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.
Comic Market, more commonly known as Comiket or Comike, is a semiannual doujinshi convention in Tokyo, Japan. A grassroots market focused on the sale of doujin (self-published) works, Comiket is a not-for-profit fan convention administered by the volunteer-run Comic Market Preparatory Committee (ComiketPC). Inaugurated on 21 December 1975 with an estimated 700 attendees, Comiket has since grown to become the largest fan convention in the world, with an estimated turnstile attendance of 750,000 in 2019. Comiket is typically held at Tokyo Big Sight in August and December, with the two events distinguished as Summer Comic Market and Winter Comic Market, respectively.
Nan Desu Kan (NDK) is an annual three-day anime convention held during 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.
Yaoi-Con was an annual three-day anime convention, founded in 2001, aimed at fans of yaoi-related anime, manga, and other aspects of Asian culture. It typically took place during the Fall in California.
An anime 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, India, Indonesia, the United States, Canada, Brazil, Australia, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Spain.
Anime NebrasKon is an annual three-day anime convention held during October at the Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs, Iowa. It is organized by the Nebraska Japanese Animation Society.
Tsubasacon is a three-day anime convention held on a weekend during the fall. 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.
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.
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.
Zenkaikon is a multi-genre convention held during spring at the Lancaster County Convention Center in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The convention was formerly based around King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. Zenkaikon's name is a portmanteau of Zentrancon and Kosaikon, created when they merged in 2006. The convention has an all-volunteer staff.
Senshi-Con is an annual anime convention in Anchorage, Alaska. Founded in 2005, it was the first pioneering anime convention in Alaska. The name is a combination of the English word convention and the Japanese word senshi, meaning warrior. The convention is organized by the Alaska Association of Asian Cultural Learning.
Anime Milwaukee (AMKE) is an annual three-day anime convention held during February at the Wisconsin Center and Hilton Milwaukee City Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It is Wisconsin's largest anime convention.
The anime and manga fandom is a worldwide community of fans of anime and manga. Anime includes animated series, films and videos, while manga includes manga, graphic novels, drawings, and related artworks. The anime and manga fandom traces back to the 1970s, with numerous countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Japan, China, and Malaysia participating in it.
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.
L.A. Comic Con is a three-day multi-genre convention held annually in downtown Los Angeles, California. L.A. Comic Con is one of the largest independent conventions in the United States and encompasses several categories, including comic, horror, sci-fi, anime, gaming, and pop culture, with a particular focus on the local Los Angeles community.
NashiCon was an annual three-day anime convention held traditionally during March/April at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Columbia, South Carolina in Columbia, South Carolina. It was the first anime convention in South Carolina and Nashi stands for Nippon Anime Society of Heavenly Imagery.
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).
Anime NYC is an annual three-day anime convention held during November at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City.
