All About: Cosplay

What is Cosplay?
Today's article is all about the Otaku (Anime and Manga fans) subculture of Japan which is getting more popular worldwide... Cosplay. Also short for "Costume play".

The idea of Cosplay, is to dress up as an character from an anime, manga, video game or TV series. You can also Cosplay western characters however Japanese characters are seen far more often. Sometimes Cosplayers will also Roleplay (Act as a certain character).

Neneko at world of Cosplay

"Basically I don't Cosplay as any character that does not, spiritually speaking, come down to me. My facial Expression changes, gets closer to the character, and we become one," says Japanese Cosplayer Omi K Gibson.

"Even if we do not speak the same language, cosplay can convey our passions to the characters and then form friendships among Cosplays" Says cosplayer, Yunmao Ayakawa.

Source

How do I cosplay?

First you have to decide on a character that you like, that you want to Cosplay as. It won't be as fun if you cosplay as a character you hate so choose one you like!

When making your Cosplay outfit or buying things for it, its best to keep a picture of the character to use as reference.

Anyone can cosplay, it doesn't matter your gender, body size or age. The idea of Cosplay is to have fun and make friends so don't worry!

Contact Lenses
Optional however adds more of an effect to any Cosplay by having the same eye colour as the character. Pinky paradise is a good place to go for first time Contact Lense users.

WIGS

If you don't want (Or can't) dye your hair to the colour and style of your choosen character then wigs are your best option.

The costume

There are two choices, you can either make your own costume or buy it from a variety of stores including bodyline, Tokyo Toys (Also have a visible store in London), Ebay and Taobao.

Props

It depends on which character you are cosplaying as. Props encourage a sense of fantasy to any cosplay, helping with bringing the character to life. For example if your cosplaying a character from Death note you might want to make or buy a copy of the book to use as a prop.

Inspirational Cosplayers

Neneko
A Cosplayer with 17582 followers on World Cosplay from Taiwan. She has cosplayed a variety of characters. Click here to see more pictures.

Click here to go to her blog.

Hana Mikan
A female cosplayer from Taiwan Source.

Hana Mikan focuses on Anime cosplays including Kuroneko, Characters from K-on and Vocaloid characters.

IchiGogo Twins
Two cosplaying male twins. Ichiro Ao and Gogo Hikaru form the IchiGogo Twins that live in Californina. Ichiro makes all the props and style the wigs while Gogo sews all the Cosplay's together. Click here to go to the twin's facebook page. The first time they cosplayed was 2003 however both have been anime fans since they were children.

Miina
An unique cosplayer who's personal information is unknown. Miina is a "Kigurumi" ("Costumed Mascot") cosplayer. Mostly wears anime girl cosplays.

Videos that can help with certain cosplays

World Cosplay summit
World Cosplay Summit (Or WCS) is an event held every year in Japan. The event is for Cosplayers to join together and show off their love for Cosplay. Click here to go to the official website.