Interesting little article...
http://kotaku.com/5432053/can-the-west-cosplay-with-the-best-of-them
As someone who has done four different cosplay outfits (at least, where I was involved in making them - I have a few from when I was under 10), I found this really interesting... Looking at the costumes and motivations, just for a quick bit of fun:
* Naruto's Kabuto Yakushi, because like half the rest of the staff was doing a Naruto team and I decided 'why not'. I'm not a fan of the series, but it was a fun costume and easy enough to do (the hard part was getting his collar right - that thing took a lot of interfacing and some luck). I still have people calling me "Kabuto" at Renaissance Faires after having not worn the thing for three goddamn years...
* Kuroneko from Trigun. A total gag outfit - it's solid black plus as many official Kuroneko merch pieces as I feel like wearing that day. I'm not quite sure how this one became so popular at the Alaskan cons...
* Heavy Weapons Guy from Team Fortress 2... On a person with a build closer to that of Kabuto... With Beatles-length hair. Yeah, not serious at all, but what in TF2 is? I got a few people calling me "Heavy Bishie Guy" at Sakura-Con that year... Huh.
* Leon Kennedy from Resident Evil 4... Where we figured out that the artwork of Leon's shirt is not replicable in a sane-looking fashion in real life. Still my personal favorite outfit.
There's at least one I'm forgetting, but oh well.
I'm the type who likes to make the outfits (though I'm not too good with sewing and thus work with others on that part, I pick the fabrics and make the patterns myself), and I'd like to think I've developed some skill with it over the years I've been doing it. It's still quite an interesting challenge over time, though.
I'd have to argue, having seen both ends, that the highs are high, the lows low, and the average... Well, maybe the average favors the Japanese a little more, but that's borne of a community that favors being hardcore into the hobby a lot more in Japan than the US - which has catches all its own.
As someone who has done four different cosplay outfits (at least, where I was involved in making them - I have a few from when I was under 10), I found this really interesting... Looking at the costumes and motivations, just for a quick bit of fun:
* Naruto's Kabuto Yakushi, because like half the rest of the staff was doing a Naruto team and I decided 'why not'. I'm not a fan of the series, but it was a fun costume and easy enough to do (the hard part was getting his collar right - that thing took a lot of interfacing and some luck). I still have people calling me "Kabuto" at Renaissance Faires after having not worn the thing for three goddamn years...
* Kuroneko from Trigun. A total gag outfit - it's solid black plus as many official Kuroneko merch pieces as I feel like wearing that day. I'm not quite sure how this one became so popular at the Alaskan cons...
* Heavy Weapons Guy from Team Fortress 2... On a person with a build closer to that of Kabuto... With Beatles-length hair. Yeah, not serious at all, but what in TF2 is? I got a few people calling me "Heavy Bishie Guy" at Sakura-Con that year... Huh.
* Leon Kennedy from Resident Evil 4... Where we figured out that the artwork of Leon's shirt is not replicable in a sane-looking fashion in real life. Still my personal favorite outfit.
There's at least one I'm forgetting, but oh well.
I'm the type who likes to make the outfits (though I'm not too good with sewing and thus work with others on that part, I pick the fabrics and make the patterns myself), and I'd like to think I've developed some skill with it over the years I've been doing it. It's still quite an interesting challenge over time, though.
I'd have to argue, having seen both ends, that the highs are high, the lows low, and the average... Well, maybe the average favors the Japanese a little more, but that's borne of a community that favors being hardcore into the hobby a lot more in Japan than the US - which has catches all its own.