Gate to Japan : The art of cosplay !

Today we are going to talk about one of the coolest form of art, a lifestyle! A passion where fans prove their creativity by making costumes and incorporating their favorite character just like Halloween!

What's a cosplay?

The word "cosplay" is a composite word from "costume" and "play" which means dress up like a fictional character. But it's not just about wearing a costume it's also about playing the role of the character you are cosplaying, acting like him, adopting his attitude and that's what we call "Role-Playing". And the people who practice this passion are called "cosplayers". "Custom Made": has the same meaning of cosplay, it's a term that appears in 2010 Term proposed by the Quebec Office of the French language.

Jessica Nigri an American cosplayer celebrity

What's a crossplay?

A crossplay is when a female cosplays a male character (this first type is more common they are called female-to-male cosplayers). Or when a male a cosplays women character (And they are called Male-to-female cosplayers).

How the "cosplay" started?:

As some people know the cosplay was born in the USA. In 1939 by a man called: Forrest J Ackerman when he participated to the science fiction convention WorldCon costumed like man of the future. This man was recognized as the first cosplayer in the world. And then with the prodigious success of the two sagas "Star Wars" and "Star Trek" many fans were gone costumed as the characters of these movies participating to the «Masquerade» (formal costumes competition in the WorldCon) the phenomen spread even a fan club named "501st legion" created in 1997 dedicated to the creation and wearing armor faithful replicas of imperial assault troops and imperial uniforms of the Star Wars universe. In 1984 a Japanese reporter named: takashi was sent to report on the goings-on of the '84 WorldCon. He was the first to use the word "cosplay" in his article.

Arrived in Japan, this new form of art was adopted by many anime and comic fans the cosplayers are called "kosupure" they were entitled to designated areas in the major conventions. Outside of these agreements, we can also find them in the streets of Tokyo, particularly in Harajuku and Akihabara.

For Europe, the arrival of cosplay is belated in 1990. The cosplay phenomen was born more particularly in France, Germany and Italy being popularized by the series, manga and comics.

How to succeed a "cosplay"?

Choosing the character you want to cosplay: First thing you have to do before making a cosplay is to choose wisely the character you want to cosplay you must consider certain requirements for example the morphology of the character must adapt to you, facial expressions, be able to adapt to the character's personality.

The Costume: There Is a different way to have the costume, by simply buying it on the net. Or by making it by yourself: Modifying simple clothes or just sew it. To sew the perfect dress you-have to follow Some steps: to start you need to assemble the maximum of informations and pictures about the outfit , choosing good quality and coloor of the fabric, giving importance to The smallest details and choosing the right accessories . You also have to choose the right wig and apply the right makeup.

The Role-Play: In Some contest the role-play is sometimes even more important than the cosplay. It is necessary to be able to act as the character by practicing hardly to improve performance . The cosplayers must also master the character poses for photo shoot.

Most major cosplay contests :

The Most well-known event cosplay contest is the World Cosplay Summit Organized by TV Aichi and Held in Nagoya, the first edition in 2003 Was Nowadays this contest regroup 20 countries over the world. In Europe the There Is: European Cosplay Gathering Taking Place at Japan Expo in Paris France in 11 countries participated. There are also the Nordic Cosplay Championship Held at Narcon, Linköping, Sweden. In the USA there is the "Masquerade" since 1950 in the worldCon. there is also some big convension where we can found cosplayers like : The Largest single event featuring cosplay is the semiannual doujinshi market, Comic Market (Comiket) in Japan. The San Diego Comic-Con, New York Comic-Con in USA. Supanova Pop Culture Expo is Australia.

Fate / Stay Night - Saber ECG 2012

The cosplay rules:

There Is Some rules that we can found in That Almost all Cosplay contest

The cosplay must be a self-made (that is obliged in competitions, but not for the cosplayer who just assist).
No Costume is no costume this law (this rule Appeared in the "masquerade" in 1970 while some females participants came painted in green like "Star Trek alien woman.").
All awards presented will be at the judges discretion.
Participating in contest may be solo or in group.
Staging is obligatory in some contest.

Cosplay Of Reika

Now the cosplay became more than just a passion, some people made of it their trades we can mention : jessica negri and yaya han in USA, nikita in france, Reika in japan. There was even a show about the cosplay named : Heros of Cosplay in 2013 on Syfy channel reality television show co-produced by Mark Cronin.