i was wondering when you'd do an article on cosplay... WELL MET! =D

imo, not a fan of it... unless it's something really sexy, with ample breasts.

I almost fell out my chair laughing. Very funny, if only you could have found that Naruto cosplay picture, you might have had a few lawsuits for accidental death from laughter, take THAT Joker.

Now, I must now burn out my eyes with Draino.

Well, I'm not into cosplay but, as far as I know, they DO have loads of really good cosplayers, while here... well... if someone gets to 'average', that's already way too good...

Can't blame those japanese girls for having high standards and laughing at those 'baka gaijins'

(Az's Note: More than "high standards", I think it was just "OMG why are you dressed up as anime characters?!" It's not as common here as many people might think.)

You should of went with some Misa Amano (from Death Note) cosplay. Let us think about the reasons why it would be ungodly popular:

1) She is white.
2) She is blonde.
3) She has large boobies.
4) She is dressed in Gothic Lolita type clothes.
5) Repeat #1 - #4

http://img28.picoodle.com/img/img28/8/6/6/f_DSC04748m_a1e9b23.jpg

You would of promoted so quickly Azrael! Especially how that girl in the picture is jailbait and well...you know the rest!

Funny stuff Az.

Am I the only one that got angry looking at chubby Guile?... God damnit chubby Guile.

LOL I will admit I do like some of the better anime out there, but cosplayers always make me laugh. Its the reason I have never even gone to an anime convention, well that and I am not a big anime fan, just an average one.

P.S. In my defense I have been watching anime before it became popular here in the states, I am now starting to hate it more and more :( We use to get decent stuff like Akira, but now its mostly that naruto and yugio crap.

Laughing at American cosplayers is one of the highlights of going to any convention. There are a FEW good ones....but....fanboys...need I say more? Now what's REALLY funny??? the Furry cosplayers..THAT is something to see....Dammit Az, now I'm going to go laughing at cosplay pics on the net!!!!If I die laughing, I blame you! lol

(ps I got a PS3 for my birthday yesterday! I'll kick your ass on that too!!!)

Az, maybe you should remind thoes girls that even though cosplayers in America are weird, one 10 min. walk down Japanese fad lane will make even "out there" group look cool. All one has to do is look at the cowgirl/greaser/japunk fads to realize that the stuff japan has done in the past and present makes Poindexter from Revenge of the Nerds look like the Fonz.

http://squarehe.com/images/0604/greaser-hair.jpg
Greaser
http://homepages.nyu.edu/~cch223/japan/images/stalin_6.jpg
Punk

I regretably can not find a picture of the cowgirl fad. But I assure you that it was worse than the last two. I also what to say that the two pictures were the best I could find after an hour of looking.

Cosplay frightens me. The most "cosplay" I have ever done is Super Mario. On Halloween, in which I went around and begged for candy rather stand around a crowded hall and squeal about how Inuyasha is my "bishie" (for the record, I HATE that show!!!)

Did... that guy in the one picture... PISS himself?!?! I am officially terrified.......

Man-Faye ftw.

(That's actually the second blog i was able to say that in this week.)

Holy crap its man-faye, I see him every year at AX. But yes any good part of a convention is seeing some really really bad cosplays.

The second Gundam picture is the quintessential event of Americans co-opting the Japanese culture for their own amusement. Gundam suit, poorly constructed, "MADE IN USA" emblazoned across the chest.

That's right, without our presence in WWII, there wouldn't be any Gundam to loosely base your confusion and guilt coming out of the war on. Hahahaha!

...Looking at American cosplay is one of those things that just embarrasses me. I'm not sure if I'm embarrassed for them, or embarrassed by knowing they exist. Now, I haven't looked at cosplay pics for.. around ..wow, 7~ years I guess. But they were really, really bad when I did look. I always wonder why people don't want to create NICE looking outfits. They use crappy material, and don't ever bother to make something that even fits them.

Now, about that SolBadgirl pic.. am I the only one concerned that her face appears to be that of a child? She really..looks..like a kid to me... I can't enjoy another girl's cleavage if she looks like a kid. God, please don't let the pedophiles respond to that.

In today's news: GaiJinSmash! Japanese Schoolgirls killed by bad American Cosplay! Joker put to shame by obese Kakashi! Entrepreneurs in talk with organisers over setting up booth selling mirrors at next Anime Convention!

