Tip for the day - Need an extendable prop? You can find a low priced umbrella at most places, like a Walmart or Target for example. Remove the entire upper end of the umbrella, and be careful you do not lose the spring. Get rid of all the other internal parts, though. Get a little dremel tool or a small hacksaw and cut the spring off so it's just a bit shorter than the end of the umbrella, extended. Now hot-glue to seal the entire open end of the umbrella, and also fill the top inch or so of the spring so that it's one solid mass, and the spring won't go flying out when you launch it. Cut and attach your pieces on the end, and get a little bit of PVC pipe to cover up the portions you need to. It might take an hour or so to do, but a little pushbutton extender for whatever prop you have works quite well. And don't forget - on any large, oversize looking weapon you have, foam is your friend.

Starting off with the winners, First Place went to a huge X/1999 group - from left to right, Arashi, Karen, Kotori, Kamui, Kanoe, Nataku, Fuuma, the announcer, ...Satsuki? I'm not sure... On the far right are Hinoto and one of (I think) her attendants. All the outfits are virtually perfectly accurate, and I'm amazed that they actually built not one but two prop shinken. I'm surprised that Kanoe and Karen were both allowed to wear those outfits in public, however they were tastefully done and quite accurate. Arashi's uniform is fairly simple but well made and is a good match to the original. Poor Kotori has the matching light white dress she appears in in the movie, and seems to have a fairly good natural-hair match to the character. Kamui's a little hard to se, half-hidden by stage equipment and Kotori, but he and Fuuma are both (again) wearing a fairly simple school uniform with a bit of modification. The jacket's red trim has the proper angle-cuts and red trim around the edge and pocket, and a good, high closed collar with a school insignia (I think) on the right side. Nataku's a little hard to see, though the robes and scarves do seem to be correct, and the white hair does do a good job. I think the purple shades may be a bit bright, but I don't know the X characters well. Skipping the Lupin-costuming announcer, we move to Satsuki. That outfit I finally recognize, and is pretty accurate, down to the loose straps in front of the thighs. Vinyl was a good choice, as well, since regular fabric or spandex really wouldn't have done the deed. Hinoto...Hinoto and her assistant are a little too hard to see in this image, but there's another below I'll go into more detail on. Still...congratulations to all of you!

Winning second place were these two guys who cosplayed these two much bigger guys and did so quite well. Mechagodzilla is made of some sort of ultrametallic-shiny fabric with various large-size greeblies (mechanical-looking items) and a really nice job on the construction, and I'm curious to find out how they did it. I'd guess heavy cut foam underneath fabric carefully cut to fill a certain way, with a body-suit as a sort of inner lining - those look really heavily padded, and must have been hot! I'm impressed that they got the Godzilla fins, and the face so well done. And the head of Mechagodzilla really looks mechanical, and constructed. I wish I could have seen them onstage! What skit did they do?

Third Place went to a Wolfwood/Milly pair, with a large Cross in the back. Again, lots of buckles all over the Cruss, and good work on the costumes., Again, fairly simple - but the color match, and the cut of Wolfwood's suit is a really good match.

Fourth place is an unknown, but I'd take a guess as Captain Harlock. I can't see the costume too well, though his detail work with the gold trim is well done, and the costume looks pretty accurate.

Next up, in fifth place, is Kei and Yuri, the Dir-er, Lovely Angels! And lovely they are, with most definitely the figure to properly cosplay the character, and the hair is especially well done. The hair looks dyed, and my only complaint is that Kei's hair looks cut too short, since it's supposed to be fairly full and top heavy. The...combat bikini, I guess, is quite accurate and definitely matches both Kei's white and Yuri's eggshell colored outfits, and the trim on them is quite well done. The details like the armband and headband for Kei are great. Did they ever do the pistols?

