Cosplay and Dressing up

[Rem Nightfall]

Okay here I go this has been bugging me for ages.
Cosplay stands for costume play, right?
So, why when it comes to anime costumes people say they are going to cosplay, but when it comes to regular Halloween costumes they calling it dressing up?
For me its called cosplay because you are playing a role and it fits all categories. If you dress up as Micheal Myers you are still cosplaying, you are playing the role of another character.
Could someone help me understand this concept? The difference, I guess you could put it that way.

[International 4-8818]

All i know is Cosplay creates broken dreams, obesity, and Aids.

[Jose]

Hmm you should of posted that here (http://www.animeforum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=138).

If the topic didn't already exist.

[Rem Nightfall]

Hmm you should of posted that here (http://www.animeforum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=138).

If the topic didn't already exist.

I didn't even know that place existed.
Ooops, sorry.

International, that is weird to say.

[International 4-8818]

I didn't even know that place existed.
Ooops, sorry.

International, that is weird to say.

but yet correct.

[Rem Nightfall]

but yet correct.

If you say so, I don't think its correct.
Halloween brings AIDs more then cosplaying does. Its all the candy.

Anyway, does anyone have an answer to my query?

[lightrula]

All i know is Cosplay creates broken dreams, obesity, and Aids.

i have to disagree with the ovesity part have u ever cosplayed in summer or sping u sweat your arse of i swear i lost like 2kg from that.. tho it was overly fun^^

[White_Fang]

Cosplay (コスプレ kosupure?), short for "costume play", is a type of performance art whose participants outfit themselves, with often-elaborate costumes and accessories, as a specific character. Characters are usually sourced in various Japanese and East Asian media, including manga, anime, tokusatsu, comic books, graphic novels, video games, and fantasy movies. Other sources include performers from J-pop, J-rock, Visual Kei, fantasy music stories (such as stories by the band Sound Horizon), novels, and objects from cyberspace or the real world that are unique and dramatic (especially if they have or can be given an anthropomorphic form).

-from wikipedia - its your friend

Unless you ARE dressing up as some horror character from some anime or some movie or novel, it will not be considered as cosplay. Cosplay is dressing up as a character that exists in the above mentioned category, and nowadays people associate cosplay more to japan and thus animes, and thus will rule out other slightly minor forms of cosplay as 'dressing up'. Dressing up as a neko cat or witch for halloween does not mean its cosplaying, as well. its just not a defined particular character. Its just something that everyone knows kind of exists in general, and that does not make it cosplay, but merely dressing up.

This line between cosplay and non-cosplay gets harder to define with each passing year.

[Datenshi]

http://www.animeforum.com/image/9726648e2294396fce.jpg

Eh? Ah, what White Fang said.

[Rem Nightfall]

Cosplay (コスプレ kosupure?), short for "costume play", is a type of performance art whose participants outfit themselves, with often-elaborate costumes and accessories, as a specific character. Characters are usually sourced in various Japanese and East Asian media, including manga, anime, tokusatsu, comic books, graphic novels, video games, and fantasy movies. Other sources include performers from J-pop, J-rock, Visual Kei, fantasy music stories (such as stories by the band Sound Horizon), novels, and objects from cyberspace or the real world that are unique and dramatic (especially if they have or can be given an anthropomorphic form).

-from wikipedia - its your friend

Unless you ARE dressing up as some horror character from some anime or some movie or novel, it will not be considered as cosplay. Cosplay is dressing up as a character that exists in the above mentioned category, and nowadays people associate cosplay more to japan and thus animes, and thus will rule out other slightly minor forms of cosplay as 'dressing up'. Dressing up as a neko cat or witch for halloween does not mean its cosplaying, as well. its just not a defined particular character. Its just something that everyone knows kind of exists in general, and that does not make it cosplay, but merely dressing up.

This line between cosplay and non-cosplay gets harder to define with each passing year.

Thanks for answering my question, but I find the wikipedia thing a little insulting.
I did look it up on wikipedia I still didn't understand.

And what's up the disturbing pictures.

[White_Fang]

Spammage to +1 to post counts, perhaps. =/ It happens all the time. I hope that people will stop insulting the cosplay culture, though. Like over9000. I don't get how we can be 'failures'. It is just a random and false assumption about us. However, i do know that people who spam, contributing uselessly to thread topics and queries like over9000 ARE failures.<3

Nowadays cosplayers can 'buy' cosplay and NOT make the costumes themselves, or even portray the character wrongly because they do not care. These kind of people are not considered cosplayers even though they are dressing up as a character from an anime/manga/game/novel for they do not treat the hobby seriously. =/

The other kind of cosplayers would be the type to take the culture seriously and create about everything themselves even though sometimes for supreme accuracy will opt to get props custom made etc. I don't think i will need to explain this in detail. Hope you get the general idea now.

Oh, and the lolita fashion and subculture is NOT cosplaying. Its a subculture, separate from cosplaying even though many mistake if to be connected.

[Android 19-90]

It annoys me how cosplaying is failure this and failure that.
There are only some people who look good, or look almost like a certain character that do it. But sadly "real" people don't do it, people I know that look almost like an anime character have too much "self esteem" or think it's retarded so nothing is done.
The people with "No self esteem" and don't care do it. And these are usually the ugly nasty people.
All I know is if I do, I'm cosplaying as a masked character, like HUNK (from RE).

[amadorhi]

I personally don't cosplay due to the fact I wouldn't be able to dedicate myself to working on a costume when I only got to 2 cons a year. But I don't find anything wrong with it, looks fun actually. I might buy a pre-assembled one someday just cause it looks like I'm missing out.XD. Btw, anyone know a nice brown-skin anime character? So far Ive only thought of Archer from F/SN only thing stopping me is the hair. (I'll senc pic for reference.)

[Celes Victoria]

If you're female, how about Kourai?? From Angel Sanctuary. Personally i'll be doing her soon. xD Or even, i know in this chapter there was this girl from Rave Master... hmm. Clea Maltese. =D

Kourai: http://www.angelsword.net/img/art/other/AS-kourai.jpg

[amadorhi]

She looks nice, but.... I'm a dude XD. Id love to see how you make her turn out to be though.

[honeysenpai17]

Angel Sanctuary - Kaori Yuki?

[Celes Victoria]

Hmm. ( The thread has derailed =x )

As a guy...

The general ( forgot his name ) from Full Metal Alchemist?
Tousen Kaname from Bleach
Any Noahs from DGray man. Seriously It works the BEST.

That's all i can conjure up for now... =/

[ninja_master]

There is a dark fellow on black lagoon he'd be awesome to cosplay.