FILL: Cosplay for a day?

[mbarker]

Intriguing. Apparently Akihabara, that Japanese mecca of trends, held a Cosplay day yesterday. Cosplay, for those who may not recognize the term, means costume play. The TV news this morning enjoyed showing us the scene.

So the crowds were dressed as their favorite characters from manga and anime. Complete with strange colored hair, extraordinarily short skirts, high boots, revealing tops, the occasional light sword or other accouterments -- and those were the guys! Young, middle-aged, and even older, they were all out there showing off their inner wild characters.

There was also strong security to avoid a possible repetition of the incident some two and half years ago when a crazed person crashed into the crowd and killed several people. But, mainly, it was just a fun crowd, letting out their inner love of costumes.

It's kind of an interesting thing to think about. If you could let out your inner manga, anime, old-fashioned comic, or even perhaps a book character, who would you be? Why? And after you put away the skintight suit in bright colors, hang up the cape, and put the utility belt away for another year, what are the memories, or perhaps the heroic attributes and beliefs, that you really want to carry with you for just a while longer?

After all, even without the costume and the glitter of cosplay, the world still needs a hero (or heroine) now and then. We are the heroes, we are the heroes... we'll keep on fighting til the end...

Or perhaps you prefer tilting at windmills? To dream the impossible dream...

Whichever you like -- Go for it!

Comments

[dialyn.livejournal.com]

In my hometown, we have ComicCon (http://comic-con.org/) which has almost become too large for its venue. It is also an excuse for people to dress up as their favorite fictional character from comics or film, and some of the costumes are pretty amazing. Of course there is a group that is more into flesh than imagination, but there are others that put real effort into their creations. The costumed people will roll out on to the streets of downtown so you never know what wookie or warrior you'll meet during those days. It has become rather commercialized of late, but, at the core, there are people living out their fantasies for a few days.