Note from moderator: This is a safe-harbor thread where members can safely express negative opinions about cosplay without getting rebuttal from pro-cosplay fans. Pro-cosplay fans, please kindly refrain from making such rebuttal posts. (But, if you'd like to have "debate/discussion" on these topics, we can also open such "discussion" thread. )

No offense, but I purely do not understand the purpose of cosplay. I truly hate the insult that it puts on the real characters. I've seen Edward turned into a fat fourteen year old girl before. It's sad and depressing those sort of people would even try... I mean Halloween is fine... but I mean CONVENTIONS?!?!? I mean go ahead and do it for fun. But you can't look like a character. It doesn't work like that! Who here aggrees?

........ Well, I still don't like it. even though no one posted. Please post sometime.....

The purpose of cosplay is to play dress up, go to a con or two and have a geektastic good time. And no it doesn't insult the "real" character usually people do it because they like the character.




Why is it fine to dress up at Halloween but not for a con? It's the same damn thing. It's just the on Halloween society tells you it's alright to dress up.

Well you said you didn't understand it I hope this helped.

I just hate bad cosplayers...(98% of them) and the day I see a hot Ed cosplayer is the day I move to his state/country and start stalking him

I agree that poorly done cosplay is simply horrid...when I try to dress up as a character, I at least make sure that I have a similar body type first...;;

However, I have seen some well-done cosplays, whiich looked...pretty impressive. So it really depends.

It's just for fun. Don't get so worked up. So what if they don't look like the character? They put their time and effort into making those costumes..

I always wanted to cosplay, but I can never get the stuff I need to make the costume. ;-; This year I'm going to try to make an Ed costume for halloween.... hopefully. Anyway, cosplay is pretty cool if your costume looks good and you really get into the character! ^.^

Most of the cosplays that I have seen are not good. The ones that look good, to me, tend to be of non specific characters. For example, someone dressed in an FMA military uniform that is not trying to be Roy or Jean. They are just themselves in a military outfit. Also, if you made a good Al costume it wouldn't matter what you look like. Overall, I don't like most of the cosplays that I've seen.

I don't mind cosplay. I'd actually like to try it, if only once. Like most people already mentioned, it's terrible cosplay that irritates me. Like those overweight Tifas and Rikkus (FFX, not Kingdom Hearts) all over the place. They're sick.

Not to be rude, but I don't know if it's apparent to them that they obviously do not look anything like the characters on a physical level. The least they can do is have some courtesy and cover up.

If you've got the figure, go right ahead and do whatever you want, but when you're 200 lbs and you've squeezed yourself into something that would even look big on me, then you've really crossed the line.

Either way, I'm moving this over to Spam Central, in case any more bashing goes on.

Interesting thread. I must agree, most cosplayers, particularly American (Not trying to be prejudiced, but it's true. And I am one) just suck to the moon and back.



Not always necessarily true. You still need... skills. Like myself... well, I don't have much of a figure at all, but I do look anorexic enough to be from Demon Diary, although it'll be snowing in hades if I ever manage a decent costume.

I should just try doing minimalist cosplay. Wear all black, and keep a bag of simple props for any requested character. (Ie; flamel and attachable cowlick for Ed, stick-on scar for Kenshin, etc. )

That's a big cosplay pet peeve of mine, people who wear costumes they don't look good in. I could show you some pics that will make you claw your eyes out.

Or, people who do really half assed cosplay, such as all the Ed cosplayers who wear a red jacked with the flamel symbol on the back and nothing else and say "Look I'm Ed!"



Yes but you have to remember, when you see Japanese cosplayer with nice costumes nine times out of ten they bought their costumes since there are actual cosplay stores there. We don't have that here most of us have to make our own costumes or at the very least have them comissioned.



Don't say that! Pratice makes perfect.

Im not sure if this is the right spot, but I got a state alchemist watch on ebay, its amazing If I ever decide to cosplay ed, I guess I would have that already ^.^ It even has Don't forget 3.Oct 11 scratched into it

Well, what I meant is, if you have the figure suited for the character you'd like to cosplay as, then it's absolutely fine.


