What's Cosplay? First:
Cosplay comes from "kawaii" country (of course! ^_^) JAPAN!!! (you might think now that I'm obsess with Japan...well, here's
a clue for you: I AM!!! :P lol! ). Cosplay (コスプレ,
kosupure), short for "costume play", is a type of performance art in which participants make costumes
and accessories to represent a specific character or idea. Characters
are often drawn from popular fiction in Japan.
Favorite sources include manga,
anime, tokusatsu, comic books, graphic novels, video games, hentai and fantasy movies. Role play includes portrayals
of J-pop and J-rock stars, Taiwanese puppet characters, science fiction characters, characters from musical
stories, classic novels, and entertainment software. Any entity from the real or virtual world that lends itself
to dramatic interpretation may be taken up as a subject. Inanimate objects are given anthropomorphic forms and it is not unusual
to see genders switched, with women playing male roles and vice versa (for me, it means halloween without been October!!!
^_^ but no candies either T_T....meh! I can still buy pockys *eats some*).
The term cosplay was coined
by Nobuyuki Takahashi of the Japanese studio Studio Hard while attending the 1984 Los Angeles Science Fiction Worldcon.
He was impressed by the hall and the costumed fans and reported on both in Japanese science fiction magazines. The coinage
reflects a common Japanese method of abbreviation in which the first two moras of a pair of words are used to form an independent
compound.
Costume becomes kosu(コス),
and play becomes pure(プレ). Cosplayers often interact to create a subculture
centered around role play. A broader use of the term cosplay applies it to any costumed role play in venues apart from the
stage, regardless of the cultural context.
The good things about Cosplay Conventions are:
1. You meet new people and they become
great friends with you! ^.^
2. You buy japanese/anime goodies
at the price you'll never see in any store!!! (very cheap! it's like a big: "Must...buy....EVERYTHING!" o.0 )
3. You feel like a freaking celebrity!!!
>.> EVERYBODY WANTS TO TAKE A PICTURE OF YOU!!! >.< "Excuse me, can I take a picture of you?" "Excuse me, can
I take a picture with you?" Damn! Now I know how the real celebrities feel like! o.0 But o well, since it's all about anime
I think it's very kawaii! Kyee! ^_^
*credits to wikipedia.org
