danth wrote:I would love going to a convention where all cosplay, raves, and video games were confined to a separate building from the actual anime screenings and the buying/selling areas. Cosplay has completely overshadowed every other aspect of anime conventions, and I personally have no interest in being surrounded by people who don't do much but strut around and pose for pictures and pretend they are celebrities. In my experience cosplayers all sort of hang out together in cliques are don't really socialize in any meaningful way with people who are there to actually meet other fans of anime. As a long time watcher of anime and reader of manga, I feel like I have absolutely nothing in common with cosplayers who come mainly to dress up.
How often do you guys see cosplayers:
- * Approach a non-cosplayer to comment on an anime item to strike up a conversation about an anime they both like? Example: "Cool project A-ko shirt; where did you get it? I love that show!"
* Go to an anime panel?
* Dig through a vendors pile of DVDs or manga?
* Wait in line to get something signed by a favorite artist?
Cosplayers just seem to be a completely separate thing from anime fans.
While I do agree with some points, the generalization of cosplayers said here doesn't sit well with me.
Let me start off by saying I actually cosplayed at my first convention in 2000, Sakura-Con. And I certainly didn't do it for any fame or photography. I did it for my love of Japanese culture, and I attended this convention with the pure intention of having fun dressing up, making friends and watching anime. In fact, I bought several items from the dealers hall and watched the premier of Card Captor Sakura Movie 2. And it was one of the best experiences of my life, and I got lots of loving comments from people and met some pretty awesome dudes. I had cosplayed Tifa from Final Fantasy VII, and I wasn't even very accurate with it, in fact there was a better Tifa there, but that wasn't the point. I had fun. I had caught the cosplay bug. And it never got in the way of my love of anime. There were a few years I went with the sole intention of cosplaying all 3 days, and I met some pretty awesome people doing so.
From then on I cosplayed at nearly every convention I've attended up until 2010, where I finally stopped for a while. And the feeling was like I was naked at every convention. Many of my friends are also avid cosplayers, and a few of them are very dedicated to their craft. Some spend all nighters just to have a costume, and they do it out of love for the anime they watched, or to meet fellow fans. There were a few times it was like a sweat shop at our house with friends staying up all night making costumes and watching anime. Having discussions about anime and how the costumes would look in real life.
cosplayers all sort of hang out together in cliques are don't really socialize in any meaningful way with people who are there to actually meet other fans of anime
This is very true, there are some who are quite clique-y. But often times large groups are meet ups for other cosplayers of the same series to get together and discuss what they love, take pictures with eachother, and meet new people. There are whole meetups for certain series, and when they get together it's hard to break them up simply because they are all standing there taking about that series they are all dressing up from, getting to know the people. Some of the people who go to take photos of the meetups are talking to the cosplayers. I was actually pretty sad I didn't go to a One Piece meet up because the Japanese seiyuu for Luffy was there having a meet and greet with the cosplayers! And I was cosplaying a female Buggy at the time, and someone (not in costume) had come up to me later that same day and told me that the seiyuu's favorite character was Buggy and she kept looking for a Buggy cosplayer. That would have been an amazing experience!
How often do you guys see cosplayers:
- * Approach a non-cosplayer to comment on an anime item to strike up a conversation about an anime they both like? Example: "Cool project A-ko shirt; where did you get it? I love that show!"
* Go to an anime panel?
* Dig through a vendors pile of DVDs or manga?
* Wait in line to get something signed by a favorite artist?
1. All the time. When I was stuck at a table for 3 days, many cosplayers stopped by my table to talk about whatever I had on my table. "OMG, you drew Ranma?! AWESOME, I NEVER SEE RANMA FANART!" "Holy crap, is that Ryoko? You never see Tenchi stuff anymore, I have to buy this!" Etc etc.
2. I wish I had photos to support this, but many times I've seen cosplayers just sitting in anime screening rooms, and attend very crowded panels. Several of my cosplayer friends do. I don't see it as much anymore though... Besides viewing rooms, there are panels for companies, discussions, etc I see plenty of cosplayers at. (see below)
3. I did this when I cosplayed. Many of my friends go looking for certain items in the dealers hall in full on armor.
4. This goes along with #1 in a way, because a few times when the alley was packed with people, there were some waiting to see the tables in costume. I also had to wait in a line next to the area where there were seiyuu signings, and I saw many a cosplayer waiting in those lines for an autograph or merchandise.
Now onto what I agree with. First off, with anime being so easily accessible online, I noticed anime viewing rooms have been very slim pickings. Or the schedules are just awful. At Sakuracon this year, I didn't find anything to watch I hadn't already seen, or was too early for me to want to get up to watch. The only thing I caught was a very weird Korean animation. And the rooms are hardly ever filled with people anymore, and most of the ones I do see in there, aren't cosplaying. I think alot of it is due to some bad choices and nothing being very new.
Cosplaying in general I feel has been going downhill for years. Now cons are filled with more non-anime cosplaying, such as Homestuck and Adventure Time. I find myself taking less and less photos of costumes simply because I either don't know what it's from, it's too new, or it's really not interesting or related to anime. But that doesn't really mean just because they're in a costume and came to the con to show off the costume they worked so hard on, that they have nothing in common with someone who isn't there for any sort of costuming. I've never personally met anyone like this, and find the ones who are stuck up are few and far between.
At least for me, cosplay stemmed from my love of what I was into at the time. I still want to cosplay girl-type Ranma before I feel like I'm too old to do so. I even plan on a few others in the next 2 years, because I have fun dressing up and being a dork. I do it to share my love of something, and I know my friends feel the same way about this as well.
To separate cosplaying from the convention seems harsh, it's just how this generation of conventions is. I don't personally like it, but I can't knock cosplayers for it either. There's a lot of factors going into why conventions are like this now. Cosplayers aren't stopping me from trying to find good panels, from making friends, from shopping, and from cosplaying myself for good reasons. There are cosplayers out there who are there for the enjoyment of the convention, not just the fame.
) But it brings up an interesting question that I've been trying to figure out. Aside from a group of specific people (like the members here, or a big reunion of your old friends), what could convince you to check out an anime convention now? What would a con need to have or what should they say to convince YOU that "yeah, that's my scene"? With so many cons now, it's hard to cut through the noise, and if if you can, it seems like MOST of the old school fans don't even look at anime cons anymore. (some have lost interest, but it seems like many also just think cons are not "for" them anymore)
So we stood there and chatted about old anime and old fandom stuff for nearly 40 minutes...and when people asked to take her picture, she didn't want to stop talking to me, so she made me pose with her (even though I wasn't in a costume of any sort!) XD It was great! I wish I had gotten her contact info or something, she was super nice and her costume was awesome. I also had a lot of cosplayers comment on how much they loved my Sailor Moon shirt on the last day of the con when I had finished my staff obligations and was just wandering around, taking photos. My point is, there ARE lots of cosplayers and non-cosplayers interacting and having fun...it's just that some cons are SO huge nowdays that interacting like that is a lot harder sometimes. :/
