I’m in geek heaven – World Cosplay Summit

Every once in a while I need to get in touch with my inner geek. It usually lies dormant, but from time to time it wants to get out. So when we heard about the World Cosplay Summit in Nagoya in July 2011, my inner geek and I decided we were going to spend some quality time together.

Cosplay is a very Japanese pass time, where one dresses up as their favourite manga (Japanese comic book) or anime (Japanese cartoon) character. Since anime was the reason I got interested in Japan in the first place, I was very excited about the summit.

Immediately upon arriving, I ran into my favourite anime character: Rurouni Kenshin!

It’s impressive how dedicated these people are to their character. Their costumes are incredibly detailed and even the poses they strike are exactly as their characters would act.

I was particularly impressed with the guy in the picture below. When he was just walking around, I hardly noticed him because his costume is just jeans and a white sweater. But as soon as I asked him for a picture, he went into character. The transformation was amazing. His body language became just like L from Death Note.

All the cosplayers were herded together into rectangular roped off spaces. They stood there looking their best and posing for anyone who asked for a picture.

There were also a few guys dressed up as their favourite female anime character.

The summit was held at the Osu Kannon temple grounds in Nagoya. The weather was smouldering hot, about 36° C, the grounds packed with people and no shade. I can only imagine how the poor guys in these costumes must have felt:

And last but not least, the cast of Pirates of the Carribean. If I didn’t know any better, I’d swear it was Johnny Depp. Aah, a girl can dream, can’t she?

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This post was submitted to the October 2011 J-Festa Blogging Festival: ‘Entertainment in Japan’