In other news: Gundam Cosplayer wins award for being environmentally friendly by recycling enormous amount of used cardboards!

My Japanese exchange roommate keeps trying to convince me to go to the "otaku neighborhood" of Tokyo and COSplay as Temari from Naruto (apparently I look like her). I tell her I'll go if she goes with me naked (because she's hot). Neither of us has given into the others demands... yet.

I understand the girls' entertainment with the picture, good job getting them to read the English. Maybe to get their attention more you should have put up a horrible COSplay picture next to an awesome one. For variety. Preferably NOT the Lee one you posted. Ewwww......

Az, dude, what did I see in the third picture of the bad cosplays...

/b/? You're not....

That girl beside man-Faye looked pretty hot, for some reason, even if she was in side view and I don't know who exactly she's cosplaying. I wonder why...

I accidently discovered cosplay last year (well I did know it exists before but didn't give much thought) and exposure to it nearly killed me. I haven't laughed so much since watching Blackadder. There is festival in this land when there are masquerades all over the country but I never saw anything as hillarious as I saw on that site. It is one thing to watch a picture of yourself dressed as smurf twenty years ago, but completley another watching pictures of obese, hairy guys in Sailor Moon outfits.

Dude, that's an awesome idea...I might just print out some of those bad photos to show the students. Might get the bastard ones to asphyxiate.

LMAO at whale semen comment... but it's true, for every great, brilliant, terrific cosplay person (usually women, go figure, not complaining!) there's another nine waiting in the wings to show you how NOT to do it.

....I'm embarassed for america. And I hope to god that they never find my cosplay group's pictures.

But, America does come out with some amazing cosplayers at times. At MangaNEXT, the girl who won first in the cosplay contest (and she SO deserved it) made the most amazing Lady from Devil May Cry 3. Everything, down to the contacts, very awesome looking scar, and giant bazooka. She looked so much like Lady I questioned her for half an hour on line XDDD

But of course, I must be a friggen masochist but maybe it'll entertain you r your students:

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v348/XiaoHuLi/?action=view¤t=MOV00310.flv

Hare Hare Yukai with no music done in the middle of a New York mall by Kairi, Riku and Izumi.

Not saying which one I am.

Rules one and two.

Az is obviously a closet /b/tard. Barely an update goes by without a 4chan reference.

Oh, right: Man-Faye FTW. Anonymous also demands Sailor Bubba.

Anonymous is legion...

Could be worse. It could have been Sailor Man.

The cardboard Alphonse is actually from the Philippines...(it's still a bad costume, though). I did see another cheapskate costume (American). A guy was cosplaying as Gamabunta (Naruto). He had face make-up on and black t-shirt that says "gamabunta" on the front. It was actually funny.

I laugh like those Japanese girls at almost all cosplay pictures. American, Japanese, I find both equally ha-ha inspiring. Picked up a book on Japanese (just Japanese) cosplay at the book store a few months ago and laughed or cringed the whole way through.

If you cosplay, and especially if pictures are on the internet, someone somewhere will laugh their ass off at you.

Dude I so hate you for making this web site ! My friend gave me this web adres and for that, now I hate him too! I'm on the second year of japanese filology in Poland, my exams are not far away, and what I'm doing ? Huh ?! Reading all your posts and laughing my ass off instead of reading some japanese literature :) Anyway, thanks! Kancho thumbs up for you !

What do you mean the SolBadgirl face looks like a child?

Wow wait, you're right . . . she DOES have a face . . . dunno how I missed that . . .

D: wow, those Japanese have issues, I <3 Japan but seriously I can't decide who's worst, Japanese or Americans. Oh well.

I'm watching the news in Japanese and now they are doing the american segments. They showed Criss Angel escaping, I swear this news report couldn't care less about it. Simply says "Hai" at the end of reports. Seems like "whatever" lol.

And maybe you should have showned them Yaya Han or Yuffie Bunney (one of my friends) they are atleast good cosplayers.

Hey Az, you visit the /b/ or got it from another site?

