Thoughts on the eve of an anime convention

[slimequest]

As I once again prepare to embark on that douche-chilling adventure known as going to an anime convention, I just thought of one thing:

What goes through the mind of say, a Sora-from-KH cosplayer? Or a Cloud cosplayer, or an Edward from FMA cosplayer?

Because, without fail, every year I see about 20+ different people all dressed up as the same overdone anime/game characters. I'm sure they all knew it would happen, we all know it'll happen. But WHY? Why do you think you're contributing anything special when there's an entire army of people who did the same thing?

I mean, you aren't being unique in the slightest at your choice of dress-up. Sure, if someone could pull off mermaid!Sora or Miss Cloud I'd give them creativity points and I could look past the completely worn-out characters they are parading around as. But no, it's always ex-SOLDIER Cloud and "normal" Sora, followed soon enough by a flock of red jacket wearing Edwards.

The quality ranges from dollar-store rejected wigs and fabrics to the most intricately-done costumes. I would imagine the only reason a person would subject themselves to potential cosplay ridicule is because they think theirs is a well-done representation of the character. But when you're up against a myriad of people who thought the same thing... well, somebody's going to walk away the loser. I think the loser is each one of us, actually. No matter how much effort you put forth into being Edward Elric, you're one in a dozen, at best.

Then it comes down to body types, and honestly this is where the brainstorming should have ended in the first place about 98% of the time. I know anime-style guys and girls are pretty high standards to abide by, but really, I think self-delusion is the culprit here more than anything. You don't need the perfect body to pull this stuff off, but at least be within the ballpark. Or be able to fit inside the ballpark.

Finally, there's just damn laziness. God damn you, Sailor Moon in flip-flops. Damn you to hell.

But seriously, WHY? Why would someone think "Yeah, I'm going to be Cloud this year!" and expect it to end well? I can understand if you're the convention's "resident Cloud" and you're Cloud every year and you do a good job at it, but still. There are so many unique, under-appreciated characters in the most popular of games you could've been. YOU COULD'VE BEEN SOMEBODY. But no, you're yarn-wig Cloud with a cardboard buster sword that you didn't even bother to poke holes in. You lazy, greasy waste of carbon.

I suppose anime conventions are meant to be fun, and dressing up as your favorite character can be a part of that. But you'd be wrong. Anime conventions exist solely to act as self-confidence boosters to the attendees who are not dressed as "Sora, if Sora was that blueberry girl from Willy Wonka". I walk away from an anime convention feeling happier, thinner, and more appreciative of my life than ever before.

Comments

(edited because I didn't make sense)

[vanish.livejournal.com]

I totally get what you're saying about the body type issue, but I think it's more than that; I think that people will choose to portray characters whose costumes are wildly inappropriate. If a plus size woman wanted to dress up as Yuna, for instance, I see nothing wrong with it... unless she was FFX-2 Yuna, who forgot to put clothes on in the morning. The difference is that FFX Yuna had a cool costume that pretty much anybody could pull off if done correctly. X2 Yuna cut half her skirt off and sewed it onto her panties. Nobody can pull that crap off. Nobody. You can be 90 lbs, and just... no. Same with some guys who swear up and down that they can be Barrett or Goku when they, to put it politely, just don't look a darn thing like either one of them. There are SO many characters to choose from in the anime and videogaming world; it really shouldn't be this hard to find a character who is interesting, not overly popular, and whose costume won't make you look like an idiot or get you featured on some snark page.

Also, I don't care HOW good you look, nobody with any dignity should be cosplaying as a character who is nekkid or close to it. You might think Wakka is awesome, but why on earth will you leave your house with just a pair of pants on? Why. Why.

Re: (edited because I didn't make sense)

[slimequest.livejournal.com]

I think some of it might be that these, say, plus-sized FFX-2 Yunas just love playing the character so much in the game itself that, by extension, they want to "be" her in real life by cosplaying as her, too. It's probably easy to blur the line between what you see in the mirror and what you see on the TV screen if you're used to thinking of yourself as that character when you run around as them in the game. Or maybe you're an evil, evil person and just want to put the pretzel stand nearby out of business. The other end of the stick is that, sadly, some people view these conventions as opportunities to get laid, and that FFX-2 outfit might look good on you after a few hundred dozen drinks.

These things are a fun trainwreck to go to, but there ARE decent people among the... less-decent. It's just that, no matter who you are, I can't understand why Cloud #50 thinks there was a need for YET.ANOTHER.ONE. And because I see it every year, I've got to believe that it's some epidemic that doesn't have a cure yet.

Also, Wakka only-pants and Tidus mismatched-pant-leg-lengths really need to be brought to the attention of the fashion police. There are thousands of anime/game characters with somewhat normal, nice-looking designs... BUT NOPE! HELP ME INTO MY VISIBLE THONG, THANKS.

NONE OF THIS STUFF MAKES SENSE, by the way.

[sethimothy.livejournal.com]

Who cares about being unique in an anime convention? It's a celebration of Japanese cartoons, not a celebration of unique snowflakes. Series that are wildly popular are always going to have cosplayers representing them. I see nothing wrong with this. The quality issue, in my opinion, is far removed from the quantity one.

I, for one, prefer to be "somebody" outside of anime conventions, but that's just me.

[slimequest.livejournal.com]

The thing is, there are the over-the-top, ridiculously popular titles like Naruto and Kingdom Hearts, to the point where any "sane" attendee (loose usage, here) of these things would realize that there's going to be someone with the idea to be the main characters from these series. Because nobody online or off who is a fan of anything like this will ever shut up about it. The internet is flooded with media about these titles and the sales are through the roof, for better or worse.

So, for a person to say "Yeah I'm going to dress up as NARUTO" makes me question exactly why they'd even bother, basically. Because they KNOW, you know? They know there's going to be a gazillion other people with the same idea, and yet they go through with it. Whether they have the looks or the costume talent or not. It's like people dressing up as The Joker the Halloween after The Dark Knight came out. The lack of originality becomes nauseating when a sea of people all do the same thing seemingly without thinking it through.

I mean maybe it's just for fun and they don't care, but it gets to the point of hilariously hideous when you see groups of the same character, with a mix of awful and decent jobs done to look like them, shuffling around buying hentai mangas together. So I think I'm not too far off-base to point it out, complain just a little, and question WHYYY.

I think whatever the situation is when two women wear the same dress to a party applies here too, but with less bathing involved.