Being an anime fan, I constantly find myself thinking, “I wish I could live a day in the life of one of those characters.” Through cosplay I found a way to make that a reality.
Cosplay is a way for fans to show their love and support for their favorite anime shows. These characters move people so much they want to embody them. It is a way for fans like myself to live vicariously through these characters.
Cosplay of Goku and Gohan
While at Wondercon this past weekend I got to enjoy cosplays of a variety of anime characters. From the young to the old and everything in between, cosplay has made all of us into our favorite characters. The father and son duo dress as Goku and Gohan from Dragon Ball Z made quite an impression on me since the little boy was annoyed of taking pictures all day.
Little girl dressed as Misty, trying to catch them all.
The cosplays at this convention ranged from being complex and intricate to simple and low key. Yet all the characters were recognized by someone wanting to take a real life photo with their favorite anime character. This four-year-old girl might not have known she was Misty from Pokemon, but man did she catch all our hearts with the simple little cosplay outfit her parents put together for her.
Cosplay is not only an escape from bored dull life of being a full time college student or an adult with 40 hour work week or both, it is a way to travel into a different world of sorts. It is a chance to become someone else and live in their shoes for however long a convention is.
An epic meet up between two unlikely characters.
Even cosplayers geek out over each other. Vegeta, from Dragon Ball Z, and Dr, Rockso the Rock and Roll Clown from Metalocalypse were amazed by each others cosplay. While posing for pictures cosplayers put on a mini show for us, using trademark battle poses or catchphrases. Rockso screamed out his signature “I’m Rockso the Rock and Roll Clown, I do cocaine!” and Vegeta shouting “It’s over 9,000!”
The sword is the most impressive weighing bout 8 pounds.
The girl above is Ruby Rose from RWBY. She designed this whole costume by herself. The only material she needed help was with her lovely sword. Her costume is a combination of everyday wear and a few key fabric or shop pieces in order to recreate the look.
For those who do not have a crafty side to them they will buy the costume, which is ok, but those who make the costumes are given more admiration from their peers. It a sense of accomplishment. You are the first to have a costume of that character, or variation of it that no one has ever seen.
So long as you are part of the community, any try is always rewarded with fans still admiring your love for the show.
As always Wondercon never disappoints with its endless sea of cosplay, not only from anime but video games, comics, TV shows, and movie cosplay as well.
kanyouanime 