Thanks, but I like my eyes where they are.

i think it's 10 in the anime and 11 in the manga. or vice versa.

cosplay is....eh. i've seen good cosplay that's wowed me before, but more often i've seen overweight people squeezing into half-assed, ugly, skimpy costumes. it'd really help if the cosplayer had even remotely the figure if the character being cosplayed, but more than anything, effort on the costume matters. and i mean that from the wig to the shoes (i've seen far too many ugly wigs). i never really understood the con and cosplay spirit until i went to Fanimecon this year, though (where i believe i saw Envy's lil miniskirt cosplaying Lust ). i think i may attempt my own cosplay some time in the future.

LOL^ That is so true. I've seen cosplayers at events where they had nothing to do with anime or manga. WTF? But yeah I think cosplaying is cool, but I agree with the squeezing into outfits way to small. For Example:

Bad Yuna
Good Yuna

Need I say more

Hmm . . . the bad Yuna isn't nearly as bad as some of the ones out there. Just missing a few details on the costume, too, I suppose.

That's true! I did find one more horrible than that, but I didn't want to damage anyones eyes. I was being thoughtful!

awww, poor bad costume people. When will they learn they look terrible? Must we be the ones who throw the life-changing tomatoes?

i'd agree that most cosplayers are wayyyy to fat/unsimilar to character for it to even work, but i've seen some pictures of japanese cosplayers that look EXACTLY like the character. its just so insane. someday i wanna go to a japanese anime convention and see whats it like over there :]

Yeah. There's something about not only the quality of Japanese cosplay, but about their features that make them look strikingly similar to the characters.

Like a Japanese girl I saw cosplay Naruto. It was so cool. And there was also a woman I saw playing Kakashi Sensei. (She even had a Sharingan contact lens) I guess it's just natural that anime style would adapt from life, and thus, inversely, Japanese appear closer to the characters they design.

Here's a question: Do you think that we should be telling these people that they look horrid, or do you think we should continue to awkwardly smile and nod at them, even though we are secretly throwing up in our mouths?

You're so thoughtful and considerate! *hugs* (Thank you thank you . . . )


If we do it collectively, no one will take the blame alone.


If we keep quiet, someone will do it soon enough. Maybe even with a gun.

That's what the internet is for.

There's pleanty of sites out there that feature bad cosplay.

*thinks of post a pic of "that" Garnet cosplayer*

Garnet from FFIX, right? Do it. I was thinking of doing Garnet for my first cosplay (if I ever get around to doing it), and I could use that picture as an idea of how bad I can potentially be.

Remember you asked for it. Actually theres quite a few bad FF cosplayers she's at the bottom.

Quistis, I doubt you could be that bad even if you tried.

Holy . . .

The caption for "Yuri Sephiroth and Aeris" is hilarious.

Horrid FFVIII cosplay. "These zombies found the energy to pose for this photo after eating Selphie and Rinoa's delicious brains" . . . they had brains? Terrible Quistis cosplay.

As well, the Black Mage reminds me of Miroku with the Kazaana as his face.

Sephiroth and Vincent in miniskirts . . . *goes to vomit*

The Garnet one really does deserve #1. Aside from the fact that the cosplayer probably deserves #1 to begin with for trying this stunt, the costume itself is extremely inaccurate. What did she do, kill the real Garnet and ripped out all the parts of the clothing that she didn't fit into like?


You're right, I can't. I like my dignity where it is.

I suppose, in my defense, I can honestly say that I do look kind of like Garnet, as people have compared me to her, and I have/lack the height that she has/lacks.

I love that site.

It's really good to see what not to do/wear/make your props out of.



You should do it then, it'll be fun!

The costume looks easy enough to make.

Also, remember most anime/vg girls are extreamly short to begin with. There's no way I'll ever have accurate height to cosplay anyone really. Unless it's some super, amazon warrior type woman.

cosplay: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosplay


the site Mini linked was fun to look through in a really...masochistic way. i considered cosplaying for Fanime this year, but between APs and prom, i didn't have the time to make a decent costume. i kind of want to cosplay as Ise Nanao from Bleach, since we actually do look a little similar, but i'm afraid i won't get the shinigami uniform right. ;;

to get slightly back on track, here's a picture of yakitate!! japan cosplay that mongooseboi linked me on AIM: minami tokyo

so...now we know what azuma would look like at age 35 if he was white...like a slightly perverted looking man with a receding hairline and a hairband. i'm scared and may never see yaki in the same light again.

That doesn't look too bad for a cosplay attempt. Then again, I haven't seen Yakitate!! Japan (though I kind of know what it's about; I like Mr. Afro-man's baguette there).

yeah, the costumes are just fine, but....sometimes if you don't look like the character at all (referring to the azuma), the results are a little...creepy. another pothole in the road of cosplaying.

