STORY BY TYLER REYNOLDS
Imagine waking up in the morning and putting on the costume of your favorite fictional character for other fans to admire. Cosplayers get to do this for a few weekends a year.
Cosplay, the short form of costume play, is the art of dressing up as a character from works of fiction, such as comic books, manga, and anime.
Allie Davis, a third year student in the Visual and Creative Arts program, is rather new to the cosplay scene. “When I was a kid, my dad and I would watch TV shows on the Space channel a lot, and they did a couple [of] specials about ComicCon,” said Davis. “Since I grew up in Newfoundland, the cosplay world was something very vague and mysterious to me. It seemed like an extra Halloween to me.”
In 2010, Davis finally got her chance to cosplay for the first time as Sailor Uranus from the popular anime series Sailor Moon. “The first cosplay I did was for FanExpo, since there are not many conventions in Newfoundland,” said Davis. “We were on vacation, and my dad thought it would be a fun idea for us to go together. I don’t think he had any idea how intense and awesome the convention would be. It was like going straight into a fairy tale.”
Experienced cosplayers such as Emily Beaton, a third year student in Sheridan’s Visual and Creative Arts program know what to expect from conventions, such as Anime North and FanExpo.
“Anime North is a very friendly atmosphere, and its usually the con I tell new con goers to go to just because of that,” said Beaton. “FanExpo, on the other hand, has something for everyone. FanExpo also has a lot more hype than Anime North.”
In 2006, Beaton went to her first convention, Toronto’s Anime North, while cosplaying as the character Freya from the Japanese manga Chobits. “I really liked the character of Freya (even though she was hardly in the anime) and the character design was also very visually appealing to me,” says Beaton.
For aspiring cosplayers, Beaton has some advice.
“Start your costumes as soon as you can, and plan ahead,” said Beaton. “I procrastinate a lot, so usually when I start to actually put together the actual costume, its about a week before the con.”
“Anyone who is curious about cosplay, do it,” says Davis. “It can be nerve-wracking to even go to a convention, but once you jump in, you’ll never look back. It’s extremely rewarding to make something and show other fans what you’ve created. The connection that you’ll have with other people is something that you can’t regret.”
