Recognize this? Sure you do, it’s a briefcase book bag — they’re just in every anime or J-drama I’ve ever seen. While some of you might be a little old to cosplay a Japanese high-schooler, those of you who want to try are going to need need one of these. Made by Matsukameya, a Japanese outlet that specializes in school uniforms, the quality is top notch, and definitely worth the hefty $165 price tag. This model comes complete with a metal lock and key, accordion pocket for large books or laptops, and several other pockets and compartments for documents and more. They’re currently in stock over at J-List, but be prepared to shell out some extra cash for EMS shipping, since they’ll only offer that.
Any proper Star Wars geek (or Japanophile) knows Danny Choo, aka the Tokyo Stormtrooper. Choo famously shoots videos of himself in Stormtrooper attire dancing around Tokyo, including in geek-town Akihabara, on a Tokyo subway…you get the idea.
But now a few others have gotten into the act. Read more…
Posted by Christian Liendo on Jul 19, 2010 in Animation, Fandom
Mechacon was held this past weekend in New Orleans and we captured some of the best cosplay going down in the big easy! While there were many sexy cosplayers (see above) this young lady below in the Lucky Star outfit wins our award for cutest cosplayer: Read more…
This surrealistic collection of cosplay photos shows the actual model model before and after Photoshop. At first I was sort of offended by looking at this, but then I realized that what the Photoshop artists are doing isn’t any different than what fashion magazines do with their cover models by creating a idealized version of reality that might not be so realistic: Read more…
It’s hard for me to believe that Lilo & Stitch came out eight years ago! What’s also interesting is that the film and related goodies like videogames are still quite popular in Japan. Show above is the Stitch HQ 3-Way Furisu Blanket which is quite kawaii! And at under $30 makes for a cheap cosplay outfit — although the catch is that since the blanket is on the small size it may only benefit young and somewhat short con goers. Read more…
Posted by Christian Liendo on May 24, 2010 in Fandom
There’s nothing like cosplay to put a bit of spring into your Spring! This photo essay shows off the fashion in action at Sakura Matsuri 2010 which was held at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden at the beginning of May: Read more…
Posted by Christian Liendo on May 20, 2010 in Fandom
Cosplay Party 2.0 was a special event held at the Japan Society in New York City last Saturday, May 15th, The event included a screening of Evangelion 1.11: You Are (Not) Alone. Here are some photographic highlights of the gala: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Mar 29, 2010 in Star Trek
You can spend so much time and cash on cosplay, but at the $10 each these Starfleet badges are the best way to pass yourself as an Enterprise crew member on a low budget! Each badge includes a pin back so you can wear them — and then just make sure that you have a colored t-shirt handy and black jeans for the full effect. Shown above is the command division badge replica, and below are the badges for the science division, engineering division and medical division: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Feb 17, 2010 in Fandom, Star Trek
In attempt to get publicity for the online Star Trek game Namco Bandai (see you knew there was going to be an anime connection) attempted to organize the biggest gathering of Star Trek fans attired in proper Federation gear. This took place on London on Valentine’s Day, and while the quality of cosplay shown could be slightly dodgy at points the scale of this event impressed me! Although there’s no word on if they succeeded: Read more…
As every Evangelion fan knows Rei Ayanami, Asuka Langley and their friends all go to the Tokyo-3 First Municipal Middle School which requires blue and white school uniforms with a cute sassy red bow! Well now fangurls who want to take a cosplay shortcut can now sport the official Evangelion Trantrip School Uniform which also includes matching socks (I love those little details). Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 17, 2010 in Animation, Fandom
The year is 1985 and anime fandom is buzzed about new shows like Macross: This amazing video shows a cosplay competition from this long gone pre-internet era when fans traded VHS tapes from Japan. Keep in mind that if you had an anime gathering of any sort back then even having a hundred fans show up was nothing short of astounding.
Thanks to the Thanko USB Warmer Cat Paw Gloves you can combine cat cosplay with warming up at the office. The gloves include heat generators built inside and can come with optional cat ears earphones which are available in lack or white: Read more…
My favorite thing about this Mobile Suit Gundam toy commercial? The fact that it shows all of those Bandai employees dressed in in uniforms from the show: Read more…
Editor’s Introduction: Journalist Amber Love shared with us these touching photos of Wonder Woman Day which took place this past weekend. The event took place in both Portland and New Jersey — these photos are from the Jersey event which was hosted at Comic Fusion. To me the folks in these photos are the real superheroes — fans and pros like yourselves coming together to pitch in for a good cause. By the way in these photos you’ll see several shots of Joe Sinnott — the man is a living legend of comics, if you don’t know him do yourself a huge favor and check out his bio and you’ll be amazed at his life story. Read more…
When your child grows up to watch the second (or third?) reboot of Star Trek they’ll know that it all started when you first put them into their very own Star Trek Uniform Onesie. There are four options available: cadet gray, science blue and command yellow. However we strongly urge you to not dress your child in operations red: Read more…
Posted by Christian Liendo on Sep 28, 2009 in Fandom
Yes cosplay often offers more cheese than cheesecake, but the art of looking sexy while being dressed up as a cartoon character is a challenge not to be underestimated. And in our case that craft is not unappreciated; here are our picks (which are by no means scientific) for the sexiest cosplayers that we crossed paths with at the New York Anime Festival 2009: Read more…
Posted by Christian Liendo on Sep 28, 2009 in Fandom
Cute and anime go together like peanut butter and jelly, and cosplay is no exception! Here are the cutest cosplayers that we found at the New York Anime Festival 2009: Read more…
Posted by Christian Liendo on Sep 28, 2009 in Fandom
Oh sure anyone otaku can dress up as a character from Sailor Moon, but it takes that extra bit of creativity and hard work to come up with a costume for Sailor Moon Zombies! And thus we salute the coolest craziest cosplay that we spotted at the New York Anime Festival this year: Read more…
This latest Narikiri Hello Kitty Collection 3 features our favorite cat cosplaying as both Godzilla AND the evil three headed monster King Ghidorah! Each kitty figurine attaches to a keychain to conveniently scare your friends while opening doors (that or charming them with your cute accessories). Read more…
To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Mobile Suit Gundam there will be a special full scale replica of Char Aznable’s helmet released this month. I think this has to be one of the most distinctive hat designs in the history of anime, on par perhaps with Darth Vader’s infamous helmet: Read more…
This segment from a Japanese game show features quite a bit of silly cosplay. I’m not sure what show this is from, but it was titled “An Idol and a Pair of Geeks”. Two of the idol singers featured in this skit are Seira Sakurai and Matsumoto Wakana. My favorite part of this video come at the 4:21 mark where the singer is beating up the poor otaku while performing her song.
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jul 26, 2009 in Animation, Fandom
I think this somewhat serious looking NHK news video is showing an cultural exchange program between the city of Osaka, Japan and Taipei, Taiwan. The cosplay maids are being deployed to the largest anime and manga event in Taiwan this week. Part of the exchange program is to help the local Japanese tourism trade which was down by 44% last year due to the avian flu and the recession. I think we should pray for the success of the cosplay maids in their diplomatic mission!
You go to anime con after anime con and you always see the same thing: Many cosplay artists try so hard to pull off the Suzumiya Haruhi look and so many fail. The sailor outfit part is pretty easy, but the secret to Haruhi success is that her hair has to look just right with the bow perfectly in place. By the way bows are a hard fashion accessory to pull off, the last time I saw it done well was when Madonna was doing it in the mid-80s. But fret not! As of August of this year for a small budget anybody can now purchase an authentic Suzumiya Haruhi Cosplay Wig for about $30.
