosplaying, but you don’t know anything about it. Questions such as “What is cosplay?”, “Where do I cosplay?”,  “What is needed to be able to cosplay?”, and  “How do I pick the right character to cosplay?” are running through your mind.  Hopefully this article will help you as you get started in your journey towards becoming a cosplayer.

To answer the question “What is Cosplay?”. I think Wikipedia defines it the best, “Cosplay, short for “costume play”, is type of performance art in which participants don costumes and accessories to represent a specific character or idea. Characters are often drawn from popular fiction in Japan. Favorite sources include manga, anime, tokusatsu, comic books, graphic novels, video games, hentai and fantasy movies. Role play includes portrayals of J-pop and J-rock stars, Taiwanese puppet characters, science fiction characters, characters from musical stories, classic novels, and entertainment software. Any entity from the real or virtual world that lends itself to dramatic interpretation may be taken up as a subject. Inanimate objects are given an anthropomorphic forms and it is not unusual to see genders switched, with women playing male roles and vice versa.”

Where do I cosplay? Majority of cosplayers in America are seen at different events such as conventions, and anime festivals. The largest event for cosplayers, outside of Asia, is the San Diego Comic-Con which is held in California, USA. Cosplay groups, as well as single cosplayers do dress in their cosplay and have photoshoots, or get together and have fun recording skits and plays that everyone can see. You can find some of these pictures and videos on sites like cosplay.com, deviantart.com, youtube.com, mangabullet.com, and many others. Recentally a cosplayer was on “American Idol” auditioning to be on the show. Sadly she didn’t get picked, but it was refreshing to see a cosplayer trying out. Honestly if you don’t have a problem with getting some weird looks from some people you can cosplay almost anywhere.

What you need to cosplay is simple. You need a character you would like to cosplay as, a costume, and a wonderful imagination. A lot of cosplayers don’t have a problem picking out a character. Most of them have the character picked out in seconds. A cosplayers costume isnt like any cosplay costumes you would see on Halloween. Quoting Wikipedia again “The object of cosplay is interpretation: one attempts to become one’s character much as a stage actor inhabits a role. Costumes are expected to adhere meticulously to the attire known to be worn by the character represented.” Every costume is a work of art whether they are bought online or made by the cosplayer themselves. Cosplayers often wind up teaching themselves different skills to put the costumes together such as sculpture, face paint, fiber glass work, even fashion design to get their anime cosplay costumes just right. An imagination is needed to be able to cosplay. You must adopt the affect, mannerisms and body language of the character, or characters that you will be cosplaying.

Hopefully this article will help you on your journey to becoming a Cosplayer.