Cosplay, a blend word of "costume play", is an activity and performance art in which participants called cosplayers wear costumes and fashion accessories to represent a specific character. Cosplayers often interact to create a subculture, and a broader use of the term "cosplay" applies to any costumed role-playing in venues apart from the stage. Any entity that lends itself to dramatic interpretation may be taken up as a subject. Favorite sources include anime, cartoons, comic books, manga, television series, rock music performances, video games and in some cases, original characters.
Anime Expo, abbreviated AX, is an American anime convention held in Los Angeles, California and organized by the non-profit Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation (SPJA). The convention is traditionally held annually on the first weekend of July, spanning the course of four days. Anime Expo is regularly hosted at the Los Angeles Convention Center but has also been held in other cities such as Anaheim, San Jose, New York, and Tokyo.
The Masaryk circuit or Masarykring, also referred to as the Brno Circuit, refers to two motorsport race tracks located in Brno, Czech Republic. The original street circuit was made up of public roads, and at its longest measured 29.194 km (18.140 mi). The track is named after the first president of Czechoslovakia, Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk. In 1949, events such as the Czechoslovakian Grand Prix attracted top teams and drivers. In 1987, the new (current) circuit was opened. The Brno Circuit is historically one of the oldest circuits, on the place were also held the most motorcycle championships in history after the TT Circuit Assen.
Nan Desu Kan (NDK) is an annual three-day anime convention held during August/September at the Gaylord Rockies Resort & Convention Center in Aurora, Colorado. The convention is the largest anime convention in the Rocky Mountain region and each one takes eighteen months to plan. Its name in Japanese roughly means nan desu ka (何ですか), "what is it?". The parent company, Rocky Mountain Anime Association, is a registered 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization.
Anime Central (ACen) is an annual three-day anime convention held during May at the Hyatt Regency O'Hare & Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Illinois. The convention is organized by the Midwest Animation Promotion Society (MAPS).
Kunicon was a series of anime conventions organized by Subarashii Nation and held throughout the United States from December 2004 through June 2005. Originally named "Otakucon", the convention was renamed to "Kunicon" after controversy erupted over the name being similar to Otakon, an anime convention held in Baltimore, Maryland. While Kunicon's original goal was to hold a convention in twelve major cities across the United States, these plans were cut short after 4 conventions as Kunicon continued to be plagued with controversy and cost overruns.
Anime Mid-Atlantic was an anime convention held in June at the Norfolk Waterside Marriott in Norfolk, Virginia. The convention was previously held in Richmond, Virginia and Chesapeake, Virginia for several years.
Anime Evolution is the general name for a number of anime conventions held in Metro Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It was organized by AE Convention Corp. until 2010 and by the Vancouver Anime Convention Society since 2012. It was traditionally held in August until 2012 before moving to June and then later July. The event was an annual three-day convention, and over time added two single day events, Harumatsuri and Akimatsuri. The summer event, called AE Summer, was shortened to a single day event in 2017. The 2019 Anime Evolution event: Harumatsuri saw a return to a multi-day format and a Burnaby venue.
An anime and manga convention is a fan convention with a primary focus on anime, manga and Japanese culture. Anime conventions are commonly multi-day events hosted at convention centers, hotels or college campuses. They feature a wide variety of activities and panels, with a larger number of attendees participating in cosplay than most other types of fan conventions. Anime conventions are also used as a vehicle for industry, in which studios, distributors, and publishers represent their anime related releases. They also take place in multiple different countries, such as Japan, South Korea, China, India, Indonesia, the United States, Canada, Brazil, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Finland.
Tsubasacon is an annual three-day anime convention held during October at the Charleston Coliseum & Convention Center in Charleston, West Virginia. Tsubasacon is also the first anime convention to be held in West Virginia. The convention's name is a blend of the words tsubasa and convention.
Genericon was a modestly sized anime/science fiction/gaming convention held in Troy, New York on the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) campus for over 30 years, making it reportedly the longest-running college multigenre convention in the nation. It hosted theater-style auditoriums and had 24-hour anime viewing rooms, karaoke, cosplay events, 24-hour video game room/competitions, role-playing games, board games, and talks by guest speakers. The events usually began 6 p.m. on the Friday of the first weekend of March and continued until Sunday at 6 p.m. with a closing ceremony and announcement of the new "Con Chair". Starting with Genericon XXI, convention staff partnered with Jazzman's Cafe, located in the middle of the convention itself, to bring food and beverages to the convention.
Katsucon is an annual three-day anime convention held during February at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland. It is traditionally held in February over Presidents Day weekend and was previously held in various locations around Virginia and Washington, D.C. The basis of the convention's name is not clear, as "katsu" in the Japanese language has various meanings, including pork.
Otakuthon is a Canadian anime convention promoting Japanese animation (anime), Japanese graphic novels (manga), related gaming and Japanese pop-culture. It is held annually for 3 days in downtown Montreal during a weekend in August. It is a non-profit, fan-run anime convention that was initiated by Concordia University's anime club, named Otaku Anime of Concordia University. The name "Otakuthon" is a portmanteau of the Japanese word "otaku" and "marathon". Otakuthon strives to be a bilingual event, having programming, the masquerade and the program book in both official languages. The first edition of Otakuthon was held in 2006 in mid-June, but later moved to early-mid August / late July from 2007 onward. The current edition, Otakuthon 2024, is being held on August 2-4, 2024 at the Palais des congrès de Montréal.
Otaku USA is a bimonthly magazine published by Sovereign Media, which covers various elements of the "otaku" lifestyle from an American perspective. The issues were accompanied by a DVD featuring three anime episodes but as of 2009 the DVD feature was dropped and the double sided poster feature of the Magazine was also dropped starting with the February 2010 issue.
The World Cosplay Summit is an annual international cosplay event, which promotes global interaction through Japanese pop culture. It developed from a cosplay exhibition held at the Aichi Expo in 2005.
QC Anime-zing! is an anime convention organized in the Quad Cities, United States. The convention offers anime screenings, video games, a dealers room, guest panels, fan panels, cosplay competitions, and many other events typical of an anime convention. It was first held at The Lodge Hotel in Bettendorf, IA from June 18–20, 2010. Guests for the 2010 convention were Johnny Yong Bosch, Robert Axelrod, Spike Spencer, Eyeshine, and The Man Power. The 2011 convention will be held June 17–19, 2011 at The RiverCenter in Davenport, Iowa.
Cosplay Mania is an annual cosplay-centered convention organized by Cosplay.ph. It is usually held in the fourth quarter of the year in the Philippines. The convention features various events related to cosplay, anime, and J-pop culture which features rookie and veteran cosplayers and cosplay enthusiasts.
Manga Barcelona, formerly known until 2018 as Saló del Manga de Barcelona is a Spanish anime and manga convention held annually in Barcelona, and is the largest anime convention in Spain and the second largest in all Europe.
Ninxa is a youth funded private organization in Bahrain founded to cater and promote the majority needs of Japanese animation (anime), Japanese graphic novels (manga), related gaming, as well as Japanese and Western pop-culture fans in the Kingdom of Bahrain and the surrounding region. Ninxa holds events annually during a Friday.
AnimeCon (Netherlands) is a yearly Dutch anime convention. The festival is officially called Anime year of edition but is called AnimeCon by visitors. AnimeCon is a non-profit organization organized by the J-POP Foundation (Dutch: Stichting Promotie Japanse Popcultuur).
