TGS '07: Cosplayers come out and play
TOKYO--One of the highlights of every TGS is the creative costumes that cosplayers come up with, and this year was absolutely no exception. On the public days, cosplayers can be found in the wild hanging out in between halls three and four. The minute they start to strike a pose, a horde of fans...
TOKYO--One of the highlights of every TGS is the creative costumes that cosplayers come up with, and this year was absolutely no exception. On the public days, cosplayers can be found in the wild hanging out in between halls three and four. The minute they start to strike a pose, a horde of fans descend to take their picture, asking them to strike a variety of poses and taking up to five minutes to shoot to ensure that they have images of the outfits from every conceivable angle.
Naturally, the majority of the crowd being male, the longest queues were for the ladies, although there were also some great costumes from the guys. GameSpot stood in line to chat to some of this year's best cosplayers to ask them about themselves and why they do it.
Imo was one of the very first cosplayers to strike a pose at today's Tokyo Game Show, and was clearly a veteran of the event. The Tokyo lass made her costume herself, and like many of the other cosplayers hanging out, had chosen a character from the Final Fantasy universe to dress up as. A big Final Fantasy fan, Imo chose sky pirate Elza, one of the three pirates that Reddas employs in the Nintendo DS game Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings. Revenant Wings is currently available only in Japan, but is due for a US release on November 20. When asked why she chose that costume, Imo said, "Pirates are cool and I love the outfit, too."
Standing across from Imo was Hifumi, who also made her costume herself. The "proper" cosplayers all do this, although costumes for popular video game characters can be bought here in shops like Tokyu Hands in Shinjuku. She laughed when we asked her if she wears the costume out. "No, no, no," she said. "I only do this at shows." She started cosplaying because some of her friends were into it, and they got her interested in the scene. One of many Guilty Gear characters, Hifumi was dressed as the nunlike Bridget from the Japanese 2D fighting game series. She told GameSpot, "I look forward to TGS every year, because I love doing this. I'm here with all my friends too, so it's really fun." She's now been cosplaying for two years, and says it's so much fun she's going to be doing it for a while yet.
Next to Hifumi were two friends who had also come to the show together, Sakura and Yuki. They had both dressed as the same character, but in different colours--Sakura is wearing the black costume, whereas Yuki is dressed in white. They both chose Dead or Alive Live's Kasumi to pose as. The two are avid gamers, and they love the Dead or Alive series. They're relative newbies to the cosplay scene--it's Sakura's first time posing, and Yuki started last year. Sakura said she wasn't sure what to expect, but she found herself really enjoying it. She said, "I'll definitely be back next year."
One of the most impressive costumes of the show is the huge vinyl suit modelled by a guy by the name of Tora. Tora is wearing a huge vinyl suit, which he painstakingly made himself--and which took him one whole year to make. His character is Shin Getter Robo, a mecha which appears in the Getter Robot Go manga. He has been cosplaying for three years. In the hot, sticky Tokyo heat, it must have been rather uncomfortable inside the huge suit, but Tora says he doesn't mind. He said, "I don't care. I love wearing it."
Next to Tora was another guy--hey, guys love cosplay too--who goes by the name of Kinuzeru. Kinuzeru is dressed as the big, tough guy Barret Wallace from Final Fantasy VII. Barret is the leader of the military organisation Avalanche, and then joins hero Cloud Strife to help him defeat the evil Sephiroth. Tora has been in the cosplay scene for only eight months, and he says that he chose Barret because "he's manly."
It wasn't only the Japanese who were out parading in their cosplay outfits--some Westerners had travelled all the way to Tokyo just for the privelege. These included three Western Australians from Perth, who were helping out the WA government to promote the region at this year's TGS. They are from left to right, K (Sora from Kingdom Hearts II), Vel (Axel from Kingdom Hearts II), and Drayke (Link from The Legend of Zelda series). K and Vel describe themselves as big into cosplay in their homeland. The two have both been cosplaying for over five years, and have their own business cards and fan sites. Isn't TGS a little far to go just to wear an outfit? "Cosplaying's great," says Kay. "It's really fun to dress up. We came here because we had to come to the country where cosplay started."
Another pirate fan, Anya has been cosplaying for 10 years, although only as six months in this particular outfit. She bought herself the online game Final Fantasy XI, and found herself enjoying the vitual world so much that cosplaying was a way of almost stepping into that virtual world in reality. Her costume took her a month to make, and she bought accessories to make it complete. Her character is called Koseya.