I dunno, I was at A-kon this last weekend, and the cosplayers there seemed just fine. Very few of the overtly horrible "plastic box with gundam written on it" type stuff. Most of it was pretty cool; in fact, seeing the cosplays is probably the highlight of going to cons for me. I'm not that much of an otaku- I watch enough anime to recognize most of the costumes, but that's it.... but their enthusiasm is so earnest and awesome that it becomes infectious. The people at cons tend to be way friendlier than anywhere else Ive seen, too.

If only the fat fanboys would stop trying to cosplay as skinny or fit characters. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD STOP.

I love you for this article. People who can't cosplay really shouldn't cosplay. I was hoping that if any Japanese happen to stumble upon an American cosplay site, he would feel horror and disgust. Uncontrollable laughter can only occur so often... Sigh, to stay true in character is too difficult...

I love you for this article. People who can't cosplay really shouldn't cosplay. I was hoping that if any Japanese happen to stumble upon an American cosplay site, he would feel horror and disgust. Uncontrollable laughter can only occur so often... Sigh, to stay true in character is too difficult...

OMFG! I KNOW THE GUY DRESSED AS FEY! I'M SO ASHAMED! *Cries* Gawd, did you know they pay him to actually go to cons and do that? Its scary. But I hafta say, there are some supremely good costumes out there.

I've gone to AX (anime expo) for nigh on 7 years now and every year you get uber horrible people who you wish would have actually WATCHED the anime, and then the ones who come from Japan and just blow all of us out of the water. Like the people who come every year dressed as FF characters. HOLY CRAP. Where the HELL did they get the material for 8 foot swords and make it look real?

Any ways, glad you showed them such wonderfulness, really. Thank you. You should mention to them people from THEIR country come here to cosplay, and that over here in america, if you have a beautiful costume and your hot and Japanese (a guy or girl) you WILL get laid. Very easily. Just keep that in mind little impressionable Japanese boys....

Eh, I've seen worse cosplays.

Come to think of it, some of those were from Japan as well. Bad taste knows no borders!

I hope it is allowed to post the following link of a picture taken of Angemon and Angewomon from Digimon... (At least that is how they and the show are called in Germany.) This was on Nihon Day in Düsseldorf... And it was really... err... interesting... I especially love Angemon's fitting shoes...

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1027/530292048_1e8eaf3287.jpg?v=0

Am I the only one disturbed that so many commenters think that what's funny is that these people are wearing low quality costumes? What's funny is that some 40 year old dressed up as a Japanese cartoon character, not that he didn't color his sword correctly.

Leidbag, I believe the cutie standing next to Man-Faye in that picture is cosplaying as Dizzy from the Guilty Gear series, which is the same series that the 'Sol Badgirl' character comes from. Well...except for the fact that it's "Sol BadGUY" in the original...D:

In any case...I've come to expect quality from Gaijinsmash, but this was just AMAZING. I lol'd so hard. Epic, epic win.

(Also, who DOESN'T hang around 4chan these days? Seems like everybody I know has rickrolled a few fools or shoop'd a few woops...)

Ahhh, good ol' Sol Badgirl. I love that picture. Being a fan of Guilty Gear helps. Okay, that's a lie. You don't need to know anything about Guilty Gear to like that photo, but it helps you apreaciate it besides the breast.

Just photoshop the "this kind of thing" image, cut everything but the girl on the left, and it becomes a very nice image. Though, if SolBadgirl is too much for the newspaper, so would that girl.
However, it could make a nice defensive weapon when some boys are causing trouble. Give them that image, you'll have, at least, an hour of peace.

I'm a huge anime fan but I've never done the whole cosplay/convention thing. But I assure you, if I ever feel an urge to dress up as Naruto I will do it well and the result will be awe-inspiring. It will take a lot of time but dressing up as anime characters really does make one look like a fool if not done right.

The more I think about it, though, how do you NOT look like a fool when the anime character you are modeling looks like a fat orange?

I can actually vouch for this one, despite never being in Japan. Australia gets quite a few exchange students (hell, we get quite a few Asians in general), and NO ONE finds cosplay more disturbing than them. You've got to remember that anime's been around, and popular, a damn long time in Japan. They're used to it now, it's just another TV show to them. Do you see us running around dressed up as Jack Bauer or someone from Lost or Heroes? No, 'cus it's normal TV, just like anime is to them. And if you saw someone clumsily dressed as Jack Bauer, you'd laugh too.

