Cosplay (コスプレ kosupure), short for "costume play", is a type of performance art in which participants don costumes and accessories to represent a specific character or idea. Characters are often drawn from popular fiction in Japan, but recent trends have included American cartoons and Sci-Fi. Favorite sources include manga, anime, tokusatsu, comic books, graphic novels, video games, hentai and fantasy movies. Any entity from the real or virtual world that lends itself to dramatic interpretation may be taken up as a subject. Inanimate objects are given anthropomorphic forms and it is not unusual to see genders switched, with women playing male roles and vice versa.
Cosplay is basically describing a performing-art behavior of self-rigging out as a character with corresponding costume, accessories and/or parameters. Cosplaying is another way of fan art, is a mixture of skills as sewing, makeup and even weapons construction or wig styling, usually the cosplay itself becomes a masterpiece of work that costs even months to be made.
Cosplay is the art of dressing up as your favorite Japanese animation ( anime ) or video game character. Cosplay is a popular trend started in Japan that has made its way to the US. The art of cosplay is more than just a great costume. Capturing the true spirit and personality of the character is the ultimate goal. Most characters have a signature move or stance that they are identified by. It is very important to learn that stance and to be able to execute it properly.