Anya's friend Haide has been cosplaying for 14 years, and drew the biggest crowd around her, as she struck a variety of different poses for the cameramen (and women--but mainly men) who lined up to snap her picture. Her character is also from online role-playing game Square Enix's Final Fantasy XI, and is called Alta Madoushi. So, obviously, she can't have been a Final Fantasy XI character for the whole 10 years--which others has she played? Haide said, "Hmmm...that's tricky. I've done so many I really couldn't count."
104 comments
it will be very weird if people had soras hair heh i wish i had links hair so i can look really like him and bring real weapons like his im smart that way but cool
it will be very weird if people had soras hair heh i wish i had links hair so i can look really like him and bring real weapons like his
they must really be diehart fans to go pull off such great costumes that are proably expensive and look good in them
hahahah, well fans cosplay is alwyas great (and funny)P. It coudl have been better though :P
The second person reminded me of a chinese friend I have named Becky. Anywho, I like the Corsair. :D
I love the fact that the two chicks posing as the same girl let a thong slip thru... That's pretty hot
I think the cosplayers were pretty damn awesome for all the hard work they put in. Bozanimal, Vulpis and dr_taffin have said everything I would say. Lay off guys and to each their own.
except for the last girl you managed to take photos of the worst monsters the land of the rising sun has to offer
You certainly have to admire their dedication to their games! I guess if you were at a LAN party it would certainly rev up the atmosphere for role-play. That robot guy is amazing.
I feel sorry for the other users that are putting down the cosplayers; they're just having a good time, being creative, and not hurting anyone. If anything, every parent should encourage cosplaying! Did anyone else notice a panty peeking from Yuki's costume, or am I the only pervert? :lol:
People at Blizzcon also did a bit of cosplaying, so I guess this is spreading over to the states.
Otaku, anyone? While some of those ladies looked rather hot in their tight and skimpy outfits, I seriously doubt I'll be putting on a Vaan costume any time soon. If I were to dress up like that, I'd have to kick my own arse!
so unfair, they get pictures taken of them while yet i get carted away for dressing up as a terrorist from counter strike :(
That's the great thing about Japan, you can cosplay and don't feel embarrassed about. I see people riding in trains dressed. No one says a word... Anywhere else, you'd be beat up or made fun of.
There's a couple good costumes in the bunch, but I'm not overly impressed, but it's always nice to see people doing it. Though I'd like to educate a few of guys they interviewed. If they're so interested in going where cosplay was invented, just go to America. Despite popular belief it did not start in Japan. And now I'll put my geek hat back on and be quiet.
Wow a lot of clueless people posting on this. Let's see--I'm betting that most of the ones commenting negatively on the practice of cosplay (as opposed to those commenting on the costumes themselves--that Link *is* kinda bad) have never been to (or had friends who participate in, or friends who help run as staff) fan conventions of any sort. At such an event, dressing up as your favorite character appropriate to that event is *normal*, and not just a 'Japanese thing'. Now, admittedly, there *are* the extremely rare whackos who turns it into a 'lifestyle' thing and wears their costume all the time--but despite the efforts of the media to portray things otherwise, these *are* rare, and looked on as having problems *even among the cosplayer community* On comparisons with Halloween--close, but no banana. Halloween, as it's celebrated in the modern world, could conceivably be described as a 'local, themeless cosplay'. Notice that all these costumes are specificlly matching the video game theme of the convention? (The Getter Robo is pushing it a little, but I bet the guy goes to anime conventions as well, and saves money and effort using the same costume at both.) The really funny thing is, I bet none of the ones disparaging this would bat an eyelash at the classic 'booth babe' promoting games..who are basically nothing more than paid professional cosplayers. And as for the comment about costuming being for kids? Guess what--it's just as much for kids as video games are. ;-) Chew on that for a while..
Cosplay is awesome and the haters should feel free to enjoy their jeans and t-shirts without stepping on others' passions.
okassar: Oh trust me, there are a lot of American wack-jobs here Dx. Hmm, what did we call em.. goth/emo-players :D. They spend their entire lives playing dress up :p.
"Next to Hifumi were two friends who had also come to the show together, Sakura and Yuki. The two are avid gamers, and they love the Dead or Alive series." You know, I don't know many girls that like video games...or that dress up as video game characters for that matter. /drooool
Wow that has to be the first time I ever seen anyone dressed as Barret. Then I haven't seen many pics of cosplayers.
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