Since I’m still up working, while I’m on hold on the phone I thought I’d finally get around to doing this post.
So, here it is. Some of the more impressive (and odd) cosplay people that were hanging out in the cosplay area at the Winter Comiket 2006 at the Tokyo Big Sight convention center.
Oh…and a more “not safe for work” post coming later. They’re not dirty or anything…just mostly of girls in slightly skimpy outfits (think Chun Li from Street Fighter) so..yea…that’ll be later.
Aaaaaaaaaanyway, these should be ok. So click on the link below to take a look!
Oh, and as you look at these, keep in mind…most of the costumes you see here are totally hand made. You can buy them but most of these hard core cosplayers will spend the year sewing these just so they can show them off at Comiket!
So, the pic above is of the two main characters from the anime series Full Metal Alchemist. I have to admit, the armor looked very very impressive. Of course the casting was perfect since the other kid is about that short in the series too.
Of course, Final Fantasy is always popular but alas, not too many cosplay this year. There is a sliiiiiiiiight NSFW picture of Lulu from Final Fantasy X coming later…it’s only in that category since her belt skirt seemed to have been malfunctioning so her friend was fixing it…but after I got home and looked at the pic it looks like her friend is feeling her up… *ahem*… Aaaanyway, here is the first of the 2 FF characters.
Not bad…not bad….Obviously it’s Cloud from not the actual Final Fantasy VII game but from the kick ass Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children movie along with one of the bad guys who’s name escapes me at the moment to his right.
But a far better one is here:
I THINK both Cloud and Vincent are women….especially Vincent. But the costumes were very well done as was Cloud’s hair. Impressive actually. And the colored contacts on Vincent really really stood out.
Moving on to a more common type of cosplay these days…the Gothic Lolita fashion. Many of you have seen some of the pictures I’ve taken at Harajuku. Well, unlike those girls, these girls are not only in full gothic lolita fashion but they are also cosplaying as characters from an anime called Rosen Maiden. Not sure really what it’s about other than something about a girl in gothic (not goth…gothic) dress defeating evil…or something.
Of course, here is Vampire Princess Miyu with her faithful companion/body guard Larva that I posted before as a preview.
Naruto seems to be the next Dragon Ball Z in terms of popularity these days. I never got into it but the manga is huuuge in Japan as much as the anime. I don’t really know the characters but I THINK this dude’s name in the series is Sasuke?? Maybe?? Correct me if I’m wrong.
Taking a quick break from the serious stuff…there are some quirky ones too. Like this dude. He seems really really familiar but I just can’t remember what his character is or from where. But he was really getting into the role as he posed for the cameras.
And here is a girl dressed up as Doraemon. For anyone that do not know Doraemon, he is basically the unofficial icon of Japan for kids. He is a robotic cat from the future who is afraid of mice (his ears were eaten as he napped one day) who has a 4 dimentional pocket on his belly where he can pull out all these different types of gadgets. He was sent from the future to the past to help out his owner’s great great great grandfather succeed since he’s a slacker and a whimp and can only get a 0 on his tests in 5th grade. I do not do the series justice. Suffice to say, I loooove Doraemon. Alas…this girl was just…weird :)
Back to some more mainstream stuff, I mentioned Dragon Ball Z earlier and there were at least 2 sightings of people dressed up from that series.
First we have Kame-sennin (I have NO idea what he was called in the US….) striking the kamehameha pose. For anyone who knows the series, you have to admit, he looks perfect for the part.
And second, we have Cel, one of the bad guys from the series. This costume is also quite impressive.
A convention focusing on manga and anime is just not complete without some Gundam references though. If Doraemon is the mascot for Japanese kids, Gundam is THE icon of Japanese males. This goes beyond whether you are an otaku or a geek or a nerd or anything. If you are a male and you live in Japan or you are Japanese, you know Gundam. It’s just the way it is. Gundam is LIFE!!!
*ahem*…sorry…
Anyway, here is a guy dressed up in the military uniform from the Principality of Zeon.
But this next pic is much more fun loving.
The girls are holding up the flag for the Principality of Zeon (the “bad guys” though it’s purely relative) and the girl on the left is dressed up kinda like a Zeon soldier (…well…in a cute way…) but the girl on the right is great. She is dressed up as the mobile suit Zeong. It’s the big robot that the main character from the Zeon side, Char Aznabul, pilots during the battle at A Baoa Qu at the end of the One Year War and is destroyed by Gundam piloted by Amuro Ray of the Earth Federation. So…cool….and her costume is really well done!
Ok ok….putting aside my fanboy-ness, here are the 3 best costumes I saw at Comiket.
First is a guy dressed up as a gold saint from the series Saint Seiya marketed in the US as Zodiac Warriors. Great great manga. Never got into the anime. Very violent. Lots of fighing. And cool cool armor on all of the characters (called saints).
But these next two guys win it all. Here are two guys dressed up as Kamen Rider. The one on the right in black is Kamen Rider Kabuto. Not sure about the name of the guy on the left in white. Kamen Rider never took off in the US… Think “power rangers” but more gritty with only one guy and they all look like bugs. Mostly either grasshoppers or beetles. Oh, and they all have a motorcycle that’s really cool too. It’s just like the Power Rangers really. Personally I like Kamen Rider better.
At first I thought they just bought the suits but then as I took a look at them closer and also as the guys took the helmet off to cool off a bit and readjust their stuff, I realized that the ONLY thing store bought was the dude’s belt that you can buy as a replica. The rest of the armor including the helmets were all hand made and just simply amazing. I was very very impressed. If you’re going to make a costume, you might as well go all the way.
Just because, here is a second shot of the two of them.
You have to admit, even if you are looking at them going “FREAK!!”, these costumes are pretty damn impressive. Lots of time and effort went into many of these. Even the ones that will be posted later. Very impressive stuff.
My sister was more disturbed than I was…but to me, this is the same as some people going to KISS concerts in full makeup or painting their face orange for a Cleveland Browns game. They have a hobby. And they are really really really reall passionate about it.
Anyway, hope you enjoyed the pics!
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