Cosplay Girl

Every year, the Sunday night party invites club-goers to dress as their favorite manga or anime character. American comic book characters are also welcome. Alternatively, those who don’t have an anime or comic-related costume can dress as a schoolgirl.

“There are a lot of cosplayers in the scene,” said co-promoter and DJ Xian Vox, herself an anime fan. “You would expect that, but no one really fesses up to it as much as they readily fess up to be being involved in Ren Faire or Pirate Faire. When you see so many people come out in these costumes, you go, wow, you didn’t put that together in one weekend.”

Otaku Society has become a popular event for the club, not just for the cosplayers in the club scene, but for those of us who love anime but don’t necessarily dress the part. Several people I met confessed that this was their first cosplay experience. As for myself, I never attempted cosplay before, but happened to be Ai Enma/Hell Girl for Halloween and had intended to repeat that for the party until my wig turned into a hideous, shedding beast and I was forced to go as Girl in Japanese Winter School Uniform.

Kingdom Hearts!

Dressing up is an automatic conversation starter. Within five minutes at the club, I met local artist Jettila Lewis of the manga-influenced graphic novel Motor City, and proceeded to strike conversations with a handful of others throughout the night. We talked about the depression that sets in after watching Gunslinger Girl, how being inside a 21+ nightclub means no Naruto cosplay and how everyone excluding yours truly managed to get a picture of an apparently fantastic Alphonse Elric cosplayer at Anime Expo last summer.

At midnight, prizes were awarded for the best costumes (the Kingdom Hearts Halloween Town cosplayer seen here took second place), but it seemed like many of the people were unconcerned with contests. The real highlight of the night was having the chance to unleash our inner otaku.

Check out ladead.com for the club’s photos from Otaku Society. This event took place on November 23, 2008.

Editor’s Note: The Anime Blog’s Guest Contributor Liz Ohanesian is a Los Angeles-based journalist covering music, media and club culture. She is a staff writer for Club World and her work regularly appears in such publications as the L.A. Weekly, Razorcake and Outburn. She has written for such publications as Punk Planet, PopMatters, Santa Monica Mirror and others.

Sonnya (L) and Renee (R) in their award-winning costumes. Photo by Anna Fischer.

WORLD COSPLAY SUMMIT TEAM USA AT KINOKUNIYA BOOKSTORE ON SUNDAY, AUGUST 17!

The New York Anime Festival today announced it is partnering with Del Rey Manga and Samurai Beat Radio to hold a Cosplay Day at the largest Japanese bookstore in North America – New York City’s Kinokuniya Bookstore – on Sunday, August 17, 2008.

Kinokuniya Bookstore, located at 1073 Avenue of the Americas in Manhattan, will present a day-long series of events showcasing the diverse world of Japanese cosplay and the World Cosplay Summit — an international cosplay event held each summer in Nagoya, Japan. Sonnya Paz and Renee Gloger, Team USA in the 2008 World Cosplay Summit, will attend Kinokuniya’s Cosplay Day as Special Guests.

“We’re extremely pleased to form this partnership with Del Rey Manga and Samurai Beat Radio and I think the Cosplay Day at Kinokuniya will be fabulous,” New York Anime Festival Show Manager Lance Fensterman said. “These partners are key players in the anime world and I think Cosplay Day underscores that we have become a key player, too! We want to celebrate the passion of cosplayers and accomplishments of Sonnya and Renee, and there is no better home for this than Kinokuniya Bookstore.”

The New York Anime Festival is an anime, manga, and Japanese pop culture convention from the creators of New York Comic Con and will take place September 26th through the 28th at the Jacob Javits Center in New York, NY.

Cosplay is short for “costume play” and is one of the most vivid and creative aspects of anime fandom. At its center is the creation and wearing of costumes based on a fan’s favorite anime or manga character. The World Cosplay Summit is the Olympics of Cosplay, an annual event which draws cosplayers chosen from around the world for a competition before judges including some of Japan’s most iconic anime and manga creators. This year, countries including Brazil, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, South Korea, Mexico, Singapore, Spain, Thailand, and the USA sent representatives to the World Cosplay Summit.