Hold on, did you just say that Inuyasha is actually popular?

Best cosplayer I've ever seen is a girl out of Texas named Jace Moore.

Starscream, Green Goblin, Grima Wormtongue, all amazing.

http://jacemoore.deviantart.com/gallery/?search=by:jacemoore%20sort:time%20-in:scraps+in:artisan/textiles/costumes§ion=browse

Oh, man. This is friggin' awesome. The reactions of those Japanese ladies were hilarious! :D

I am so going to have to show this to the cosplayer I know (she spent months making costumes), especially since her pics just made it up onto the Internet...

Wtf? What made those chubby girls think dressing up in skimpy Yuna/Sailor Moon costumes was a good idea? LMAO at the cardboard Gundam guy.

/b/.
oh lawd, I knew it. Just by the "Over nine thousand" and "Interweb" shit. Jesuschristitsalion, Az. You're my new fave. person EVER.

I lol'd @ the cosplay pictures too.
We get that shitty cosplay here in Michigan :(
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v611/k4r1ROpics/AnimeNEXT%2006/bleach-PS-4pm/DSCN6622.jpg

That for example. DIES.

Now you've got me curious as to what the pictures were.

Wait, nevermind, I need to improve my reading comprehension.

Az is a /b/tard?

:O

Woah now, don't compare these dudes with Japanese Greasers. As a Greaser here in the States I must say they do an excellent job.

Good god... I think my eyes have melted...

For the only good cosplay pic that you had, there is always something better:

http://img124.imageshack.us/img124/3337/tsunadewinsdi0.jpg

I died several times reading this...

Az you made my day!

By the way, I also think there's not much point in discussing the impact of HOW POORLY MADE your costume is on your coolness factor. Even if the costume was a perfect incarnation of its anime counterpart, you'd STILL look silly walking around in that shit.

In conjunction with an earlier comment, this doubly goes for live-action movies: Those superhero costumes may look cool on-screen, but you wouldn't catch me dead wearing one outdoors.

Ah, the SolBadgirl's face isn't that young. My ex has a pretty similiar face and she's turning 21 next week.

As to American cospaly... Some sucks, actually a lot sucks. But there's still some pretty good cosplayers around.

Also, people do dress up as Heroes characters and stuff. There's cons other than anime, such as Star Trek and comic and general sci-fi/fanstasy cons. I'm pretty sure that every country has cons of some sort, and it's generally a subculture...but that's just how it is. And anime cons are definately bigger in Japan than in the States.

ROTFLMAO!!! Oh, my guts... that was so funny!

I've had friends who cosplayed, and I often think that they look stupid in their costumes. (Even when they're perfectly made.)

Maybe you should do an article on Halloween? They'd get a kick out of some of the crazy crap that we do on 'Dress Like a Whore' Day. Or maybe you can do an article on Bigfoot. (Though I don't think anyone would read that.) ^_^

To Shamie: Pics? Sounds like we need a comparison of both of you.

Az, cosplayers and furries can be pretty funny when you cross them with gamers. Ever seen someone trying to cosplay a half-troll? Or an owlbear? Yeesh. At least some of them are good. The top three at last year's GenCon costume contest were pretty good. I have no pics, didn't have a camera. But they were really well done. Even the big guy (Who was playing the Thing, IIRC.)

I've collected several of these (along with other random related pictures) for a facebook group I created. Just in case you or anyone else needed a laugh, here's the link to my favorite of the pictures: http://umd.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30977495&id=13301206&op=1&view=all&subj=2224750818&aid=-1&oid=2224750818

I just don't think it gets any better than that one, frankly.

The Japanese people come off as Neo-Nazis to me, they both had the same superiority complex, sans the killing of other groups of "inferior people".

OTOH, look at this. More signs of it, they think anything NOT from Japan is inferior, and guess what - so do a lot of people in the US.

The article states that, and then look at all the comments, instead of saying F.U., what do they say? "We're sorry for being inferior".

WTF?! You guys are the biggest pile of butt-kissers this side of the moon. Why don't you serve yourselves a little side of DIGNITY?

I do have to agree with everyone, America has some horrible Cosplayers. However, several of my female friends actually have made exceptional cosplay chars out of Love Hina... but thats old. The First Gundam Cosplay wasn't bad at all. It did, however, look like a statue, but nicely done.

