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Cosplay: Behind the Scenes
UP Ame, Toy Con, Comic-con, Ozine Fest
These are just some of the conventions that take place in our home country.
Every year these conventions take place and people from all over the country come to participate in them. In these conventions there are a lot of small programs and competitions—examples of which include “battle of the bands”, “Karaoke contest”, “Eating contest”, and so much more. During these events there are also various stalls that sell a variety of items such as food, toys, costumes, and even CDs/DVDs that you won’t be able to find anywhere else (unless you’re really know your way around online markets).
Aside from this, there is one thing that won’t ever disappear from events such as these: COSPLAY
The word Cosplay is from the words Costume and Play, and the ones that participate in these events are called Cosplayers. There are a lot of people that are interested in cosplay and it isn’t limited to children. Even some of those that fall under the working class category participate in Cosplay.
The principle of Cosplay, if you think about it, is rather simple: Pick a character from an anime or game and then look or make clothes that will make you look just like them. But that isn’t all, that’s just the “tip of the iceberg” so to speak. A lot of Cosplayers make extra effort to look as closely to their characters as they can through make-up and/or prosthetics. During conventions, the main highlight are often the cosplay competitions. In fact, more than half of those who attend conventions are cosplayers. These cosplayers could be further divided into two categories: Competitive and Leisure.
For those who chose to Cosplay to compete, it’s not a joke. They really take the time, effort, and not to mention—money, to make sure that they portray their characters as accurately as possible. Usually these are the people that you see at the convention venues even before the events start especially if they have HUGE Cosplays such as Mechas. Some of these Cosplayers are well known in the Cosplay community and garner a lot of fans. One good example of this is Jin from the group Tux Team that started out as a simple group that has now grown into almost a cult following.
On the other hand, those who Cosplay for leisure are individuals that choose to cosplay just for the sake of cosplaying. Even if that IS the case however, the amount of time and care that they put into putting their costumes together can be comparable to those who cosplay in order to compete. Usually these leisurely cosplayers come in the form of a group of friends that just wants to enjoy the convention and what it has to offer. If you think about it, most of the competitive Cosplayers start out as leisure Cosplayers.
In today’s times, Cosplay is really integrated in conventions. It is both Competitive and could also be considered a hobby. It’s one of the things that people look forward to for entertainment during conventions and for sure, this is something that will be part of the Convention stage for a very long time.