(the kawachi actually does look rather similar to kawachi. too bad he didn't do anything to blond-ify his hair; it would have finished off his costume nicely. the matsushiro-tenchou needs to be a lot buffer. )

I saw this pic and just thought of this thread...THIS is why I generally hate cosplayers *shivers* I actually didn't look too well at the clothes, the pic just creeps me out...

Look at your own discretion.

oh yeah, it annoys me when cosplayers do stuff like that....mostly i see Envys or Roys molesting/making out with Eds, captioned like "OMG ED N ENVY/ROY ARE KISSING!!!11 " or "ED/PALMTREE OTP!"

I dont hate ALL cosplayers.. just the ones who do it badly and then say 'Oh look, Aint i great at this..'
then have NO idea who/what they are cosplaying...

That Ed scares me, and I hate it when people over do his errant strand of hair.

Aliuro and EKE you know you can always buy or make the assets you are not born with. Trust me I know.

like i already posted in cosplay thread in open chat, i do really hate cosplays. I pretty much feel sorry for the ppl who try so hard to look like someone who they're not. They're just embarrassing themselves posting pics. on the internet, best keep them to yourself. last week, i went to a music store and i found a copy of Sailor Moon, except the whole movie was in real live action, and the characters looked so dorky, and their hair color was totally was unatural. At least let the anime be animated, not real ppl.

I hate cosplay too.
No outfit has ever looked good in real life.
Take a look a the cosplay pics of FMA noone and I mean NOONE looks like Ed from the show.

I don't really like cosplaying instead I look at the people who cosplay them,I have seen many wrong things before Oh yeah! In another site there was this pic of a Winry cosplayer only to find out the cosplayer is a 17 year old fat girl,I wouldn't cosplay and show the world.to me I think its completely embarrasing,I always get the scared feeling of other people laughing at me in the inside but wouldn't show it on the outside,no offense...

I don't hate cosplayers really some are very good but even the ones who don't do it right I think its okay as long as thier just having a laugh and realise they arn't perfect. It's the ones who fail but then think thier all that which annoy me.

I do kinda have to agree, Im not keen on cosplay, and people sorta randomly hitting each other like idiots trying to imitate characters moves is just weird to me, and when people look nothing like who they are trying to imitate its also a bit annoying, having said that though if the costume is really good and the person is like perfect for the role than cool (like that happens very often XD), but id like to see it in some kinda of theatre production with state of the art martial arts *looks blissfully* lol jks anyway im all ok for people having fun and stuff, on the whole I don't really care tbh, but I personally don't bother with it, I'd be waaaaaay too embarassed probably XD

Oh God, cosplaying. Generally, I do have a problem with peopel who cosplay. And as it has been said onthis thread time and time again, I hate how people who do not resemble their character via body type, gender... or basically in any way at all end up cosplaying as a curious character. Half the time, when they're FMA characters, I can't tell who the hell they're cosplaying as. Sure, if you're cosplaying as Al go right ahead- seeing as all you have to do is wear armor and a loincloth and be at least 6'0" (although, some forms of armor bug me because it's not the right shade of "metal"... yes, I get peeved easy on little details as that). So... yeah.

I mean I went to a con once and was wearing all black and a chain and some curious chick asked me in the dealer's room and asked me if I was cosplaying as this one guy... who I don't remember his name but this post will be edited as soon as I remember and I'm like "...WTF? Who?"

so... yah...

Well, I in general am not bothered by cosplaying. Come on, even in such a small country as Finland, there are maybe 3 or 4 1-2 days anime conventions a year. And personally, I get to visit only 1 or 2 of them. So me and a few of my friends are going to cosplay this year, for the first time. (I'm going to be Tetra from Zelda Wind Waker, cause well.. it was easy enough, and I have a blond long hair of my own. )

I don't see why people think this as a dumb hobby. It's meant to be just for fun. I mean, the fun of creating the costume and then you get a few days off when you get to be a totally different person from your everyday normal life.. it's great. It's not like they're overly obsessed with anime characters, they just like to have some fun without being their same old selves all the time.

Of course, I have to agree with one thing here: The look-alike. Cosplaying Edward Elric with a brown hair? Gosh, that kinda sucks. When you're going to cosplay something, preferably try to choose a character that FITS for you. Not only someone that's your favourite. And let's say, generally "large" people who cosplay a character with small bikinis isn't really a beautiful sight, either. >_> No offense.