Good lord is Sol Badgirl hot....uh...what was I saying. Oh yea!
Crap on a barracuda, cosplay is either hit or miss....actually it's either industrial toxic waste or really awesome. I know some people who are into it and I've actually come across some really good ones(I saw on of Alphonse that looked like it was actually made of metal and looked 100% accurate, some one has a lot of time on their hands)....now sadly I've seen horrible horrible things. Man Faye, sailor bubba, the black version of Rock Lee (who looks like he peed himself) and tons of horrible occurances of people who are just kidding themselves. If you're a short, hairy, stout guy Cloud or Dante from DMC isn't the best idea.

Oh well, at least you had a memorable day without getting attacked, horrified by bizarre natures or gawked at dude.

Dear heavens, I was looking for a way to keep myself awake during my sixth period. Bless you for it. Mind you, I almost bit my tongue off trying not to laugh in the staff room - imagine the explaining I would have to do to a staff room of Japanese teachers...

But yes, you called it and you called it well.

Hey, Az,

I just wondered - when you were in the JET Program, were you a Prefectural or Municipal ALT? I've been contracted to Kyoto-fu, and so I just wondered.

If you could email me any useful/interesting info on the prefecture, I would REALLY appreciate it.

Thanks!!

~Jen :)

Good. Someone needed to take those cosplayers down a notch. I mean that in the best of humor, and nothing else.

For the sad, sad record, I know three cosplayers: one who played a character named Toast (yes, Toast), a Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro-chan, and one who does Street Fighter cosplay. Despite that the final one is attractive and at least has the sense to grab onto SF, she's also in my Japanese classes and is amazingly bad at Japanese.

Yeah there's too much cardboard in cosplay

You should have used this cosplay picture of me petting Nabeshins Afro, there's absolutely no card board in my costume at all!

http://img527.imageshack.us/my.php?image=petkp9.jpg

I brought one of my Japanese exchange friends to the Seattle Sakuracon to look at things. She has been to Comiket dozens of times, but when we went there she was amazed at how big the place was and how many people were there. There were surprisingly some good cosplayers, but there were two girls playing as the chicks from Evangelion, in weird skimpy costumes with their ass meats falling out. She nearly choked.

GOOD TIMES IN AMELICA!

The cardboard picture was the best one. Damn most of those cosplay pics make me lol.

Who knew Sol Badguy makes a pretty cute girl?

(Any other pics of her? Good lord, her eyes could stop an approaching army, and her curves would bring them to their knees.)

>>WTF?! You guys are the biggest pile of butt-kissers this side of the moon. Why don't you serve yourselves a little side of DIGNITY?

Well, not really my fight, but I think you're confusing dignity with pride. Dignity would stop these people from cosplaying in the first place, while it's pride (or infantility) that makes them slash out with a "F.U." when the silliness of their actions is pointed out to them.

I try not to laugh or jeer at horrible cosplay (take note that I said TRY). However, the cosplay competitions that I believed to be is like believing AZ's life in Japan is good and fair.

Once I believed cosplayers should be in character as much as possible and gets high points for that but NO. Instead, most cosplayers just walk on the stage and that's much about it. Worse, instead of being in character, they try to make a fool of themselves or do something cool so that they get the attention. And then in the end, a winner is announced and ask yourself: "how the hell did he/she win?" And about the judges, it should be anybody as long as they are anime geeks so that the "dream cosplay competition" is possible.

I just hope I see that "imaginary cosplay competition" someday.

I guess I am an idiot to go to "AniCons" hoping that I can see descent and good cosplays.

If Az's students laugh that hard just by seeing those average cosplays, how much more if they see actual cosplay competition outside Japan. Maybe WWIII will break out because of "laugh genocide".

Holy $#!+, is that your gf in the unzipped pink jacket? Hawt!

>__< I'm gonna go kill some orcs or whatnot. Catch you later ;)

American cosplay can actually be very good, just as Japanese cosplay can be very bad.
I'm ashamed to say that the "average" american cosplay isn't great at all. Most american cosplayers need to figure out that if they don't feel like putting much effort into it, it's not worth doing it at all. Alot should also figure out the value of make up. I've seen many potentially good costumes ruined by freckles, etc which could have easily been covered up.
I do think though that you should've shown the girls some good american cosplay in additon to the "average" though.

