Understanding Cosplay

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Understanding Cosplay
Topic Started: Jul 4 2009, 01:37 AM (563 Views)
l00mer	Jul 4 2009, 01:37 AM Post #1
General Posts: 232 Group: Members Member #18,825 Joined: October 5, 2008 Gender Male	Hey, I'm not a cosplayer and I don't have anything against anyone who cosplays (especially those who cosplay as Koei characters ) so please do not take offense to this post if you do. I have but one question What's the difference between Cosplay and fancy dress? At Halloween, if I were to dress up as Dracula, surely that wouldnt count as Cosplay or am I wrong? It'd be appreciated if some of you Cosplayers out there could shed some light on the subject



Manji	Jul 4 2009, 04:26 AM Post #2
"Inga Ouhou... " Posts: 2,290 Group: Global Moderators Member #9,417 Joined: August 28, 2007 Gender Female	Cosplay is typically just related to creating a costume based on a SPECIFIC character from an anime or videogame. I also believe characters from comics and movies are included too, but I could be wrong. I mean, if you're simply purchasing a "witch" or "doctor" costume for Halloween purposes, than no, that isn't cosplay because you aren't dressing up as a SPECIFIC character, you're merely posing as a general identity that is non-copy righted. Well, that is my best interpretation of it... Get the idea? Edited by Manji, Jul 4 2009, 04:27 AM.
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kuni_izumi	Jul 4 2009, 02:12 PM Post #3
Breaker of Destined Fate Posts: 573 Group: Members Member #12,299 Joined: December 30, 2007	Ironically though, cosplay can include very specific general characters too IE: Some generic Yellow Turban soldier (yes I've seen it). Halloween is kind of a funny situation for a lot of cosplayers, most of the USA embraces Halloween as a chance to dress up as their favorite specific characters (Jason, Freddy, Dark Vader, Dorthy Gale, etc etc etc) but think it's strange to do on any other day of the year. Costume parties are another exception but they're relatively rare events these days. Generally though Halloween and costume parties would not be considered 'cosplaying' per say because everyone would be in costume. I think to an extent cosplaying implies that everyone else WON'T be in costume, at least in actual practice (unless it's like...a cosplay convention which would be wild as hell). Overall though I would generally say: Costume = Halloween/Event dress Cosplay = A hobby And Historical costuming I suppose falls somewhere inbetween that for like, SCA members and such. Really though there's no huge difference. It's supposed to just be fun and challenging.
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l00mer	Jul 4 2009, 06:05 PM Post #4
General Posts: 232 Group: Members Member #18,825 Joined: October 5, 2008 Gender Male	ah, cool, thanks for shedding some light on the subject



wildcard	Jul 6 2009, 06:55 AM Post #5
The one... the amazing... the powerful... ME! Posts: 295 Group: Members Member #20,437 Joined: January 17, 2009 Gender Female	It's also a matter of mind. Cosplay - COStume PLAY - acutally doesn't only mean to "dress up" as a character, but also trying to act his/her personallity out. Thought the "play" part is usually left out. Sadly. I wouldn't say cosplay has the qualification that not "everyone" is dressed up. Cosplay is a hobby that can take place throughout the whole year, whenever one feels like it Halloween and carneval are limited to dates. Also halloween costumes you buy in stores usually have lower quality then cosplays - not allways but most of the time and if you make a accurate cosplay, there are usually a whole lot amount of more details, that your average halloween costume couldn't even hope to competend with. In the case of dracula for example, the usual halloween outfit contains a cape made out of some plastic-feeling fabric or satin. If you'd want to make an accurate cape of that time you'd have to use linen or some other heavier fabric.
	*HanbeiCute?Or evil?* I'm a proud fan of BOTH, Samurai Warriors AND Sengoku Basara. Bashing either at own risk.


Avuneon	Jul 6 2009, 04:04 PM Post #6
Villain's Sweet Chosen Posts: 235 Group: Members Member #13,200 Joined: February 10, 2008 Gender Male	kuni_izumi Jul 4 2009, 02:12 PM Costume parties are another exception but they're relatively rare events these days. Generally though Halloween and costume parties would not be considered 'cosplaying' per say because everyone would be in costume. Kuni. When we have a house, we are going to have Cosplay Parties, okay? Back to topic: I agree that Cosplay is supposed to include the personality of the character. For example, someone Cosplaying as Magoichi will flirt with any female that walks past First and foremost, however is the hobby aspect. I was driving through Philly a couple weeks ago and I saw someone walking around dressed at Thor from the comic books. Helmet, hammer, the whole shebang. He looked to have put a lot of effort into it. I consider that to be Cosplay because he made the costume as a hobby, taking care to include the carved details on the hammer.
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nike	Jul 6 2009, 06:41 PM Post #7
First Lieutenant Posts: 164 Group: Members Member #20,162 Joined: December 27, 2008 Gender Undisclosed	cosplay is fun bt expensive u can see those japanese they realy make their character "alive" so it is like a hobby, but can imagine one costume aready cost that much, boys don hav much choices, for girls their costumes are super expensive, u can imagine those fancy ones like suigintou's dress alone cost how much, and the sword too. costumes being another matter the main thing is ur facial looks, some otakus like us don like girls or boys with too ugly faces cosplaying, as the face is over 50% don match like what they are in the anime, for professional cosplayers they would know what character u can become when they saw ur face, so for boys best is cosplay masked characters, there are alot, don forget ichigo from bleach can also don a mask, hakuro from utawarerumono would be the best i am not living in westen countries so i don know much abt holloween, u know we don celebrate them here, but we know when it is as the news will always report from westen countries, it looks fun somehow, thats not like cosplay but jus dressing up
	Tsumetai no honoo ga sekai no subete wo tsutsumikomu! Shikkoku no hana wo hirake! Shinkuro shoukan, araware yo, Burakku Rouzu Doragon!