Kinokuniya’s Cosplay Day will include special all-day activities as well as a series of cosplay-themed presentations…

Kinokuniya Cosplay Day All-Day Events

Anime And Manga Discount: Any customer who comes into Kinokuniya Bookstore at 1073 Avenue of the Americas on Sunday, August 17 wearing anime, manga, or video game cosplay will receive 10% off all anime and manga purchases.

Cosplay Day Giveaway: All customers who come into Kinokuniya Bookstore can enter to win a number of prizes from Del Rey Manga and the New York Anime Festival. Winners will be drawn at 5:30 PM, and customers must be present to claim their prizes.

Kinokuniya Cosplay Day Event Schedule

3:00 to 4:00 PM: World Cosplay Summit Memories. The World Cosplay Summit — the Olympics of Cosplay — was held earlier this month in Japan, and two girls from Queens represented America in this international event. Team USA’s now back in NYC, and they’ve come to Kinokuniya to talk about their trip to Japan and experiences in the World Cosplay Summit. Sonnya Paz and Renee Gloger will spend an hour speaking about what it was like being crowned Team USA, what it was like winning a trip to Japan, and how they felt going up against cosplayers on the international stage!

4:00 to 4:30 PM: Cosplay Q&A. Got a question about cosplay? Curious about beadwork? Don’t know the best fabrics, metals, and woods to work with? Sonnya Paz and Renee Gloger will answer all your questions — beginner to advanced — so that one day you, too, will be good enough to compete in the Olympics of Cosplay.

4:30-5:00 PM: Samurai Beat Radio. Samurai Beat Radio, broadcast in 26 cities in Japan, comes to Kinokuniya to record a special, live show. Samurai Beat Radio will interview Sonnya Paz and Renee Gloger as well as cosplaying attendees to find out the who, what, where, when, and why Americans cosplay. This is a chance to get your voice heard throughout Japan!

5:30 PM: Raffle Drawing. Free tickets to the New York Anime Festival and Del Rey Manga prize packages are up for grabs in the Cosplay Day Giveaway. Customers can enter all day long, and to win, they’ll have to be present at 5:30 PM for the giveaway’s drawing.

Kinokuniya Bookstore, Del Rey Manga, the New York Anime Festival, and Samurai Beat Radio invite anime fans and New Yorkers up for a unique and unforgettable experience to come out to Cosplay Day at Kinokuniya on Sunday, August 17!

Sonnya (L) and Renee (R) in their award-winning costumes. Photos by Anna Fischer. Click for high-res versions.

There are always “herds” of cosplay from popular anime (Naruto and Bleach come to mind), and the occasional “flock” of cosplays from less popular, but still fairly well-known, anime and games, and lastly there are the rarer, seldom seen cosplays from obscure anime and manga. Look! Over there! It’s that snake-guy thing seen on the left-hand corner of page hundred of Random Manga!! OMG! Get a picture before he gets spooked!

Each year offers new opportunities to finally check off the Cosplay-Watch List those cosplays we’ve longed to see, and see done right. Last year for me, it was Pip Bernadette from Hellsing at Anime Expo. That gal was dead on and looked fantastic, down to the tiniest detail. Then there was the absolutely adorable Schroedinger and the creepy Herr Doctor, also from Hellsing. Wow, three in one day! That’s good cosplay watching!

The one cosplay I’m still waiting to snap a photo of is a brilliantly done Alucard (another Hellsing, I know). It would be my greatest pleasure to see a perfect Alucard, cosplayed by a guy. Coming in close second on my wish list is a skillfully done L from Death Note. It’s an easy cosplay to do, but it’s hard to do right. I think it may be difficult to get perfect because people go visually verbatim with the hair. I’d also like to see a guy pull this one off successfully. I have many more minor cosplays I’d like to see, but I’m satisfied with the cosplays I’ve checked off so far.

What cosplays have made it onto your Cosplay-Watch List? Is it a rare character? Or is it a popular one, but one you want to see done perfectly? Is it a character from a video game, anime or manga? Does a group cosplay tickle your interest? Have you been crossing your fingers, hoping this will be the year to finally get a snapshot of that one elusive cosplay? Which cosplays are you hoping to spot at the cons?

This year’s event will feature at cosplayers from at least 13 countries. There have been seven preliminary rounds held so far which select each country’s representatives.