Sure, cosplaying may be silly but in my view that's half the appeal!

...though that's no excuse for the ones that look really bad. Not at all. Ew.

There is Cosplay... and there is Cosplay

THIS: http://img515.imageshack.us/img515/873/kashiro1sb3.jpg
Is Cosplay
If only american cosplay was half as good =p

knock yourself out...LOL

http://www.acparadise.com/series.php

Girl 2: Look at this girl, pretending to be Sakura! Look at her smiling, as if she's doing nothing wrong.

Funniest shit ever. Did she actually say this, or did you tweak the translation to make it this awesome?

(Az's Note: On the contrary, I don't think the translation did the original line any justice.

And you're right, it was one of the most hilarious things I've ever heard in my life.)

Ugh, bad cosplay. :[ Even other cosplayers think they're embarrassing. Most of the people I go to cons with spend time and effort on their costumes, but then this one fat chick tags along, who just slaps on some cat ears, and our image is totally ruined (yes, a group of college girls who dress up as cartoon/video game characters are concerned about their image. I am aware of teh funny). Oh well, at least she's not wearing spandex.

>>Dignity would stop these people from cosplaying in the first place...
I don't know if you've met any cosplayers, but we've got plenty of dignity. We're well aware that we're making fools of ourselves, for one weekend, with people who are doing the same thing, or at least sympathize. Now, it's the gangstas and wiggers, with their oversized shirts and their pants what they have to hold up as they walk that I'm concerned about, re: dignity...

Well I must be pretty uncool, because this is the first i've heard of "cosplay". anyway that story was a pisser, and the girl in that first pic is so hot that its not even funny - good work all round Az.

It seems I'm the only one who thinks this, but actually those girls seem really malicious and mean-spirited to me (and this is coming from someone who has never done cosplay and has no intention of ever doing so). Sure the photos you provided show up some bad cosplay, but even if it is a tad embarrassing, I don't think it deserved that kind of spite.

"Girl 2: Look at this girl, pretending to be Sakura! Look at her smiling, as if she's doing n
nothing wrong."

Well, you know, she *isn't* doing anything wrong. I'll take a wild stab and guess she's smiling because she's...having fun. And it seems to me that's a better thing than those japanese girls who are just making fun.

I know my opinion isn't going to be popular here, but I'm not a big fan of that kind of mean-spirited ridicule.

>>It seems I'm the only one who thinks this, but actually those girls seem really malicious and mean-spirited to me

I don't know , it's not that different then us laughing at all the weird stuff AZ describes his students doing.

I envy your writing skills. awesomeness...

>>Now, it's the gangstas and wiggers, with their oversized shirts and their pants what they have to hold up as they walk that I'm concerned about, re: dignity...

Right up there with cosplayer as far as I'm concerned. Or: Stylish vs. fashionable.

I was (mostly) referring to poor cosplaying, by the way, altho I'm sticking to my original comment about cosplaying being fundamentally silly. Not that there's anything wrong with silly, just saying that good cosplayers calling bad cosplayers uncool is like the pot calling the kettle black.

Az:
You are the new Mark Twain.
I haven't laughed this much since I read "Innocents Abroad"

This is the funniest article I have read in ages. Halfway through the article I was just about rolling on the ground myself. It got even better when I started clicking on the links. Then, I clicked on This Link and found someone I had actually met at sakuracon a few years ago. I didn't know if I should laugh or cry or hang my head in shame. It was fantastic!

Thank's for the great article.

Anonymous is watching you Az. -squints-

I know the guy who went to the con dressed as "Black Gai," and I like him.

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v205/Hokuto_20/Supanova/?action=view¤t=IMG_4737.jpg

heres some Australian Cosplay from last year which i regret not going to most of the cosplay i've seen there rates from average to very good.

mind you i envy the voice actor who got to sign Winry's cleavage which you can just make out in that pic.

uh... why are there so many comments about cosplay? you guys are discussing cosplay like an artist would critique the pros and cons of rembrandt's style. it's not that important, don't take yourselves too seriously...

going to an anime convention doesn't grant people the privilege of looking ugly without threat of ridicule. if you look great then great, test your cosplay skills by audience approval. if your costume work is bad and you think it's bad, or you don't have the confidence to handle criticism, play it safe and leave it at home. if you outfit is bad and you have no sense of style, allow us to educate you by laughing at you.

