02.08.10 / anime / Author: admin / Comments: (0)
Tags: Cosplay Costumes
Vampires are ubiquitous; from vampires that walk among us to the mythology and media of every culture, we encounter vampires. These creatures and their lore are also universal: no matter how different a culture is, there will be vampiric stories of many forms. This, in turn, has led to everything from bestselling vampire fiction to popular blockbuster films to books about the lifestyles of real vampires. Though the Japanese culture differs in many ways from our Western culture, anime cosplay and manga are often awash with stories of vampire mythology, and what is perhaps most interesting is that their many vampire characters are usually styled after the Western pop culture notion of what a vampire should be. As our own ideas of vampires evolve, they are continuing to show up in Japanese culture.
In spite of having plenty of Japanese mythology to fall back on, the vampire has gotten quite a bit of the limelight in anime and manga. One side of the Western-style vampire is often used: the seductive but dangerous immortal. The realities of a true vampire lifestyle hasn’t quite reached mainstream Japan pop culture yet, so this is not something one would expect to find in a vampire anime.
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Being one of the originators of the West’s fascination with vampires, does Dracula show up in anime cosplay and manga? You better believe he does. In Hellsing, the main character is named Alucard. Dracula spelled backward, that is. This Alucard wanders a red-skied night, sleek and creepy, not exactly the count of his namesake. Meanwhile, the manga novel Dark Wars: Meiji Dracula, has Stoker’s count leave Europe to spend some time in nineteenth-century Japan. Hideyuki Kikuchi, the man behind Dark Wars’ clever idea, was also the brainchild of a manga called Vampire Hunter D.
Still, considering that Dracula was published more than one hundred years ago, there has been much added to the image of the vampire since then. If one reads the original novel, they’ll see that this Dracula is not the most attractive person. The more attractive vampire archetype has had numerous influences, including movies and Anne Rice’s books. So while Hellsing’s Alucard may not be everyone’s idea of a pretty man, they have plenty else to choose from. Nightwalker, about a vampire detective named Shido, has its beautiful, eye-catching male vampires. Shido himself, with his long purple hair, may not be realistic looking, but he’ll get girls to buy the DVDs. Cain, the gold-tressed vampire and sometimes lover of Shido, was the one who brought his protégé to the dark side and now teases him whenever he can.
Oftentimes vampires can be heroes, meaning that in anime cosplay costumes they often don’t have negative connotations attached to them. This, however, isn’t always true. In Descendants of Darkness, for example, a vampire is loose in Nagasaki killing people and it’s up to the protagonist Tsuzuki to stop her. Still, it could be noted that she’s acting the way she is because the antagonist of the series brainwashed her, and she never meant to do anyone harm. Furthermore, she still remains undead after Tsuzuki saves her, except that with his help she’s able to regain her mind and act like herself. Just as in the West crosses are said to stop vampires, here, too, religion comes into effect, with Shinto prayer strips being used vanquish the evil in her and bring back the woman’s heart.
01.08.10 / anime / Author: admin / Comments: (0)
Tags: Anime Cosplay Costumes
What is anime and what things are considered to be true anime cosplay and what things are considered to be related to real anime?
In general animated figures are divided into to categories: traditional had drawn cartoon figures and computer created figures.
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If we speak about animation production, usually we notice certain Japanese elements in majority of animated cosplay films. It happens because a lot of animation films contain Japanese background. We may not notice it in images of animated characters but certain cultural peculiarities of Japan are rather clear in some moments. As an example let’s remember such popular animation cartoons as Sailor Moon and Dragon Ball Z. Characters of these films don’t look like Japanese, but there are certain cultural features which are from Japan.
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But from other side there are other animation films which don’t have anything in common with Japan cosplay costumes. These are such movies as Mickey Mouse, Betty Boop or Bambi. In fact these cartons can’t be considered as true anime, although certain animation features are present.