September 8, 2007

The German preliminary round was held as part of Connichi 2007 at the Kongress Palais Kassel in Kassel, Germany. There were three judges: one member of the WCS 2007 German team, one Connichi organizer, and one member of the cosplay community “Cosplay Heaven“. The winning team performed as characters from Sailor Moon.

• Annie Fischinger (left) as Sailor Moon
• Katharina Wehrmann (right) as Sailor Chibi Moon

Use the following links to view more information about the preliminary and the team members.

September 23, 2007

The Thai preliminary round was held as one of the final events of Japan Week at Central World in Bangkok. There was a large panel of judges, mostly Japanese, including the Public Relations & Culture Division Chief of the Japanese Embassy, TV Aichi’s Division Chief of the Executive Office, the Deputy Manager of the JETRO Bangkok Center, the Head of the JNTO Bangkok Center, the Head of the ANA branch in Bangkok, and the Head of the Japan National Tourist Organization’s Sightseeing and PR Office. The lone non-Japanese judge was the organizer for Korea’s WCS preliminary. The person who wrote the report about this preliminary round mentioned that:

“The Japanese judges were older guys lined up on stage; it felt as if they were in the wrong place! Basically, it didn’t feel like it had an otaku atmosphere.“

However, the reporter also had a favorable reaction to their choice of the team who would represent Thailand. This team performed as characters from Xenosaga.

• Julaluk Lohanawakul (left) as T-ELOS
• Jittraporn Distaprom (right) as KOS-MOS

Use the following links to view more information about the preliminary and the team members.

October 4, 2007

The Italian preliminary round was held at the Romics 2007 comics and animation festival. The event took place at the Camera di Commercio di Roma in Rome. Like the Thai preliminary round, there were many judges, though, this set of judges seemed to be a better fit (less business oriented).

According to the person who reported about the Italian preliminary round: “The Jury was made up of a number of personalities from the world of TV and entertainment so as to have different points of view in the final decision: a TV producer, Cosplay experts, publishers, the Italian representatives of previous editions of the WCS, a voice actor for anime.” This reporter also seemed to like the judges’ decision. The winning team performed as characters from Five Star Stories.

• Nadia Baiardi (left) as Lachesis
• Martina Arnaldi (right) as Amaterasu

Use the following links to view more information about the preliminary and the team members.

November 3, 2007

There were two countries which had preliminary rounds on this date. The Danish preliminary round was held at J-Popcon 2007 at the Valby Kulturhus in Copenhagen. There were four judges…two were from Gainax (a director and a character designer), one was a member of Germany’s WCS 2007 team, and one was a WCS 2008 staff member from TV Aichi. They selected a team who performed as characters from Tsubasa RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE.

• Liuwina Haeklund (left) as Sakura
• Lisa Hvidberg (right) as Shaoran

Use the following links to view more information about the preliminary and the team members.

The Spanish preliminary round was held at the 13th Salón del Manga (which is said to be the oldest manga and anime festival in Europe) at the Poliesportiu Centre in Barcelona. The were six judges including the Envoy from the Japanese Embassy in Madrid, the Event Coordinator of the Salón del Manga, 2 editors from comics publishing firms (Planeta DeAgostini Comics & Norma Comics), a TV producer (from Televisión de Catalunya), and a gothic fashion designer. Coincidentally, they also chose a team whose performance featured characters from Tsubasa RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE.

• Maria Pérez Tomás (left) as Sakura
• Nicolás Cabrerizo García (right) as Shaoran

Use the following links to view more information about the preliminary and the team members.

December 7, 2007

The US preliminary round was held at the innaugural New York Anime Festival. The competition was at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City. This marked the return of the US to the WCS after a two year hiatus. There were five judges- a photographer, a cosplayer, and three people representing the sponsors of the WCS. They chose the team who performed as characters from Magic Knight Rayearth.

• Renee Gloger (left) as Umi
• Sonnya Paz (right) as Hikaru

Use the following links to view more information about the preliminary and the team members.

February 4, 2008

The Mexican preliminary round was held as part of the 14th Expo Manga Comic TNT GT2 event. The venue was the Mexico City World Trade Center large event hall. There were four judges: one was a member of the 2005 WCS Italian team, one was a coordinator for TNT, and there were two others. They chose a team of veteran cosplayers (9 and 6 years of experience) who performed as characters from Digimon.