wildcard	Jul 7 2009, 06:26 AM Post #8
The one... the amazing... the powerful... ME! Posts: 295 Group: Members Member #20,437 Joined: January 17, 2009 Gender Female	@nike: The japanese focus more on the play part while the western countries seem to focus more on the "make your cosplay yourself" As accurate and well-made the japanese cosplays seem, most are forgetting that only a few make them themselves. Also, I disagree with the face-thing. The only thing I wouldn't do would for example be to cosplay Ibiki from Naruto, who has scars all over the face, with a babyface like mine. THAT simply wouldn't fit. Unless of course I'd make or buy a fitting latex mask.
	*HanbeiCute?Or evil?* I'm a proud fan of BOTH, Samurai Warriors AND Sengoku Basara. Bashing either at own risk.


l00mer	Jul 7 2009, 10:25 PM Post #9
General Posts: 232 Group: Members Member #18,825 Joined: October 5, 2008 Gender Male	serene_ai Jul 7 2009, 06:26 AM Also, I disagree with the face-thing. Thank god, that seemed really elitist



nike	Jul 7 2009, 10:54 PM Post #10
First Lieutenant Posts: 164 Group: Members Member #20,162 Joined: December 27, 2008 Gender Undisclosed	i disagree too, bt it is the feeling of looking at the cosplayer, u can't call an ugly girl to cosplay as haruhi, for that i must agree sometimes, jus maybe face is very important
	Tsumetai no honoo ga sekai no subete wo tsutsumikomu! Shikkoku no hana wo hirake! Shinkuro shoukan, araware yo, Burakku Rouzu Doragon!


kuni_izumi	Jul 9 2009, 11:56 AM Post #11
Breaker of Destined Fate Posts: 573 Group: Members Member #12,299 Joined: December 30, 2007	Ehh the jury is out on look-alikes. It isn't fair to say ONLY PRETTY PEOPLE CAN COSPLAY AND HAVE FUN! But if you DO look like the character (sharing facial features/etc.) then the overall effect is much more impressive. Still, I've seen some people who look nothing like the character make AMAZING costumes that are much higher quality that someone who already looks like the character just throwing something together and counting on their face to make or break it. And at least here in the Western side of things--competition is ALL about the costume/performance, not the physical facial structure/weight of the cosplayer. Picking on people who don't 'look' right is someone only elitist snobs do.
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wildcard	Jul 9 2009, 12:40 PM Post #12
The one... the amazing... the powerful... ME! Posts: 295 Group: Members Member #20,437 Joined: January 17, 2009 Gender Female	kuni_izumi Jul 9 2009, 11:56 AM Picking on people who don't 'look' right is someone only elitist snobs do. Especially if they themselve have been relying on plastic surgery to get a face that they define as "pretty" or "beautiful". And yes, there ARE people going into facial surgery for cosplay shakes head I'll never understand those extremists...
	*HanbeiCute?Or evil?* I'm a proud fan of BOTH, Samurai Warriors AND Sengoku Basara. Bashing either at own risk.


Sera	Jul 10 2009, 11:42 AM Post #13
Commander Posts: 933 Group: Members Member #9,616 Joined: September 11, 2007	So, according to what some people think, practically no one could cosplay as Lu Bu, Keiji, Guan Yu or other more-than-two-metres-tall characters with "strong", handsome features :/. Of course, having similar features, body build, etc. to the character a person wants to cosplay helps the final result, but what matters most to me is the accuracy of the costume, accessories, wigs/hairstyles, etc.



nike	Jul 10 2009, 12:38 PM Post #14
First Lieutenant Posts: 164 Group: Members Member #20,162 Joined: December 27, 2008 Gender Undisclosed	this only happens in SG, where some ppl hav taste which are different, facial options are for those anime characters only, for game ones, i don see anyone complanting abt facial and looks for game characters, particuly, final fantasy has the most number of cosplayers so far i seen in SG
	Tsumetai no honoo ga sekai no subete wo tsutsumikomu! Shikkoku no hana wo hirake! Shinkuro shoukan, araware yo, Burakku Rouzu Doragon!


