TGS 08: Japan's cosplay
by Majed Athab 
{ Oct 13th 2008 at 1:30PM }
Click to embiggen
No one does it like Japan. No one takes cosplay more seriously than them. To the Japanese it's an art form or even a form of sport, if you will. Cosplay takes massive dedication – there's getting into shape to look the part, and then talk about those hours upon hours applying wax in one's hair to get that exact patented look down right to the point of copyright infringement.It's all about going the extra mile, and Japan has perfected the Zen-like disciplined lifestyle of the cosplayer. Of course, we're not knocking down other countries and their costume mimicry attempts; Americans are getting there, we're sure you can agree, but it still pales in comparison. This is still very much Japan's homecourt. See for yourselves ... our gallery awaits.
Gallery: TGS 08: Cosplay Gallery
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
syrik zero @ Oct 13th 2008 1:34PM
Aerith is hot
Habiib @ Oct 13th 2008 1:37PM
I concur
Envoy @ Oct 13th 2008 1:47PM
She sure is cute.
jonbo298 @ Oct 13th 2008 3:55PM
Cute is an understatement.
Gurbinder @ Oct 13th 2008 4:30PM
wow is an understatement
Zoot Suit Jedi @ Oct 13th 2008 5:39PM
fap fap fap fap...
Saria the Cat @ Oct 14th 2008 5:59AM
...But annoying and useless in battle. I was completely unaffected by her death. *flame shield*
syrik zero @ Oct 14th 2008 12:46PM
I always used Tifa, she's badass.
ExMcCloud @ Oct 13th 2008 1:36PM
Man they sure do love some cosplay....
Isaac @ Oct 13th 2008 1:36PM
Woah, that red head with the flower is gorgeous.
Marty @ Oct 13th 2008 1:53PM
Agreed!
Huey2k2 @ Oct 13th 2008 1:42PM
This is why I have the yellow fever.
syrik zero @ Oct 13th 2008 2:27PM
It's easy to catch =P
sinai @ Oct 13th 2008 3:42PM
and using terms like "yellow fever" is why you will never date an asian girl without exchanging money
Blah @ Oct 13th 2008 1:42PM
They are better at it but Americans are more original and silly (castle crashers)
Dave @ Oct 13th 2008 1:45PM
Thanks for minimizing the number of dudes in these pics!!
quasebrasileiro @ Oct 13th 2008 2:09PM
true 'dat!
chispito @ Oct 13th 2008 3:16PM
It doesn't seem like there were that many there. You'd think you'd see more in the background or something.
Either way, I don't remember ever seeing that many color contacts.
JPN @ Oct 13th 2008 1:47PM
I'm dying for someone to say embiggen isn't a real word so i can say it's a perfectly cromulent word.
Marty @ Oct 13th 2008 2:05PM
'Embiggen' isn't a real word.
JPN @ Oct 13th 2008 2:15PM
It's a perfectly cromulent word.
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH...that felt good.
quasebrasileiro @ Oct 13th 2008 2:15PM
Marty you're just sayin' that to see if anyone tells you that it's a perfectly cromulent word, huh?
mundox @ Oct 13th 2008 1:54PM
Wow, that chick in the aerith cosplay sure is cute.
eilegz @ Oct 13th 2008 2:07PM
Agree
Zertoss @ Oct 13th 2008 1:56PM
Nobody went as Naked Peach? That's disappointing.
Envoy @ Oct 13th 2008 1:57PM
Your icon is disturbingly hot...
jimmygotsmack @ Oct 13th 2008 2:04PM
Psh, that's too easy, all you need is a blond wig and a crown.
Wait, does the crown count as clothing?
Haggard (Mr.ESC resurrected on a... thursday?!) @ Oct 13th 2008 2:25PM
According to his avatar it does.
Zertoss @ Oct 13th 2008 2:32PM
Crowns are optional!
Saria the Cat @ Oct 14th 2008 6:08AM
Yet somehow it seems like it would be way hotter to gag and humiliate Peach while she's wearing her princess crown. You know, emphasizing that even though she's a princess, she's still very much a dirty little whore.
...I mean, I protest your avatar on the grounds that it is demeaning to women, especially princesses!
Shagittarius @ Oct 13th 2008 2:01PM
White Kryptonite!
Markez @ Oct 13th 2008 2:05PM
Sooooooo, they just dress up like their favorite characters, and that's it?
Or do they pretend to act/talk like them?
Ghen @ Oct 13th 2008 3:04PM
Almost all cosplayers will be able to give a familiar pose for pictures, the better ones do imitations.
quasebrasileiro @ Oct 13th 2008 2:10PM
From some of the poses, etc. I tend to think the latter.
quasebrasileiro @ Oct 13th 2008 2:17PM
Oops, I didn't read JPN's original comment! D'oh!
Christian @ Oct 13th 2008 2:18PM
I still find it bizarre that girls dress up as male characters but then again most jap games have their male pretty feminine in certain ways...
JPN @ Oct 13th 2008 2:32PM
Yeah, not a lot of M. Bisons and the guy from Dead Rising.
HighFiveJesus @ Oct 13th 2008 2:35PM
attention horny americans
step away from the young asian girls. they don't know how to say "no means no" in english.
Ghen @ Oct 13th 2008 3:05PM
your faulty logic disturbs me
HighFiveJesus @ Oct 13th 2008 4:04PM
you sound like a horny robot
rach rach @ Oct 13th 2008 2:40PM
yes, japanese cosplay is usually better than american. also the fact that there are less curviness in japanese people compared to american, so there aren't much or non existant man-fayes. *shudders*
Dash @ Oct 13th 2008 2:49PM
There is a World Cup for Cosplay in Japan. The winner this year was Brazil (the dude actually went dressed as a 10 feet robot)(of course, I would vote for the Dead or Alive Volley "Bikini Girl")
Obie @ Oct 13th 2008 2:50PM
Japanese women = giggity giggity goo!
F1 @ Oct 13th 2008 2:54PM
No play like Cosplay!
arkweld @ Oct 13th 2008 3:18PM
that's not cosplay.
They are nowhere near fat enough.
j.howlett @ Oct 13th 2008 3:47PM
i always wonder if i could get away with claiming i was cosplaying as a random pedestrian from grand theft auto by just walking around in my usual clothes.
Michael @ Oct 13th 2008 6:32PM
stupid sexy edgeworth..
Kino @ Oct 14th 2008 6:27PM
I hate to say it, but I was not impressed by these outfits. AWA here in Atlanta had way more and even more detailed/decorated/outlandish costums. And usually, better. Got some great shots of Movie Zombie Iron Man, Mark 1 Iron man, and a Cog soldier.
And don't fool yourself. Maybe 10% of that is real hair. The rest of 'em are Wigs.
Titanium_Orchid @ Oct 13th 2008 7:17PM
Awesome Raiden Cosplay
http://kotaku.com/5062280/metal-gear-solid-4-raiden-cosplay-you-have-to-see-it
Saria the Cat @ Oct 14th 2008 6:04AM
I'm going to sound like "that guy" (or "that girl") but too bad. The average Japanese youth does not cosplay and thinks cosplayers are strange and obsessive. There were almost no cosplayers on the TGS floor itself; they were all hanging outside of the building in a completely different area. I quite dislike the "Japan = cosplay" stereotype and want to remind the gaijin that you WILL look dumb and get dirty looks if you cosplay randomly in a "hip, happenin' area" like Harajuku.