• Teresa Garcia Hernandez (left) as Lady Devimon
• Ingrid Alin Naba (right) as Angemon

Use the following links to view more information about the preliminary and the team members.

More preliminaries are scheduled to round out the final list of competitors. This year, Japan will have two teams (an East team from the Tokyo preliminary and a West team from the Osaka preliminary). Other countries which will be sending teams include Korea, Brazil, China, France, and Singapore. Here is a projected itinerary for their preliminary rounds:

May 18, 2008

Japan Team 1 preliminary round

• Tokyo Dome City Cosplay Festa Tokyo Dome City, Tokyo

June 1, 2008

Korean preliminary round

• Everland Cosplay Party 2008 Everland, Yongin

July 13, 2008

Japan Team 2 preliminary round

• Cosplayers Jam@World Cosplay Summit 2008 – West Japan Grand Prix Kyocera Dome, Osaka

July 21, 2008

Brazilian preliminary round

• Event name TBA in São Paulo Dates and Locations TBA

Preliminary rounds for China, France, and Singapore

Once all the teams have been chosen, they will participate in the World Cosplay Summit 2008 in the late summer. The venue will be in Nagoya (Aichi Prefecture), Japan.

One note- early reports had indicated that Australia would be holding preliminary rounds for the 2008 WCS. However, according to the Animania Festival website, these preliminaries are for the 2009 WCS.

Images and reports of preliminary winners: WCS website (more photos from the preliminary rounds may be accessed here as well)

ANN Stories:
World Cosplay Summit 2008’s Italian Finalists Chosen
Tsubasa Team Wins Danish World Cosplay Summit Round
Spanish World Cosplay Summit Finalists Chosen
World Cosplay Summit Announces American Finalists
Mexico’s World Cosplay Summit Competitors Selected
Cosplay Event Adds Brazil, China, France, Singapore, Korea

Hmmm, lets’ approach this with my personal pros of cosplaying first:

• I’d get to dress up in an awesome costume and have adoring fans want their picture taken with me.
• I’d meet new people.
• The ol’ creative muscle will get flexed.
• I’d get to sew a challenging costume.

Let’s look at the cons of cosplaying:

• Fans wouldn’t want their picture with me, they’d want their picture with the character.
• I’d meet new people.
• To do a costume justice would potentially cost hundreds of dollars and hundreds of hours.
• The ol’ creative muscle might get torn.
• I might get glomped, which might lead to a ripped costume, which would then lead to me behind bars for beating someone to death with a cosplay prop.

The number one reason I don’t cosplay, however is:

• I look nothing like my favorite characters.

What gets me, is some people dress up as cool looking characters they have zero connection with. They’ve never even watched the anime their cosplay’s in. It’s like wearing a band shirt and you don’t own any of the band’s albums or listen to their music. Posers. If I were to dress up as a character, it’d be a proper homage to one I like.

I like good cosplay, don’t get me wrong, but one of the reasons some cosplays just don’t work out is because the person wearing it doesn’t go the extra mile. If you’re not ripped and you’re playing a ripped character, maybe choose a costume the character wears which hides your unripped-ness. Finagle with the hair or buy a really good wig. Dressing like the character is only a part of the cosplay. Frankly, I just don’t look good in costumes, which, ahem, hug curves.

Those are my reasons I don’t cosplay. I like cosplay, though. It’s fun and something which fans of it bond over. That’s gotta be a good thing. If you don’t cosplay, what’s keeping you? Do you think it’s stupid and a waste of time and energy? Do you just like to gawk at the lovely and scantily clad ladies? Are you wanting to cosplay but can’t sew? Is shyness your issue? C’mon, dish: What’s keeping you from cosplaying?

Please share your reasons, in the comments below, for not dressing up as your fave character! (Even the “lame” ones.)

*Note: Most of that was internal.

[podcast]http://theanimeblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/07/pip-bernadette.mp3[/podcast]

“Devil Jin represents Jin Kazama as he would appear after succumbing to the effects of the Devil Gene” – Wikipedia

How did I find him?

He was walking towards the pike from the causeway at the Convention Center…those wings were huge! Everyone gave him a wide berth and he walked with impunity down the streets. I really wanted to have a chat with him after that, so fortunately I was able to run him down to ask a few questions about Devil Jin.

[display_podcast]