And yes, the gender. I was thinking of cosplaying Ed once (my hair totally would fit for that- besides I'm SHORT. XD ) But, I'm female, so.. it just didn't feel the right thing to do. If someone can pull it off nicely, then go ahead! But let's say you have big breasts and female curves that clearly show, cosplaying a male character isn't the smartest thing to do in my opinion.
(not saying I have any of those.. but.. I'm STLL a bit shy to cosplay a male character. >_>)

But yeah.. it's hard to make an exact copy of a character, so I personally can manage with most of these things.

Cosplaying in conventions is just fan past-time hobby. The time used with the costume and then showing it off must feel great. But, if someone were to walk around with their costume in the city ALL THE TIME, well.. that would be a bit disturbing, I guess. D:

..but what I'm trying to say here, please do not think them as sad nerds, but rather a group of people who just want to have some fun. No one has ever said actors in teathers to be idiots, have they?
Sure, not all the costumes are all that top-notch, but hey, the exact looks isn't all that important for everyone. Besides, isn't it great when you actually find someone who looks just like the character? These rare gems are really fun to find.

Sorry, long post.

FELT FELT FELT! Why is every freakin' cosplay made out of that cheap material? Ah, it drives me bonkers. (Yes, people still say "bonkers") Sango shoulder pads aren't supposed to be made out of felt, they're supposed to be made out of DEMON BONE. Get it right, people.

QUOTE (Trakonda @ Jun 22 2009, 02:09 PM)

Well, I in general am not bothered by cosplaying. Come on, even in such a small country as Finland, there are maybe 3 or 4 1-2 days anime conventions a year. And personally, I get to visit only 1 or 2 of them. So me and a few of my friends are going to cosplay this year, for the first time. (I'm going to be Tetra from Zelda Wind Waker, cause well.. it was easy enough, and I have a blond long hair of my own. )

I don't see why people think this as a dumb hobby. It's meant to be just for fun. I mean, the fun of creating the costume and then you get a few days off when you get to be a totally different person from your everyday normal life.. it's great. It's not like they're overly obsessed with anime characters, they just like to have some fun without being their same old selves all the time.

But yeah.. it's hard to make an exact copy of a character, so I personally can manage with most of these things.

..but what I'm trying to say here, please do not think them as sad nerds, but rather a group of people who just want to have some fun. No one has ever said actors in teathers to be idiots, have they?
Sure, not all the costumes are all that top-notch, but hey, the exact looks isn't all that important for everyone. Besides, isn't it great when you actually find someone who looks just like the character? These rare gems are really fun to find.

I see what you're saying here and I'll admit I share your opinion. I don't think of it as a dumb hobby per se, but IMO I see cosplayers as insecure people who find some sort of security in them by cosplaying as a hero/beautful/well-liked/ etc. character. Oh god, that so didn't turn out right. Uh, how do I say this without sounding like a complete ignoramus?... Well, I really don't know how, but all I can say is that it bugs the hell out of me when people can't pull it off and they probably know it and do it anyways.

I don't have much of a problem with the quality of the costume (except for the weird twitch I get when the FMA military uniform is the wrong shade of blue... same goes with Ed's coat being bright red sometimes...) but it's mainly just the people who can't pull a cosplay out of their [All hail lord Xenu] even if they had plastic surgery or lypo done to them (no offense).

But that's just my opinion.

QUOTE (Hagaren_4ever @ Jun 22 2009, 04:19 PM)

FELT FELT FELT! Why is every freakin' cosplay made out of that cheap material? Ah, it drives me bonkers. (Yes, people still say "bonkers") Sango shoulder pads aren't supposed to be made out of felt, they're supposed to be made out of DEMON BONE. Get it right, people.

lmaorotflol; I know I'm contradicting myself by initially saying I don't mind the quality of the costume, but when it's felt... Oh God, that is absolutely horrible. Felt, IMO, is the worst type of "cloth" for any kind of clothing.

It's not even "cloth" it's the bastard child of a steel wool and a yoga mat!

*believes I could have done better*

Having a problem with someone because they put a costume on is pretty low. People cosplay because they enjoy it and they aren't forcing it on you. You may notice, it's not physically possible to really resemble any anime character, but some people put a lot of time and effort into making costumes and why should they be disliked for it?