Next on the list is a quartet from Utena, namely, Wakaba, Utena, Miki...and the purple-haired one whose name escapes me now. Wakaba's costume hits it pretty well, a basic green-accented sailor outfit, but is accurte with the wide white stripe around the edge. Purple-haired guy has what looks like a custom-made all-satin jacket, because it looks as shiny as Utena's and the back lapels are cut very low. All the red cord trim is really nicely done, not too thick and it matches the trim, for the pockets and edges. Miki on the far right duplicates the costume, in pale green trim. Gold or yellow braid accents his shoulder, and the cape is well done - white fabric, red lining for detail. And Utena's outfit is amazing - a well made vest, with the soft purple trim and gold accents. The skirt I would guess is purchased, but if so they matched the vest material really well. And, I can't tell if the pink hair is a wig or hair, it's really well styled.

And then a quintet of Cowboy Bebop cosplayers - a little overweight Spike with a really well-done jacket that matches the style almost perfectly, and even has the right hair, then Faye and Jet done really well. Jet's cyberarm is a little bit simplified, and could have stood a bit more work, but the jumpsuit and hairstyle (with cool trimmed beard!) and the rest of the outfit came out pretty well and looks like something Jet might end up wearing. And Faye's...Faye's Faye. Perfectly. Purple hair, attitude, banana-yellow halter and hot pants, and even the leggings. Great work. And then there's scary Ed guy and Ein plushie - with accurate goggles for Ed, and an Ein welsh-corgie plushie with John Lennon sunglasses and a cigarette is just too funny!

Now on to two thoroughly amazing outfits: the Tallgeese from Gundam Wing and Jajuka again from Escaflowne. The Tallgeese is amazingly constructed and well-deserving of the Craftsmanship Award - I built a model kit of this Mobile Suit, and this kit is nearly perfect. All the angled parts are properly angled, from the waist up it's correctly proportional to the original, and includes all the small details I saw on the model. The legs are a bit squished compared to the original, but sometimes sacrifices to human biology have to be made, if you want to walk around in it. And to see it walk, there's two more pictures online. My only complaint is that they don't have the thruster units mounted on the shoulders. Admittedly, that would stress the shoulders, but if it were made out of foam, and painted carefully and then sealed, it might come out well. Again, I'm just guessing - it's still an EXCELLENT work! Please e-mail me - I have to know how you did this one, what it's made from, how long it took, the full interview!

Jajuka also won Best Constructed, for good measure - look at the gold-detail and how smooth it is! I wonder how long it took to put all that on. The outfit seems to be made of some sort of polyester material, and the face was probably made from a lion mask - but it still looks Grrrrreat!

Bad pun, sorry ^^;;;

Next up is a good closeup of Hinoto and Kanoe and the dreamer-sisters' fabulous outfits. Kanoe's outfit probably could have been picked up in a *koff* specialty store, since there's a LOT of lace to it, but would have needed extensive modifications - and the fact it looks professionally made testifies to the quality and skill of the creators. And, Kanoe really does have the face for the character, that haughty look is really well done. Hinoto's outfit really blows me away - something like this has to be custom made, with the kanji down the front, and the immense sleeves and the size and flow of the robes. I'm guessing it's made of either a very bright satin, because even a budget silk would be quite expensive with that much fabric, and would also not be something to drag along. The hair for Hinoto is really well done as a color- and style-match, and the person cosplaying does look a lot like Hinoto - very young looking, round face. (As a silly aside, Kanoe's foot is stepping on Hinoto's robe - I have this strange idea for a fic now! Backstage antics...)

And going for the Ultimate Nick Wolfwood is easily the one with the Biggest Gun. That thing is larger than he is! I wish I could find more pictures of it.

Winning Honorable Mention for attention to detail is a cute pink & black cat-Sakura costume, with the perfect shoulder ruffles and design. Quite deserving, I would think.

And a rather nice Iria, with what look like sculpted armor plates. Were those some sort of fired clay or a plaster? The hip-plate is split, but seems to have black adjustable straps or tape across it. This picture, from the front, shows a lot more detail and really shows the great job done.

More later, though I'll be busy this week and gone this weekend, so I'll try to post again before Friday. Saturday and Sunday I'll be doing anime shopping in Los Angeles. Thank you all for coming!

In the meantime...I think that the Otakon contests had some of the best costumes I've ever seen and...I really want to interview the Godzilla, Mechagodzilla, Hinoto/Kanoe, and Tallgeese cosplayers. Please, please, e-mail me!

One more mention of transgendered cosplay...hrm. Why do guys cosplay so many girls? This one is a really well done Jester outfit from CCS, and did really nice work on the staff and the details of the costume itself, right down to the little bells on all the points. Very good construction, and highly accurate...but...if you love a certain character or costume so much, please make it for someone who can cosplay without getting strange looks from ordinary people who don't know much about us. We (the cosplayers) want them to look at our work and be impressed with the quality, and get more interested in anime, not wonder why guys are so strange dressing up in little-girl outfits.

Now it is true that more women can and do cosplay male anime characters, but that's because the average male anime character really isn't a well-built, macho man...and male bishounen in real life are rather hard to come by. Take Van Fanel for example, he's a rather scrawny little guy and is fairly short - quite a few girls can and have done good jobs with Van costumes. But...guys cosplaying the even-more-feminine anime girls, like Sailor Moon or Card Captor Sakura characters, or even Di Gi Charat...generally...doesn't work. Okay, I've said enough...now on with the reviews.

Well, the cosplay for Otakon is coming in over at A Fan's View, and...I'm utterly amazed at the number of costumes, and at how many of them turned out quite well! I may turn this into a two-part entry, because it's getting quite long. Needless to say - please, if you can find the time, you really must go look through all the costumes on the Fan's View's Otakon page. There are so many that came out great, that they all deserve a nod, so here's to all the cosplayers (both anime and jrockers) at Otakon. May you keep up the excellent work!

It's the cross. Chicks dig the cross. Pretty good Wolfwood, you got the cheap-looking leisure suit right, good sunglasses, and the Cross is just well done. How many belts did it take to secure it, and does it open?

Actually Ilparazzo. Nice work on the Excel Saga character, especially on the armor and the headpiece. What did you make the shoulder-armor out of? I would guess some form of plastics, or maybe a shellac-laminated cardboard... Suggestion? If you go check out the automotive stores, you can usually find good primer and a really good gloss spray paint for cars. You can get a really nice metal-looking shine with a gloss Krylon. Good use of the cheater-undercloak too - the all black fabric underneath the outer blue robe hides the costumer "in shadows", and is a worthwhile expedient to doing such a character (since the outfits underneath the robe are hardly ever seen anyways).

Nice Misao from Rurouni Kenshin. There's really no major faults with the construction, the colors look a little light (but the so does the flash), and the glove-bracers are done well with good trim work. Good example of a fan-made costume - it's not lovely-sparkly-gorgeous, but is well made, mobile, and quite accurate to the original. Even the pose is classic Misao, all she really needs is a little hair dye or a wig...great work though, all in all.

I don't recognize these two characters but they look familiar; does anyone know who they are? I would guess they used a lot of pre-made clothing, then carefully trimmed and re-hemmed them to match the characters. All the stripes added to the clothing are a definite detail bonus, the skirts, cuffs, collar, and trim are all smooth and well-made. And the ribbon-tie is a nice touch, the best detail though is the shoulder-patch. I can't really read what it says, though it's quite well-made in these pictures and looks great. How did you do them?

Gai! This is a great example of really looking like the character, and doing a pretty good job on the outfit as well. The shoulder...pad-things are a little flat, and the NERGAL patch is..well, missing NERGAL, but otherwise the jacket came out great. Shame we can't see the rest of the outfit, but definitely big points for this! (And, yes, I'm biased to Gai. He was the best character in Nadesico!)

A pretty well-done Morrigan, with the head-batwings and the perfect stretch-spandex for the tights. Where did you find that pattern, or did you put it on yourself? I've not seen it before.

Not the best of them all, but nice. And a good flashback costume like a Macross admiral's outfit always deserves a mention, among the dozens of ultramodern outfits.

Continuing the uncommon-costume trend, clown-Trowa from Gundam Wing. Good work on the makeup and the clown outfit - was that made or did you chance upon a good match for the pattern?

Wow! A really good Ifurita and a good Master Key! That looks like a lot of carefully-cut vinyl or very shiny spandex, with all the proper lace-drapes from the cuffs and mini-cape. The hair is really well done as well and matches Ifurita's hairstyle, and the cosplayer is really enjoying the results of her work. And...Ifurita with Ryo-Oh-Ki...when you think about it, both Ifurita and Ryoko have the same pale hair, the same generally unpleasant attitude, and they both fly around and blow things up...and even fall in love with a rather skinny girly-looking boy. HMMMMM... Please get in touch with me and tell me how you made it!

