Cosplay, a portmanteau 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. The term is composed of the two aforementioned counterparts – costume and role play.
Animegao kigurumi is a type of masked cosplay that has its origins in the official stage shows of various Japanese anime but has also been adapted by hobbyists. In Japan, most performers refer to this kind of cosplay as 'kigurumi' instead of 'animegao', which has been used overseas in order to differentiate the cosplay from the onesies sharing the same name. The term 'doller' had also been used when referring to kigurumi cosplayers, but today mainly refers to BJD-styled masked cosplays. Although kigurumi remains a minor part of Japan’s cosplay scene, it began attracting overseas attention in North America and Europe around 2005.
MomoCon is a fan convention held in March or May in Atlanta, Georgia.
Tekko is an annual four-day anime convention held during July at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The convention has been held in various locations around the Pittsburgh metropolitan area and is run by a non-profit organization, the Pittsburgh Japanese Culture Society (PJCS). Tekkoshocon's name was a blend of the Japanese word tekkosho, meaning steel mill, and adapting the suffix "-con", which is a common nomenclature archetype among such conventions.
Yui Makino is a Japanese actress, voice actress, singer, and pianist. She is best known for her work in the anime Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle where she voices Sakura and some of the theme songs for the Aria anime series. She is associated with Amuse, Inc. One of her earliest voice acting performances was the character "Sister" in a short-anime movie Bavel no Hon when she was 10. She married singer Yutaro Miura in 2020.
Cosplay restaurants are theme restaurants and pubs that originated in Akihabara, Tokyo, Japan, around the late 1990s and early 2000s. They include maid cafés and butler cafés, where the service staff dress as elegant maids, or as butlers. The staff treat the customers as masters and mistresses in a private home rather than merely as café customers. Such restaurants and cafés have quickly become a staple of Japanese otaku culture.
Otakuthon is Canada's largest 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 most recent edition, Otakuthon 2023, was held on August 11–13, 2023 at the Palais des congrès de Montréal. As of 2023, Otakuthon surpassed Toronto's Anime North to become Canada's largest Anime convention.
Francesca Dani, sometimes referred to as Francesca Aurora Dani, is an Italian travel photographer, and a former cosplayer, net idol model and jewelry designer.
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.
C3AFA, also known as Anime Festival Asia (AFA), is a series of anime conventions held in the Southeast Asian region, with a core annual convention held in Singapore. The main convention is traditionally held over a weekend in late November to early December. It was held at the Suntec Singapore International Convention and Exhibition Centre from 2008 to 2011, but was moved to the Singapore Expo MAX Pavilion in 2012 due to renovation works at Suntec Convention Centre that year. The convention returned to Suntec Convention Centre in 2013 and is being held there till now.
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, Jpop cuture which features rookie and veteran cosplayers, costumers and cosplay enthusiasts. Below are the mainstay activities, some of them unique to the event:
Alodía Almira Arraiza Gosiengfiao-Quimbo is a Filipino cosplayer, model, TV presenter, singer, vlogger, actress and co-founder of Tier One Entertainment. She is also known as Senpai Alodia of the Philippines. As a celebrity endorser, she is one of the ambassadors and VJ for Animax Asia known as the "Ani-mates" and co-host of ABS-CBN's prank show Laugh Out Loud. She has been featured in various magazines, newspapers and TV shows locally and abroad. She appeared on the Filipino FHM 100 Sexiest Women poll, ranking No. 1 in 2009, No. 2 in 2010 and No. 3 in 2012; she posed as the cover girl for that magazine on its July 2013 issue. She was named by DOS Magazine as one of the Most Influential Women in the Philippines.
Danceroid was a Japanese female net idol dance group affiliated with Beautiful Group talent agency. They were formed in October 2009 when they posted a video of themselves dancing to a Vocaloid song on the Nico Nico Community Group. On July 26, 2014, DANCEROID disbanded as per the wishes of the current members. This was announced on the front page of their official website, as the contracts for all the members will lapse on this date.
Sea A was a Singaporean-Malaysian J-pop idol group under the label Lantis Records and managing agency Horipro. The group consists of four members: Beryl, Valerie, Wynnie, and Estelle. They were formed in 2011 and released four singles and one mini-album. Their first album was released in 2013. The four girls were picked by Anisong Diva May'n's manager from Moe Moe Kyun Maid Cafe at the annual Anime Festival Asia (AFA) held in Singapore. Sea*A is also one of SOZO's platforms.
Anime Midwest is an annual three-day anime convention held during July at the Hyatt Regency O'Hare and Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Illinois. The convention is held in the same location as Anime Central.
EGYcon is a speculative fiction convention held annually in Cairo, Egypt as a gathering for all Gamers, Mangakas, Otakus, Bookworms, Potterheads, Cosplayers and others. It started in 2013 with a series of mini meet-ups and in 2014 a whole convention was held as a big meet up. EGYcon 2014 was supposed to be an Otaku's gathering, that turned out into a cultural convention of different interests and passion, which was strongly displayed in EGYcon 2015 with more people targeted. EGYcon was featured in multiple news articles throughout its life span of two years, most prestigious one would by either Kenneth James' in the Daily News Egypt or IGN's.
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).
Alexandria Maria Putri Nony Lovyta, also known as Yukitora Keiji is an Indonesian cosplayer, model, and fashion designer based in Jakarta. She is a regular judge at cosplay competitions and has been featured in various magazines, newspaper also TV shows locally and abroad. Yukitora was featured on the Net.Tv channel's Go Show, and became Tokyo Game Show 2014 Indonesia Cosplay Representative. In August 2020 she launch lifestyle brand "YKTR12".
Liyuu is a Chinese singer, voice actress and cosplayer who is affiliated with HoriPro International and signed to Lantis. Beginning her activities as a cosplayer before 2016 under the stage name 黎狱, she made her debut as a singer in 2020 with the release of her first single "Magic Words", the title track of which was used as the opening theme of the anime television series Hatena Illusion. Her music has also been featured in I'm Standing on a Million Lives. She is also known for her role as Tang Keke in the mixed-media project Love Live! Superstar!!. She is nicknamed Li-chan by her fellow Liella! members.