Raiko Z	Jul 11 2009, 04:20 AM Post #15
Valhalla Knight-Raiko a.k.a Kanemitsu Posts: 1,476 Group: Members Member #6,166 Joined: March 19, 2007 Gender Male	Sera Jul 10 2009, 11:42 AM So, according to what some people think, practically no one could cosplay as Lu Bu, Keiji, Guan Yu or other more-than-two-metres-tall characters with "strong", handsome features :/. Of course, having similar features, body build, etc. to the character a person wants to cosplay helps the final result, but what matters most to me is the accuracy of the costume, accessories, wigs/hairstyles, etc. Also there is no one who cosplay as DW6 Dian Wei with real muscles like that @nike: where I can watch cosplay in SIngapore???
	~MUGEN NO PAWA WO TOKI HANATE!!~


nike	Jul 11 2009, 04:57 AM Post #16
First Lieutenant Posts: 164 Group: Members Member #20,162 Joined: December 27, 2008 Gender Undisclosed	if there is anime events like last yr AOA 08, or comic sales events where cosplayers are needed i heard there are some cosplay events everyday bt don know where, bt anyway, so far those cosplayers there i heard are "first see them u will puke" 1:"flat" ruhi, basicly, haruhi with flat chested, so it is a crossdress 2:hatsune "pui" ku, fat version of hatsune miku 3:"pui" gintou, suigintou's fat version 4:jingoku shoujo super hell version, hw to describe it, it is a more scary version, rather than look like anime and manga ones, wat i heard is maybe the cosplayer put too much white powder on her/his face, don know male or female also crossdress is also very common also, there is only one character u can crossdress, which is mzuho from otome wa boku ni kuichera(don know hw to spell it), becasue the main "girl" character is a male, very cute also, everything is real except his breast are fake Edited by nike, Jul 11 2009, 05:03 AM.
	Tsumetai no honoo ga sekai no subete wo tsutsumikomu! Shikkoku no hana wo hirake! Shinkuro shoukan, araware yo, Burakku Rouzu Doragon!


Nutella	Jul 14 2009, 09:02 PM Post #17
May contain nuts Posts: 793 Group: Members Member #9,964 Joined: September 27, 2007	nike Jul 10 2009, 12:38 PM this only happens in SG, where some ppl hav taste which are different, facial options are for those anime characters only, for game ones, i don see anyone complanting abt facial and looks for game characters, particuly, final fantasy has the most number of cosplayers so far i seen in SG That means, my dear, you have yet to be in the cosplay scene for long in SG. While FF cosplays are popular here, but it is not as popular as the Bleaches, Narutos and the DGMs. As evidenced from the recent cosfest last weekend, there was at least 3 Narutos, 2 Sasukes, an Itachi etc on that day. Then there was the Bleach group and the DGM group. FF consisted of only 6 people, more than the last event but still not so bad. About facial structure and looks, I say: Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Honestly nobody can look to be as pretty/ handsome/ kawaii as the character itself. Let the make up do wonders for you and you might turn out similar looking. Quote: crossdress is also very common also, there is only one character u can crossdress, which is mzuho from otome wa boku ni kuichera(don know hw to spell it), becasue the main "girl" character is a male, very cute also, everything is real except his breast are fake Crossdress in a cosplay sense is very subjective. I mean, most bishounen characters are played by girls and rarely guys. I was surprised that the one that won the WCG cosplay was a guy who was doing Lavi. But I digress. For guys, it'll be donning on a character which is essentially a girl and girls is to take on a male character. That is crossplay. It has been done well by several guys last weekend which went unnoticed by the masses. But if you are talking about that sense of crossdress there's other characters such as Aoi from You're under Arrest who crossdresses as a girl. Its about research and getting into character which makes cosplaying fun! Edited by Nutella, Jul 14 2009, 09:10 PM.
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Darksilverhawk	Jul 18 2009, 06:49 AM Post #18
Soldier Posts: 11 Group: Members Member #19,705 Joined: November 24, 2008 Gender Female	Just to put in my two cents: (Warning: the following is purely my personal opinion) Generally, I define cosplay by two things. The first (and most important) is whether the person in costume identifies as a cosplayer. The second is the subject of the costume itself, though that is subjective. While cosplay is largely classified as anime and video game characters, the definition for the more casual cosplay audience is a bit broader. While I don't consider things like Gothic Lolita to be cosplay (as it is an actual fashion style, and shouldn't really be "cosplay" any more than something like punk fashion would be.), cosplaying a character from a book or western cartoon can still be cosplay. Also, as far as the face thing goes: No one in the world looks exactly like an anime character. Humans just aren't built that way. While you can be similar, and while similarity can really add to a costume, a well constructed and properly "played" cosplay can look much more impressive.



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