Oh no! There you are, one day, just minding your own business when you see some person with wild pink hair, wearing a ridiculous outfit that looked to only cost about forty dollars and you are wondering why they’re dressed up when Halloween is a year from being celebrated again.
My friend, this person is cosplaying; which is very popular amongst anime fans abroad and in America. In fact, if you’ve ever heard of a convention, comic-con and what have you, you’d see a lot of people there cosplaying characters from their favorite movies, television shows and anime. Not all of them call themselves Otaku. That’s more used in Japan – in the Akihara district where anime and cosplay is a way of life for the people who frequent the maid cafes.
I’m a cosplayer, most people I see will define themselves as cosplayer’s as opposed to Otaku. Mostly because if someone of a Western country calls themselves Otaku it means they randomly spew Japanese words into every day conversations – “Oh that oby is so Kawai!!!” – aka Kawai means Cute – and are totally nuts about wanting to become a national citizen of Japan and hating their home country.
Yeah, well, as much as I love Cosplay, I love my country even more so….no Otaku here. Thank you very much.
What you need to know about cosplay –
There are three ways to cosplay
Closet cosplay is when you find clothing from your closet that comes close to the character’s you are planning to cosplay.
Sewing the cosplay is, yes, you guessed it, you find patterns, buy the fabric and sew it yourself.
Buying your cosplay is just as easy as that. You search online until you find the cosplay you can buy.
The only thing is that there are different camps for cosplay. Some people say it’s not real cosplay if you buy it, other’s say that it’s not real cosplay if you find the pieces in your closet. Those same people say that if you sew your cosplay that’s the only real cosplay. The only problem with this is that there are a LOT of people who can’t sew. Sure, they can learn to sew – but in our society, we want what we want right now. Buying cosplay fullfills that need of right now.
I don’t see a problem in any of these options. It is what it is. If you don’t have the money but you have articles of clothing – possibly borrowing some from other people – than go ahead and closet cosplay. If you are good at sewing and you know exactly how you want your cosplay to turn out – there is nothing wrong with that. Nor is there anything wrong with buying cosplay. The only difference is that you have to be very carefulw hen buying because you do want quality work.
Picking the Character –
When you plan on cosplaying a character, I advocate that you actually know a bit of the fandom and the character you are going to cosplay. Don’t cosplay L from Death Note just because it’s an easy cosplay. Cosplay L because you love that character, you love Death Note – Cosplay because it’s part of your passion for that fandom. Cosplay is about passion, it isn’t about someone thinking that it’s all dress up and as long as you look like that character it will be fine.
I find that most people who cosplay a character because the cosplay is easy knows nothing of the fandom. And it really takes all the enjoyment out of it. I’ve only come across one person who paid attention to the detail of the character and who wasn’t in the fandom until they began researching for the cosplay. In that case that person got into the fandom and the cosplay was awesome. It happens. All I have to say is that if you plan on cosplaying a character, have passion for that character.
Cosplay isn’t just Anime any more!
Nope. Now a-days anything can be cosplayed. You cna cosplay music artists, you cna cosplay actors, you can cosplay practically anything, even the Death Note book from Death Note! Cosplay is mostly associated with anime. Death Note, Saiyuki, Fullmetal Alchemist are popular titles to cosplay. However, you can cosplay Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica, Supernatural, Jersylicious, anything! Harry Potter is also a popular thing to cosplay.
So – Cosplay isn’t just for anime nerds like me, but for anyone who wants to be in that fantasy world, no matter if it’s Battlestar Galactica when Starbuck was a male, or Harry Potter!