Cosplay, also known as costume-play, is often described as wearing costumes from fictional works (especially anime and manga!). Cosplay is enjoyed all over the world, especially at anime conventions. With HUGE conventions such as Anime Expo and Comic Con in Southern California, Japan Expo in France, and Otakon in Maryland all happening this month, people often call July “Convention Season”.

While some people simply buy their costumes or commission someone to make it for them, others make their costumes from scratch, or buy pieces of clothing and work from there. Regardless, the effort that goes into cosplay is extremely admirable. The attention to detail, such as the style and color of the wig, the intricacies of the costume, the make-up, the poses and expressions of the character, are just a few of the things cosplayers keep in mind when they start their next costume for the upcoming convention.

Today, I would like to introduce five cosplayers from all over the world who are not only extremely cute, but extremely talented!

1. Maridah

Maridah is an American cosplayer who has been a fan of anime since 1999, and a cosplayer starting in the early 2000s. With over 200,000 likes on her Facebook page, she is most known for her spot-on Saber costumes. Her light make-up and fluid, natural posing make her a great cosplayer with a portfolio of beautiful photos. She is a big fan of anime and ball-jointed Asian dolls, so she often attends conventions as well. This year in addition to chilling at a booth in the exhibit hall, she held a signing event at Anime Expo.

saber_by_maridah-d48mq89Saber (Fate/ Stay Night)

1014309_10152280037622383_7420864887722790933_nSaber (Fate/ Stay Night)

1546048_10152066135752383_1662093605_nRei Ayanami (Evangelion)

Check out more on her website: http://www.maridah.com/cosplay.html

2. BeckiiCruel

Beckii, who lives in the United Kingdom, made her big break during her early teens with a YouTube video of her dancing to the Japanese song, Danjo. After her dancing videos gained millions of views, she was the star of two documentaries regarding her first-of-a-kind fame among Japan and the Japan-loving world. Although cosplay is not her main thing, she has cosplayed from different anime series such as the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya and Evangelion. She also loves Japanese fashion, and can be seen sporting sailor uniforms, the Lolita-like brand Liz Lisa, and the ever-so-cute black high-knee socks. Since her sudden fame, she has released photo books, a couple of singles, and now mainly focuses on modeling and videos about fashion. She still performs songs on stage, and when not performing, comes as an attendee to conventions such as Alcon and DokiDoki.

283-1Beckii’s outfit from her debut, Danjo

234Chi (Chobits)

IMG_0183Cute Twist on the Sailor Uniform

She updates her website regularly here: http://beckii.co.uk/

3.Kipi

Kipi, a famous Japanese cosplayer, is—and has been—all over the internet for a long time! She debuted her first cosplay back in 2006, and hasn’t stopped since. Many of her cosplays are well-known, but most people seem to agree that her take on Misa Amane is timeless (it’s worth checking out her other versions of Misa if you get a chance)! She does occasionally drop by at conventions in Japan such as Comikket and Tokyo Game Show.

kipi_cosplay_gallery_01Haruhi Suzumiya (The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya)

6018-misa__4_Misa Amane (Death Note)

b0044523_67612Hatsune Miku (Vocaloid)

Kipi’s blog can be found here: http://still.kipi.lomo.jp

4. Traci Hines

With nearly 2 million views on YouTube, Traci Hines is a household-name when it comes to the cosplay world! She is most known for her cosplays of Ariel and other Disney characters. Surprisingly, she uses her own extremely voluminous red hair for her Ariel cosplays! Her love of Disney and singing is tangible in every hand-made costume she creates. She makes yearly appearances at Comic-Con and Anime Expo, and always spends the time to talk and pose with fans.

b0f41cf096498672de92b2ee951393dbAriel (The Little Mermaid)

il_570xN_258048241Rapunzel (Tangled)

32_Tinkerbell_photo_by_Andrew_DucoteTinker Bell (Disney)

Fans of Disney’s recent hit, Frozen, should not miss her insanely popular music cover video with her in full costume as Ana, singing “Love Is an Open Door”.

You can watch the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_4dD5zYyEQ

5. Calssara

Librarian by day, cosplayer by night, Calssara is from Germany and has been cosplaying since as early as 2006! Calssara’s craftsmanship in her costume work is absolutely stunning, and she has even represented her country in one of the biggest and prestigious cosplay events of all time, the World Cosplay Summit. Her ability to portray many characters accurately, from peculiar costumes to those unique and distinct character expressions, is enough to grab anyone’s attention. You can tell from her cosplay portfolio that she has a real passion for anime and manga, going for cosplays of any character that she takes a liking to, regardless of the craziness of the costume or how well-known the character is!

3962448723_6b4f6f14b2_oMisuzu Kamio (AIR)

vocaloid___luka_megurine_by_calssara-d2xut3cMegurine Luka (Vocaloid)

Romeo_X_Juliet_by_calssaraJuliet (Romeo x Juliet)

Check out her website here: http://www.more-elegant.de/wordpress/

Bonus: Fighting Dreamer Pros cosplay group !

Within the anime and manga community, it is not uncommon for several cosplayers to form a cosplayer group. In the cosplay group, members will often all cosplay from one series. In addition to attending conventions together and posing for pictures, cosplay groups often also participate in convention Masquerades, where they will either present their costume to thousands or give a well-rehearsed skit.

Fighting Dreamer Pros is one such cosplayer group. Their most famous cosplays include Naruto and Final Fantasy, and the skits they have performed have been uploaded on their official YouTube page, gaining over 20 million views. They have inspired many other cosplayers to form groups and participate in skits at conventions all over the world. The best thing is that, although many years has passed since the group’s creation, the members of the group are still friends today and are as active as ever.

Ninjas_in_a_tree__part_2_by_FightingDreamersPro[1]

Check out their YouTube page here: https://www.youtube.com/user/fightingdreamerspro

Written by タノエミ

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