Cosplay
(Taken from Wikipedia and personal experience)
General Description
Cosplay
is a Japanese subculture centered on dressing as characters from manga,
anime, and video games, and, less commonly, live action television shows,
movies, or Japanese pop music bands.
The term cosplay is a contraction combining the words
"costume" and "play" which accurately describes the
hobby of having fun by dressing up as one's favorite characters. Also it
is not unusual for teens in Japan to gather with like-minded friends just
to do cosplay. Since 1998 in Tokyo Akihabara district there is a large number
of cosplay cafes, catering to otaku - anime and cosplay fans. The waitresses
there dress as game or anime characters. Maid costumes are particularly
popular.
Cosplay has spread across the world in recent years.
There are some differences between cosplay and costuming in the United States
and Europe, and in Japan. Firstly that in Japan cosplayers typically dress
up as characters from anime, manga or video games, as compared to dressing
up as Star Trek characters or in Renaissance-era costumes. Secondly, the
age of cosplayers in Japan tends to start lower and range wider, with a
great number of teen cosplayers dressing up as characters from currently
popular weekly comics aimed at their age group, and older cosplayers often
portraying "classic" characters.
A recent trend at Japanese cosplay events is an increase
in the popularity of non-Japanese fantasy and science fiction movie characters.
This is due to the international success of such films as The Matrix, Lord
of the Rings, and Harry Potter, in particular with female fans in Japan.
Another growing trend at cosplay's largest event, the Tokyo Game Show 2004,
was "cross-play" (crossdressing cosplay).
Cosplayers are often referred to as "layers"
and the otaku who photograph the layers are called "cameko", short
for "Camera Kozo" or "Camera Boy". The cameko give prints
of their photos to the layers as gifts.
My opinion
Throw away all those nonsense!! Cosplay was something we do for fun. Besides, other than promoting our beloved animes, game and mangas, we achieve something in return.
We found people with the same interest as ourselves, forged new friendship and shared similar ideas with similar people. It helps us to be more open to people, socialize and made us happy. It releases the stress we felt in this harsh world and it was fun. Playing was not just for kids... it's for all of us! Besides.... cosplay can help us act and interact better. Who knows if someday some of us might be the next voice-caster or some famous actor/actress! Though people might see us cosplayers as weird, but hey! Some of those fancy get-ups you see at fashion shows are weirder... and some people's fashion sense you see are too.
The thing is... cosplay is different that masquerades or those haloween get-ups. And it was not something to be feared. So come in and join in the fun!! And crossplay, is basically cosplaying a character opposite your own gender. XP And I am a crossplayer in general.
Gothic Lolita is a
fashion somewhat rare, but very highly visible, among Japanese teenagers and
young women. It emphasizes Victorian-style girl's clothing and often aims to
imitate the look of Victorian porcelain dolls. Gothloli's name and origin is
a combination of lolita fashion--appearing deliberately cute to the point of
looking childish--and certain styles found within gothic fashion. The style
started as a youth subculture sometime around 97/98 and became a
well-established genre available in some Japanese department stores by
around 2001.
Variations of the Gothic Lolita look include "Classic Lolita"
(more traditional, light-coloured and "girlish" clothing) and "Elegant
Gothic Lolita" (EGL, which focuses upon the pastiche of upper class
victorian fashion found in old horror films.). The male analog to this
fashion is called "Elegant Gothic Aristocrat" (EGA) which shares EGL's
emphasis on the Victorian era, though not on children's clothing. Gothic
Lolita is also influenced by the imagery of more feminine Visual Kei (or
"visual rock") bands. Visual Kei is a Japanese form of rock music defined by
bands featuring performers in elaborate costumes but whose musical style
varies.
Mana, the crossdressing former leader and guitarist of the
Visual Kei band Malice Mizer, is widely credited for having popularised
Gothic Lolita. He coined the terms Elegant Gothic Lolita (EGL) and Elegant
Gothic Aristocrat (EGA) to describe the style of his own fashion label,
Moi-même-Moitié, which was founded in 1999 and quickly established itself as
one of the most coveted brands of the Gothic Lolita scene.
*accomplished
|
2005 |
Roy Mustang (FMA) - Comicfiesta/CosMas Yagami Raito (DN), Rusty MacKenzie (GS) - Comicfiesta |
| 2006 |
Calintz (Magna Carta - Crimson Stigmata) - Comicfiesta Dearka Elsman, ZAFT Officer (GS) - Comicfiesta/GACC Yagami Raito - MMCC Subaru Sumeragi - Tokyo Babylon |
| 2007 |
Klein Kiessler - Atelier Iris Athrun Zala/Kira Yamato - Gundam Seed (Civillian)/Destiny (ORB) Riku - Kingdom Hearts II |
| Other plans | Cagalli Yula Athha, Lacus Clyne, Yzak Joule (GSD - Uniform), Yoruichi (Bleach), Canard Pars, Shiho Hahnenfuss (GSAstray), Balthazar (Trinity Blood), Yugi Mutou, Kaiba Seto (YGO), Takanori Nishikawa (TMR), Edward Elric (FMA), Heero Yuy, Trowa Barton (GW - Preventers), Elena, Reno, Kadaj, Yuffie (FF7AC), Yuna - Yukata dress sphere (FFX-2), Youko (Tactics), Camus Luneburg (Meine Liebe), Yondaime, Hatake Kakashi, Hatake Sakumo (Naruto), Howell Jenkins (Howl's Moving Castle), Ashitaka Hiko (Mononoke Hime) |
Sigs