A fairly simple Drydem but the cosplayer really got the character's relaxed, devil-may-care attitude just right. A little bit more detail for the sash and such, and this would be top notch.

Now, as for detail, these three definitely have it down pat. Does anyone know who the characters are, for comparison? EXCELLENT work on the outfits, how long did it take you three to make them?

And fine use of stretch-lycra and spandex for plugsuit-Shinji and -Asuka. Details well done for the stripes and extra-parts, I wonder if they got the backpack-units as well as they did the front. It looks like the plug-suits actually go up and over a pair of sneakers, so they're not too hard to walk around in, yet still have the generally-smooth look. And the Asuka cosplayer is a perfect match, the attack-happiness and the long red hair are great. Shinji mostly matches the character, especially in cowering from Asuka - but, wouldn't nearly anyone?

Ever thought a tree would be a good costume? What if it's covered in kodama? A very good idea, quite original and quite amusing. The kodama are actually recognizable as the ones who got the most screen time in the movie - the one over his heart is the first kodama we see, when Ashitaka is rescuing the two workers from Eboshi's village. The one on his shoulder was riding on the back of another kodama, when they were imitating Ashitaka carrying the unconscious man. Really amazing attention to the detail, and although the "tree" doesn't have much in the way of branches, it's still very well done.

Warning: the following is just too, too cute! Chibi-Sakura in the 1st opening outfit, with all the ruffles and lace just right - and she looks the part with a winning smile. Chibi-Chibi has the right hair (dyed?) and the little top-mini-buns are added in. Moms and dads, you all did great work on the costumes and have adorable daughters. Hopefully this is the first start of a long life of cosplay for them both.

A great example of foam hair for Ryoko and the other bounty hunter from the 1st Tenchi TV series. The dress is done well, if the colors aren't quite an exact match, but the hair and famed Ryoko Ears are done very well. Color match for the foam hair is perfect on both of them. The bounty hunter (whose name escapes me, sadly) did an even better job, apparently painting in the highlights and shadoing for added detail. The outfit is hard to see but does appear to be correct for style and size. Good work, both of you, and great examples for the hair idea!

The Rose Bride is done very well in a rather beautiful red gown, and a vest-top complete with all the proper white trim, gold-braid cord, cuffs, and even the little cape across the shoulders. The tiara is simple and there, but I do want to know...the hair, is that a well-styled wig or a very bright and shiny dye job? I'm curious. A beautiful outfit, and well-executed.

And going to the edge with detail-trim is Jajuka from Escaflowne - Dilandau's lion-man counterpart from the end of the series. I'm amazed - is it made from black leather, or the lookalike upholstery vinyl? All the gold trim is gorgeous and doesn't seem to skip a single thing, even to the little detail-marks across the front of the upper jacket and the gold lining for the cape to the well-made hat. I am thoroughly amazed at this outfit and would like to interview you as well about how you did it and how long it took. Please write me!

This is familiar too, but from what I don't know. Still, a fine example of how you can color spandex to suit your needs and really make it look good. It's often best to do the coloring-work while you're wearing the outfit, since spandex and lycra are stretchy by nature, and don't stretch perfectly evenly in a human-body contour.

Umm...does anyone recognize this character? It's a very interesting orange material, and the hair-work is quite good and seems to have taken a while. Demo, hontou kowai ne...

Sailor Venus with lots of colorful frills to the costume. I don't know if those are original or if it's from a later-series version of the character, but it came out quite well and looks very interesting.

Faye Valentine deserves mention, because the cosplayer got the purple hair just right (hard to tell if wig or dyed), and also got what little of an outfit there honestly is dead on. Also, having the figure to accomplish a character like this is important, and a salute to the young lady who did.

Whew! That is a LOT of costuming...perhaps I had better trim back for the rest of them on Tuesday. Until then, I hope you enjoy A Fan's View's coverage of the convention and all their photos. Until Tuesday, enjoy yourselves and have a good week!