>> it's not that important, don't take yourselves too seriously...

That's the million dollar question, innit? Apart from the basic needs, what's important is completely subjective. Altho I myself have little interest in it, I can certainly think of worse things to get passionate about than cosplaying.

i KNEW az was a /b/rother

Would somebody tell me who the people in this one are supposed to be? I'm not a big anime/manga nerd, so my recognition is pretty poor, but I'm just dying to know.

Man-Faye is gross, but the Dizzy in that same picture was really hot. Hotter than Sol Badgirl imo.

Some people cosplay for the attention. (e.g. Man-Faye. He has his own entry in Wikipedia for crying out loud.)

Most dress for the fun of it (America)...not for the art of it (Japan). After all, I see adults still dressing up at Halloween. What's the difference? One day for Halloween, or one day for an anime convention?

I know exactly the kind of people you're talking about. I nearly died laughing myself. This is just too funny, I added a link to your site on my myspace.

Several of your readers may hate InuYasha, but for a perfect character to play for old, overweight, graying 'mature' women, Kaide rocks.

It's a comfortable costume, there's no skimpiness (which you do NOT wanna see at my current weight!), and if you keep your bow unstrung it makes a very handy staff to beat up obnoxious little tweeners at Cons.

Cranky old obasans FTW!

Hahahahaha.

Hahahahahahaha.

I'm sorry. It's just that this reminded me that when I attend Comic Con next month, I probably will not be able to walk five steps into it without bursting out into hysterical laughter at some of the cosplayers. I've never been to a convention, but cosplay has provided me with no end of hilarity. Well, really, I have some respect for those who do it well, but the ratio of good:bad cosplay is nowhere near even.

As with anything, there is the good and the bad. However even what I'd consider great the Japanese schoolgirls would probably laugh over. I've started cosplaying myself this year:

http://images.cosplay.com/showphoto.php?photo=1060571
http://images.cosplay.com/showphoto.php?photo=1064450

if you thank cosplay is bad try civil war reenacters. of course, they have a word for the bad of it, its "farb".

(Quote)
Kids: Hey, what do you like to do on the weekends?
Me: Well, I like to go into Kyoto and meet friends.
Kids: Kyoto! Wow, that's really far away!
Me: WTF? It's only 30 kilometers away! Less than an hour by train!
Kids: OMG, so far. You really like to travel.
Me: It's only 30km away!
Kids: So, what's it like out in Kyoto? Is the weather the same as it is down here?
Me: 30. MOTHERFUCKING. KILOMETERS.
(/Quote)

Holy F*ck...
I live in Ontario Canada, sometimes for the weekend, I'll bike from 20-40km for FUN, and these people see it as being "Far"? (BTW, its 20/40 there and back, but I'm also on a bike.)

When I saw the reactions of the Japanese female students over the cosplayers' pics, at first I was wondering why, then I noticed some pics here, and it made me laugh (specially at the Man-Faye)

I never imagined that there are also bad cosplayers in the US, since I'm from the Philippines (though even here there are also bad cosplayers too)

Apparently Star Trek/wars cosplay is relatively well dressed. Give them a look at that, wonder how they'd react. However, I'm probably wrong. Like that one fellow said, "for each one theres 9 that suck". well okay, it was more well spoken then that but you get the point.

Wow, just wow. I almost died laughing on this one.
"This collage of shitty cosplay brought to you by /b/" for the win.

ARGH!!!! NOT FUCKING MAN FAYE!!!!!

Az, you don't know what you're talking about. Black Gai (the dude who pissed himself) is made of win. He is the greatest thing to come out of Naruto since the actual Gai. He is the most hilarious cosplayer ever.

Cosplay is just too painfull and emberassing for me to even look at

I'm kinda loling at the above comments pinning those female students as malicious and cruel. Isn't it kind of a cultural thing, that Japanese girls tear apart whatever/whoever they don't like? I know Japanese gosuroris do it, with websites like "Kore wa Rorita ja nai" or whatever to ridicule poorly-dressed girls.

