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/cgl/ - Cosplay & EGL


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10107652 No.10107652 [Reply] [Original]

'Sup, /cgl/. I'm going to be doing foreign study in Japan from March 18th until about August 1st. I'm interested in going to as many cosplay conventions as I can within that time period, since I've always wanted to interact with the Japanese cosplay community a lot more from the few encounters I've had at American cons. I think I know most of the basic idiosyncrasies, like
>No wearing the cosplay to the convention
>Changing rooms required
>There may be a cosplaying fee
et cetera, but I guess I'm wondering if there's other less-known things I should be aware of and try to plan for/accommodate.
Also, suggestions for conventions would be great as well. I know AnimeJapan is happening for 4 days in late March, so if anyone's been there I'd really like some firsthand advice on how to get the most out of it. Other than that, most of the events I seem to be finding are right at the end of July and beginning of August (Summer WonFes, Jul. 27th; World Cosplay Summit, Jul. 28th-Aug. 5th, all the way down in Nagoya; Summer Comiket, Aug. 10-12). Does anyone know of any other conventions in between AnimeJapan and that big cluster at the end of the summer, or in lieu of that any other good places to go cosplay for fun and meet people?
And sorry for writing a book about this. Feel free to just talk about Japanese conventions in general too.

>> No.10110681

>>10107652
Weeb

>> No.10110682

>>10110681
Jk. Have fun in Japan kiddo.

>> No.10110756

>>10107652
Do you know any japanese at all, or know someone who does? I'm sure these events have some info on their homepages on what their rules regarding cosplay are, and you can probably find some info online just by googling.

>> No.10110790

>>10107652
If you can speak conversationally, maybe contact one of the Tokyo-based photo studios and ask the staff if they know anything? At the photo studio I went to in Gifu there was a guest book/signboard where people would note public meetups and stuff.

>> No.10110979

There are plenty of cosplay events each month (at least in Tokyo). I forgot the name of the site which list a bunch of them, but I'm sure some other anon can remember and link it.

Apart from actual cosplay events, you are usually allowed to cosplay in most doujinshi-events. There are plenty of those as well, I'd say several each month. Obviously you're gonna have to do a bit of thinking on which events you're actually going to attend. Most events usually have entrance fee of 1500-3000 a day, and cosplaying might cost extra. I'd say you're better off going to events that have doujinshi from series you're interested in, so you can buy something and cosplay at the same time. The chances of meeting like-minded people is also higher.

Circle.ms is a good site for finding events: https://portal.circle.ms/
It's meant for doujin artists and circles, but I've used it several times to find interesting events. If you see something you like you can just look up the event's own website and see if they allow cosplay. If you're into big series like Azur Lane, KanColle, Touhou etc, you can probably easily find event listed here.

Akaboo holds several larger-scale doujinshi-events a year, you can check their schedule, entry-prices and cosplay-specifications here: https://www.akaboo.jp/
They hold mostly female-oriented events (aka. lots of BL)

Studio YOU has smaller doujin-events, listed here: http://www.youyou.co.jp/index.html
Be aware tho, some of their events are really small, with around 200 circles or so (in contrast to Comiket, which has 40k circles), so if you're going alone with no friends or knowledge of Japanese you might feel lonely.

Apart from all of these, Wonder Festival Summer 2019 will be held in Chiba on 28th of July. It's a figure-event but you're allowed to cosplay there and plenty of people do. If you're in Tokyo the travel time to Chiba is very reasonable, and I'd recommend it since it's a very nice event to visit
http://wf.kaiyodo.net/

>> No.10110991

>>10110979
Nevermind, literally ten minutes later I found some of the websites listing actual cosplay events. There are so many event-organizers and events that it's practically impossible to visit every single one, these are just a fraction of them.

http://acosta.jp/
http://www.cosday.jp/
http://laypara.jp/index.html
http://cospic.org/

>> No.10111252
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10111252

>>10107652
I've been to AnimeJapan about in 2017 for a day. You have to pay to get into the cosplay area (and not supposed to take pictures of them outside of the designated area). Unfortunately I didn't check the cosplay-only area, but I still got to see them in passing (and took a few pics). This con seemed more industry-based, but it's still neat because of the freebies, and the booth cosplayers handing out flyers/promotional material. I can't compare to other Japanese cons since this is the only one I personally attended.