And for those who rant about the wrong gender, remember who does the voice of Ed (in the original anime, not the dubbed).

lol you do have a point XD (even though you never actually see romi paku, Al's voiced by a girl too, and so is Allen Walker from D.Gray-Man and probably loads of other male anime characters too, Yuki in fruits basket MUST be voiced by a girl XD well he obviously is, but he's a girly character...argh going off track!)

Well, voiced by a female or a female dressing up as male are two different things, in my opinion.

As I said, if someone can pull it off nicely, then it's all fine. But if females with speficially "femaily" curves go and cosplay a male character just looks.. weird. O_o I've seen these many times. Sudden realization of seeing Ed/Roy having boobs and female curves just.. makes me twitch at times. XD but, each to their own.

As for being voiced by female, this is a very common thing even outside of Japan, so I don't have any problems with that one. 8D (heck, in a finnish Pokémon dub Ash was voiced by a woman. )



I can see your point as well. Surely there might be people like these that like to 'cover' behind the costume and hide their insecureness.. but personally I've never thought of that. Cosplaying a favourite character of yours is just simply fun, for me. (I do have a low self-esteem, but.. It's quite the opposite for me, as it feels quite a stunt to pull off, to dress up as someone else in a public city area. )

As for the colours.. it's a really hard thing to pull off, alright. To find the exactly right tone of red/blue/whatever from the shops and.. stuffs. You'd basically have to print out an image of the character and go measure different materials with that one. XD I've never been paying attention to this point, but.. yeah. If the tone is TOTALLY different from the original, I'd surely moan, too.

(I'm not exactly sure how my Tetra cosplay will turn out.. I'm still wondering how to fix up my hair in a way that it looks natural and.. Tetra-like. But well.. it's going to be my first cosplay anyway, it's not like I have any experience yet.. I hope people won't laugh at me. 8'D That's what I've been really afraid of now, after reading this thread. *shot*
..and I'm DEFINTELY trying to stay off from felt now! XD Thanks for the info.)

Woot, and here I go again, writing a novel out of my thoughts. Sorry 8'D

MUST. RANT. TOO.

Cosplayers... they're nice people, I'm sure... but some of them are just so clueless! Either their costume is completely lazy... I've seen an Ed cosplayer who wore a red sweatshirt with the symbol on the back. Really? A sweatshirt???

..And then there's the Winry cosplayers who do NOT have her figure!! Don't mean to be rude at all, but I found this one girl on devart... she had quite a gut and some bad stretch marks. However, she decided to wear Winry's most revealing costume. Now, I can understand if an overweight girl really admires Winry and wants to cosplay her.. but there are other outfits Winry wears that you can choose from. So why choose the MOST unflattering one?! It drives me nuts!

Anyway, most of the FMA military uniforms I've seen have been fairly decent... although sometimes the weird colors throw me off.

But god..... Sailor Bubba, anyone? And nearly EVERY Inuyasha cosplay I've ever seen has been horrible. *shudders* I'm not even an Inuyasha fan.. but gosh. I at least know what the characters look like, since I used to be a fan!

Just so you know, Ash is also voiced by a woman in the Japanese dub (Rika Matsumoto) AND the English dub (Veronica Taylor).

Ah, cosplay. For me, I SPECIFICALLY look for cosplays I can pull off 100%, and BUY my costumes. For example, I've been Ino Yamanaka and Haruhi Suzumiya, both female characters. But I've also been Gothic Lolita!Kakashi Hatake.

But! My friends have been male characters, and have pulled them off perfectly fine. Like so:

Autumn as Azure Kite from .hack//G.U.
Autumn's Sister as L from Death Note
Cait as Korea from Axis Powers Hetalia

And as you can see, they ALL pulled of their cosplays nicely. So as far as Crossplaying goes, it's not all that bad. Some male characters are better portrayed by females :/ (Actually, at AN, I saw a Male!Misty. And he was awesome.)

Though I cosplay myself(just barely), I have to agree with the whole cosplay statement. It can be an insult and all the the characters of the anime, but it's a free country. Why can't you dress up? It's fun. You get compliments, You do a little in-character activities; I don't see why people should hate it. If people dislike the cosplay idea, then don't go to places where it happens 100% of the time. Im talking conventions. Pictures. Skits on youtube and whatnot.

Simple: If you don't like it, don't look at it. That's all.

D: