American Cosplayers
 

If you have any self-respect, please save yourselves the embarrassment and DON'T DO IT..













V.S.

That's a little rude. I'm pretty sure those people worked really hard on their costumes. Who cares if they ain't the greatest, at least they have the guts to go out and do it.

Most notably the Link and Zelda cosplayers.

Still, I agree with Kikibunny. This is a flame thread waiting to ignite. The only difference between the two groups is the exactitude of the professionalism involved, and the desired end results.

They may have worked hard on it, but that doesn't mean they don't stink in comparison. :P

Or stink, in general.

They clearly bought their costumes off of ebay or "cheesycostmes.com"

I suppose one has to raise the obvious "do better or stop criticizing" response, however ineffective it is every time it's used. What needs to be answered is why there's so much drama over people doing something like cosplay...is it envy or derision?

The point of cosplaying is much more than having a "perfect" looking costume. It is about self-expression and enjoying yourself. Take this in the spirit it is intended, burkhartdesu, when I say you are missing the whole point when you make fun of cosplayers like this.

LOL yea I see your point But its fun to cosplay

There are so many jokes I wanted to make from that, it's not even funny...

I understand self-expression but that still doesn't change the fact that these people, even in their own element, look ridiculous. You seem to be portraying this foolishness as 'self-expression' when it's totally unoriginal... I'm not making fun of cosplay, I'm making fun of people who have costumes made out of foam and clearly don't have a grasp on reality.


But nonetheless, more power to them! I find it quite entertaining.

hi can someone explain to me what the original poster is on about?

i recognise one of the pics as from dragonball z and am assuming he means dont visit japan in cliche custome...

please tell me what he or she is on about?

I'm not touching that one with a 10-ft pole.......

Me and my significant other (who comes from japan) both came to the terms that cosplay only works if:

- It's a girl cosplayer
- Guy's only suit uniforms.
- Westerners can cosplay IF they make a costume that compliments them individually. Just choosing any character leads to fails.
- Go for a uniform that hasn't been done loads of times before. Dragonball being one of the most over-done cosplays in japan.

Seriously? Another post of this type?

I'm sick of seeing people take the absolute WORST of American cosplay and comparing it the the best (sometimes even the PROFESSIONAL) of Japanese cosplay.

I've seen plenty of incredible American cosplayers. It's just that they never tend to end up in threads like this.

I'm wondering why? [/sarcasm]

I'm hit & missing the point of this thread. But I get the part about unfair comparison. You are obviously an extreme purist.

Alot of Americans that do cosplay view it as dressing up, for the most part; it's all in good fun. I've seen some amazing cosplays, but they're rarely in threads like these, they seem to want to stay on Deviant Art or Anime conventions.....or you can surf cosplay pics here, even, there are some really good ones. I saw an awesome Lelouch the other day.

Okay, so my initial post was a little dramatic-- but all "[/sarcasm]" aside I was pretty much just commenting on people who wear foam outfits of characters in played-out manga.




It shall be written in stone!



And just for kicks and giggles here is a really awesome AMERICAN cosplayer.

:vsign:

I think hard-core Harley riders and Southern belle beauty queens look just as, if not more ridiculous. Thankfully for them, my opinion means almost nothing to them.

And check out these cosplayers...FROM JAPAN

LOL! Well put.

ok, it shows up now... and huh... I guess not all Japanese cosplayers are better than American ones.

Weird...I totally see it in your quote...

EDIT:
Whoops...looks like they might have caught on...well..imagine four sumo wrestlers in Sailor Moon outfits...

and again.. now it doesn't show up?

It might be good it's not showing up again... (sorry, I'm just feeling a little mean right now)

Americans can't do it at all...like...even if they had the coolest costume ever made, still....it wouldn't be as good as Japanese...like....no matter what..just..no. Ever.

Ever been to a convention? You'd be surprised what people can do.

Yeah I know, but there's just something missing, you know? Like...they just don't have that PIZAZZZZ!!!!!

I don't know, it's hard to explain =P

You know. I cosplay.

Every Halloween.

I dressed up as Kyon from Suzumiya Haruhi and went to school like that, and the students loved it, and the Japanese teachers thought it was great. Why? Because Halloween is a western holiday, and I was doing my job.

Aside from that though, I see absolutely nothing wrong with costuming. I have other reasons to costume, although I do it very rarely. and I assure you, my costumes always look good.

Every seen pictures of The Colonial Fleet? Look 'em up. I maintain a degree of anonymity on this forum, but I'm one of those frakkers, and we spend anywhere from $400+ for our uniforms. Let's not even discuss patches, props, weapons...

+1

Win.

You see, there are great American cosplayers.

BTW, why just include America? Is Europe better?

But of course Asia has MORE pros... and the west has LESS. But they still have... you just have to dig harder.

It's because Asia is the motherland of cosplay.

I agree with you... but ever since i have witnessed a gruesome cosplay of a dark magician girl by a big fat dude...

anyway this is one of my fav.

I love cosplay...no matter if it's the "perfect" costume or not. It takes guts to do that, and especially if you're here in the US - it's harder to find the pieces of your costume...unless you're some sewing master lol. The only problem I have is when um...there's no nice way to put this...certain body types squeeze into things they shouldn't wear..........there's ways to do this tastefully, and for some people that notion flies over their head and into the great beyond.

Same.

The fact they are American is irrelevant. Comparing the first costume by someone to a professional cosplayer is unfair.

Plus, I'm pretty sure resources for cosplay will be more limited in a America than they are in Japan.

For example:



That's an amazing cosplay. There are plenty of similar quality in western countries. [Not sure if she's american but she's obviously western.]

Those are the type of things that should be compared. Two experienced cosplayers, not a complete newbie to a pro.

Ooohhh o.o きれいです。

Definitely not true. It just depends on how much you're willing to pay.

Be prepared to lay down at least $1000 (500 GBP, E750, ¥100,000) if you're serious about costuming.

It's only called cosplay in the anime/j-influence subcommunities.

Now that's a good Zelda cosplay. :)

I have no idea, since I don't live in America. Unless you've lived in Japan and America, I don't think you'd be able to tell accurately. It's a pretty logical assumption to make considering Japan pioneered cosplay and such. But anyway, I'm not sure so I'll just take your word. $1000 isn't £500 anymore, it's £690 now.

In England, there are basically no resources for cosplay alone. Everything has to come off the internet [unless you make it yourself of course] and you can't always be sure of the quality when stuff comes from the internet. [Wigs/Shoes etc] There might be the odd store at a convention but nowhere near Japan or America.

I don't see the problem in calling it cosplay when that's what it is... especially when the people who take the most interest in it are the 'anime/j-influenced subcommunities.'

The winner for World Cosplay Summit 2008 was Brazil... dig harder, America has awesome cosplayers.

I do live in both and I have costumes from both countries. A simple costume here will still cost you around ¥10,000 (school uniform, gundam uniform, etc) and go up from there for complexity in props. American costumes typically cost more because they are more complicated. Since no one really does costuming for sitcoms/dramas like anime fans do for anime in those genres, the costumes are not as simple.

Eh, for currency, good yardsticks in any case. Once Americans start spending again, the dollar will rise again and things will level out. That's right, people. In a recession, no matter your country, you need to spend MORE, not less. Counterintuitive to the cashstrapped, but it's true.

You're the Brit, so I'll have to take your word on that. I know nothing about England's subcommunities.

Eh... Not true. Costuming started here as soon as people started war reenactments. And what those in the anime/j-influenced communities would consider cosplay started at book/fantasy/SF cons in the 1970s. Those individuals number in the many thousands, just take a look at any World Con, Megacon, or my Fleet's home con, Dragon*Con. You're talking 20,000 people, most of them in costume, few of them anime cosplayers (especially since an Anime specific con is in the same city only a few weeks later).

Now, again, I speak for America. I have no idea, maybe cosplayers do outnumber costumers in England. However my experience in several cities, Dallas, Atlanta, Chicago, etc, say that the cosplayers are still the minority of convention going costumers in America.

Also:

P1090859 on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Yeah, we're frakkin awesome. SO SAY WE ALL!

It's not just because of the complexity...but seriously depending on what part of the US you are in, it's simply harder to find what you need and it has nothing to do with how vast or lacking your pockets are. I live in the US as well. Some of each time zone, lol. I find that what you want when it comes to import goods or finding more variety is easier on the coastline states than on the inland. Also, if you want to go back to the money subject, that in itself really is a deterrent for some people. It's not so much what you're "willing" to pay so much as what you have "available" period. :)

Why are you talking about paying to buy a costume? True cosplayers MAKE their own costumes. At the conventions I have gone to (in the US) rarely will you see a store-bought costume. They just don't exist here. There are costume shops in Japan, and they are relatively inexpensive, but you get what you pay for.

True cosplayer? I guess you just made it up. Doesn't matter if you make the costume or not, it is still cosplay.

There's no thing such as fake cosplayer. There are only bad and good ones. Good ones obviously make their own costumes to distinguish among the others... that's what makes them unique.