>> No.10114726

Anyone knows who is this cute cosplayer? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsqBplWG6HQ

>> No.10122683

>>10110979
>>10110991
That's extremely informative. Thank you, anon.
Does anyone know of any websites or places to interact with the Japanese cosplay community? Do they even tend to interact with foreigners?

>> No.10123233

>>10110790
How do you find these photo studios? Are they specifically for cosplay?
Also, how is the skill level of Japanese cosplay compared to American?

>> No.10123275

>>10122683
twitter is the best place to interact with people overseas as long as you know the right places to look. browse around there a bit to try to see some hashtags they use, etc

>> No.10123282

>>10123233
Mixed for skills. A lot of japanese stuff is more cleanly made but varies in actual skill quality. Also its a lot easier for them to buy premade cosplay cheap. Making your own costume is a little bit of a luxury for young people because theres already limited space in apartments and rarely something like a garage.

Also for these cosplay events since you have to change there and usually have to lug everything around with you in suitcases you wont see a lot of people busting out huge armor or mech builds.

>> No.10123304

>>10123233
There are a bunch of cosplay photo studios located around Tokyo, they contain a variety of shooting environments based largely off common anime tropes (school rooms, locker rooms, "ancient Japan" setting, church-type, jail/dungeon, etc). Their website should show the shooting areas they have available plus rates, etc. They can also be great places to find out about shoots and other cosplay events, since they often have a message board for posting flyers, etc.

Just google "cosplay studio tokyo" and you'll find a ton of info.

Personal experience: I shot at the Hacostadium location in Ikebukuro, which is the 5th & 6th floors of the Animate store. I guess they get foreign weebs a lot, because they had English info guides about the studio and how to fill out the membership form. There's a place to change and fix your hair/make-up. You'll need to bring a photographer (I just used a tripod & remote) and because I went during a weekday, it was both cheaper and not very crowded. It's shared space so you may need to wait a bit if someone else is using the set you want.

Some studios require you to bring everything, while others may rent stuff like cameras, wigs, costumes and props, so check their website to see what services they offer.

>> No.10123433

>>10123304
Did you have to pack everything you were wearing into a suitcase like you do for Comiket, etc.?

>> No.10123505

>>10123433
I did, but I'm not sure that you *have* to. I suspect it depends on how clearly "a costume" your cosplay is. Their rules do note that you may be refused access to other floors of the store depending on your cosplay (it reads like they're concerned about outfits that are either too skimpy or too bulky for the shop), but idk if just going to & from the hacostadium floor would be an issue: http://hacostadium.com/ikebukuro/attention/

>> No.10123840

What the hell sort of convention charges a "cosplay fee" anyway?!

>> No.10123867

>>10123840
It's pretty standard in japan

>> No.10123942

>>10123840
Its maybe $10 and the rest of the event is usually a low price or free unlike $80-$100 tickets for American cons

>> No.10124260

Is there any sort of stigma/taboo with both cosplaying and being a photographer at Japanese cons?
I'm a guy who's been cosplaying for a while, but recently has been trying to get into the photography side of cons as well. In US ones I usually try to find a camera bag that suits the rest of my cosplay, but other than that it doesn't really seem unusual for a cosplayer to also be taking pictures on a DSLR.
Is this any different in Japan? Are people who photograph while they themselves are in cosplay looked down upon? It could very well not be, but the paranoid idiot side of my brain makes me worried that some people could see the cosplay as a chance to get close to girls in order to take illicit shots, which are a problem in Japan and explicitly banned at conventions. The fact that every picture I've seen of Japanese con photographers themselves has had them all in normal clothes has me thinking there might actually be something to this, or that there's some other reason why it might be rare or discouraged.
Is this the case? Can I take my camera and actually take shots while dressed in cosplay, or is it something that "people just don't do" over there for some reason?

>> No.10127112

Has anyone ever had any problems bringing a prop weapon in their checked luggage? I have one made of EVA foam which is pretty clearly a prop (especially for anyone with an x-ray machine). Is it fine to have this in my checked bag, or do I have to ship it separately?

>> No.10128492 [DELETED] 

Wait, cosplay fee?!
Yes I have to say Japan makes cosplayers pay money to cosplay
On Twitter! I hate this thread BTW

>> No.10130437

>>10124260
If you're talking about a big convention, cosplaying is kind of an ordeal so the only people wearing costumes are those who want to get photographed. If you plan to just wear the costume casually while you take photos of other people, you still have to go through the process of registering the day of and changing into it at the venue.

>> No.10133385

It seems like cosplay in Japan is just kind of a bunch of standing around for a line of photographers to take pictures of you. Nobody was really meeting up or anything, there didn't seem to really be much cosplayer-on-cosplayer interaction. Maybe Comiket's different? I know I've seen pictures of series meetups from cons in Japan floating around, but it didn't seem like there was any of that at AnimeJapan.

>> No.10133407

>>10133385
It probably depends a lot on the event. Bigger events like Comiket/Anime Japan/WonFest are pretty photography-based in terms of cosplay. It's probably because there are too many photographers, too people cosplaying from all different series, and the fact that famous cosplayers attend those events, which averts everyone's attention to them.
Plenty of smaller events I've been to (especially ones that are centered around a specific series etc.) have had a nice feeling of community and people were making friends left and right, and many cosplayers even attempted to befriend me though I'm a gaijin. I feel like smaller events have more of the the "real cosplayers" who are passionate about the hobby and aren't there just to get photographed by as many people as possible.

>> No.10133809

>>10107652
Don't go on the train with cosplay on, dumbass americans make this mistake often.
there are changing rooms
and you have to pay a fee.
I just went to a bathroom and changed. i didn't see there was a dressing room until later.

>> No.10133810

>>10123233
i attended AJ.
it was a mix . some of the cosplays were amazing.
and some were just awful. i saw that cosplayers put tape on the sides of their head and the top to keep the wig cap in place (???) and the tape showed almost down to their neck. it was definitely passed their ears

>> No.10133813

>>10123840
its normal because you aren't supposed to cosplay on the trains.
the ticket was also only 1800 yen (roughly $17) so its not like i spent much.
i spent more on the merch than the tickets when its usually the other way around since US anime cons have marked up to hell merch.

>> No.10133815

>>10133385
actually, there was an area outside the Cosplay Changing Room and then directly outside was the parking lot where they had their pictures taken. in both areas, people were meeting up and talking with each other.

>> No.10133862

>>10133815
I was there too, and in cosplay. I only ended up talking to two new people on the days I was there - Everyone else, when I'd compliment their cosplay or try to start any sort of conversation about it/the series they were from/etc, just seemed to kind of nod or answer briefly and go about their own business. My Japanese isn't bad, so maybe I was doing something else wrong.

>> No.10133864

>>10133810
There were maybe two people who I saw pull it off well and match their skin color, but for everyone else who tried it it was very visible and not good-looking.

>> No.10133876

>>10133810
Sometimes the tape is to pull the skin tighter on the face, sometimes it is used to disguise stray hairs. When you do a shoot, it gets photoshopped out.

>> No.10133929

>>10133862
I'm talking about the groups of people standing or sitting together on the floor, talking with each other
>>10133864
these people were using blue painters tape. it looked really bad.
>>10133876
they were just doing casual pics inside, they weren't doing them outside where the shoots were. there were 3 shoot areas but they weren't standing there, they were just cosplaying.

>> No.10135656

>>10133810
They tape their faces to make it look slimmer/more angled. Sometimes to adjust the shape of the eyes too.

>> No.10135680

>>10135656
it looks really bad

>> No.10138019

>>10135656
Is there a tutorial on how to do that? My face shape is terrible.