29.07.10 / anime / Author: admin / Comments: (0)
Tags: Anime Cosplay Costumes
Strictly speaking though, there should be no distinction between anime and cartoon. Anime is a term used by the Japanese to refer to animated cartoons, from their own country and from others as well. Somehow, though, the world started using the term anime in reference to Japanese cartoons exclusively. Japanese animation was once called japanimation, but this term was aptly discarded when the term ‘Anime’ was put into use.
Some say that they see absolutely no difference between the two, even going so far as to classify both cartoons and anime cosplay as ‘childish’ because of the nature of how they are presented, much to the woe of anime fans. Technically, there’s no official difference and they are somewhat correct. But you only have to watch a single episode of any anime series and you’ll see that anime is far more than your usual slapstick comedy man-tripping-on-a-banana-peal early morning cartoons. There is a real and profound difference between the two besides their spellings: Anime is so much more than ‘just a cartoon’.
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Cartoons usually have a simple and defined plot. And they’re usually about the good guys fighting the bad guys. Cartoons rarely go beyond that old cliche. Most Anime series, on the other hand, are also about the same good vs. evil but the plots are rarely simple and rarely predictable. You’ll find an element of politics, religion, humanity, and a score of several other abstract concepts within an anime. Whereas cartoons are just about ‘evil’ cats chasing ‘innocent’ mice or a hero defending himself and others from a very evil bully. Anime cosplay can blur the lines between good and evil so much that you’ll be left wondering which side is really right. Look at the plot of Gundam, there aren’t any good guys or bad guys. They’re both fighting for a cause – a worthy one, and both sides are prepared to do good and evil to achieve their goals. Look at the Wave Country arc of Naruto which is now at Naruto Shippuden. Zabuza, evil as he was, had evoked more sympathetic tears than any of the typical Disney antagonists. There are, however, few exceptions to the ‘cartoons are simple’ rule. There are cartoon series that are far advanced like X-men.
In terms of humor, anime goes beyond the slapstick comedy that cartoons offer. There won’t be any corny joke about the chicken crossing the road with anime. There won’t even be the quintessential banana peal. Anime humor is deep and witty. However, it is to be noted that cartoons are mostly for kids. Anime can be for an adult audience; it mostly is, actually. There are even times when anime plots are hardly suited for children cosplay costumes.
27.07.10 / anime / Author: admin / Comments: (0)
Tags: anime
Anime is a term that stands for the Japanese word that means animation. Everywhere in the world, it is actually used to describe any Japanese animation. Anime can either be drawn by hand or be illustrations generated from the computer. These are used in television shows, films, video games and all web series. Anime cosplay has become very popular in the United States.
Another highly admired type of Japanese animation would be the magna. Magna is defined as a Japanese comic book that is read from back to front, opposite the western books. A lot of the magna series number over 20 volumes and have become television shows.
Collectibles associated with anime or manga has become a great investment. It’s estimated that billions have already been spent on the large variety of memorabilia that is on the market. The reasons for this success is twofold. One is that the video game industry has done extremely well, second is that there’s been a spike in popularity for all things Japanese within the United States..
Obsessed Japanese anime fans in the United States are known as Otaku. Otaku is a Japanese term, and interestingly, the word has negative connotations in Japanese. Otakus dress in outfits to resemble their favorite animated characters. It is known as
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, another word for costume play. Otakus dressed for cosplay usually dress up for comic conventions.
These conventions are commonly referred to as comic-cons and there are dozens held annually across the states. New comics are featured, authors meet and greet fans and cosplay costumes can be purchased at these conventions. There are panels, workshops, seminars, costume awards and animation screenings as well. Toy collectors fly all over the country to attend comic-cons to buy rare collectibles.
anime is the latest buzzword all over the United States. This term is derived from the Japanese word used for depicting animation and the world outside Japan uses it to refer to any work of animation from Japan. It is a huge export of a cultural art form out of Japan and has been adapted into many languages. Rattling obsessed fans are described as otaku. It is a Japanese term, and interestingly, the word has negative connotations in Japanese. These dress in outfits to resemble their favorite animated characters. It is known as cosplay, another word for costume play.