I love cosplaying and seeing great cosplay, so yes, I do laugh at people who don't seem to put much effort into their costumes. However, I think that overall, Japanese cosplay is usually better because it's so popular, and there is much easier access to items you can buy from store. If you want anything decent from anywhere else, you have to either make it yourself or order it online. :( It costs a pretty penny to make a decent cosplay, either way.

If you think there's bad cosplay, you have NO idea some of the cosplayers here in ecuador, that shit would make even the nerdiest otakus use tabasco for eye drops

I'm American AND an anime fan, and cosplay makes me shudder sometimes. I swear, the only good cosplayer out there is PikminLink, she's awesome at it. Her dad like, fires metal to make the swords and shields for her. And she even kinda looks like a gender ambiguous Link! >_>

http://www.pikminlink.com/EndlessRealm/index.html

I'm now too afraid to cosplay anymore. XD

My brother is friends with a lot of Japanese exchange students, and when I showed them pictures of my cosplay, they were just like "chou kawaii" like they say about everything I do. I have to wonder if they were just being civil because they think I'm cute or if it was because they're college-aged, and more mature than high school girls.

Cosplay in America IS really funny. But there are some Westerners who do it very well. Here is a link to a girl's page. She makes all her costumes, and the detail is wonderful. Also, so is pretty, so she actually looks good in the costumes!

http://yukilefay.deviantart.com/

Eh. I highly doubt the average Japanese cosplay is really THAT much better than American. You see some incredible American cosplays if you look for them, like this Ivy Valentine cosplayer:

http://picasaweb.google.com/anglconadmin/SakuraCon2007SundayPhotoBooth/photo#5051671339203436242

I do think that Japanese convention goers are slightly more hesitant to cosplay, particular male ones, since the female ones mostly do it for attention from kamerako (camera guys). Since American congoers are more willing to cosplay -- especially high schoolers -- that means more who cosplay on budgets smaller than $500 per costume.

However, ultimately I think those girls were peeing their pants largely because they have a very narrow view on cosplay to begin with. Did you catch the comment about "smiling like she's done nothing wrong?" I think that's largely because they saw a *girl* acting like a typical anime-obsessed otaku, and thought there was something despicable about that. Like, "no self-respecting Japanese cosplayer would put herself in that situation unless she was going to be surrounded by worshippers."

That and the fact that Japanese height and facial proportions do not vary much, so the mere idea of seeing someone with a long American nose or different height/build than the typical Japanese. I know even Americans often bemoan that some cosplayers are out of shape, but some of these standards couldn't be met even if they were all perfectly fit.

Someone tried to make a cosplay of Frog/Glenn from Chrono Trigger that didn't turn out too good.

I guess the costume was okay, but the froggy head on top... no it wasn't makeup... it appeared to be paper-mache, and didn't really look like frog. It looked like a cartoon character... kerokero or something, tarding out.

I found the image if you're interested:

http://www.cosplaylab.com/lab/1648-68364.jpg

the cosplayer even admits he just likes it cause its so silly.

Don't mock cardboard! I don't strictly cosplay, but as an English drama student, I go out drinkingin daft costumes ALOT. Cardboard is the best thing cos it's cheap, easy to find, and you can make pretty much anything out of it.

That said, I do have to laugh when people I know go overboard. Or totally underboard and expect a black tshirt and a necklace to make them x character...

>"OMG why are you dressed up as anime characters?"

Yeah, I live in Ohio, and that was pretty much my reaction. I've heard of going to conventions dressed up as Star Trek characters, complete with forehead-ridge makeup that takes hours to apply (though I've never personally witnessed this phenomenon), and I think I saw a photo on the internet once of some pathetic loser dressed up as Obi-Wan Kinobi complete with a mocked-up light sabre, but until reading this article I was blissfully unaware that people anywhere (much less here in my own country) went to conventions dressed up as _cartoon_ characters for crying out loud. To me that's not funny so much as just sad.

My question is, WHERE do people do this? Not around here, I'm pretty sure, or I'd have heard about it by now. There are a few people around here (mostly of middle-school age), who are "into" Japanese cartoons in the sense of watching it on tv and maybe checking out some "graphic novels" from the library, a few even try to draw the stuff, but this...