MANIFEST 2011 - COSPLAY!

Manifest 2011 was on last weekend! It was a HUGE event with many cosplayers attending. My friend Jimmy took many awesome photos on the day. He said I can share them on the CherriiPOP show. Thanks Jimmy!! Jimmy is an awesome photographer, you check out other cool photos of his on his website http://ageos.smugmug.com/

Looking at the photos, I just admire all the effort and detail the cosplayers put in their costumes. From the cool hairstyles, make-up and accessories like swords, fans. The detail adds that extra WOW factor to the whole look.

My favourite Manifest pictures are of groups of friends coming dressed up as the characters from the same Anime series. There is a cool picture of the sailor moon girls with tuxedo mask. There is another group photo with about 15 friends, all dressed up as characters from Bleach! – Very impressive. It would be so much fun to get your friends together and dress up as characters from a series. I would LOVE to do Naruto! But, I don’t think I will be able to convince my friends to dress up with me (LOL!). My favourite character from Naruto is ROCK LEE!! I would love to dress up as him.

























Did you attend Manifest 2011? I'd love to hear from you, share your experience and photos with the CherriiPOP by posting up photos!

MANIFEST 2011, Aug 26-28th

It's that time of year again, when all you Melbourne cosplayers can roam the city streets - It's Manifest weekend. The venue for this year's Manifest is the Melbourne Showgrounds.

There are many devoted cosplayers in this city. I shared some amazing pictures from last year’s manifest that my friend took. Serious cosplayers put a lot of effort in their costumes, trying to get every detail perfect. Cosplayers also become the character when they are in costume. They take on the character’s mannerisms. It’s cool to watch them. None of my friends are cosplayers. Some are anime fans, I found out some friends will be attending this years Manifest. They will be going tomorrow.

You know, If I were to do cosplay, I would dress up as L from deathnote. Partly because the costume would be easy to put together. L’s outfit is so simple compared to like sailor moon, naruto. To be L, I would just have to wear blue jeans and a white top. Mess up my hair and wear a lot of eyeliner. The other thing I like about L is his mannerism, his hunched over all the time and behaves kind of oddly. I find it fascinating.

At Manifest, there will be competitions for best cosplay outfit.There will be anime screenings.

For more details visit www.manifest.org.au

I’d love to post up your pictures from the event. If you are cosplaying or taking pictures with cosplayers, send them in to me on facebook.

The art of COSPLAY

Cosplay is short for Costume roleplay, where anime and manga fans dress up as their favourite anime, manga characters. Cosplay is not limited to anime, people can dress up as JPop, JRock stars, characters from classic novels. The term cosplay was coined by Nobuyuki Takahashi of the Japanese studio ‘Studio Hard’ while he attended the Los Angeles Science Fiction Worldcon in 1984. He was really impressed by the event and how fans wore costumes of there favourite characters.

Devoted cosplayers will copy every detail of the anime character they want to portray. From hair color, hair style, accessories like tools or armour. Not only do they get the appearance right, they also embody the character and act like them. Cosplay costumes can be bought. Lots of fans like to make their own outfit and they put in a lot of time and dedication to their outfit.

In Japan, you can find cosplayers at public events such as anime trade shows, cosplay parties or theme parks. Also it is normal for teen cosplayers to just roam around Harajuku district. Some workplaces that have cosplay uniforms e.g. in many cafes, waitresses are required to wear maid costumes.

Outside of Japan, cosplay is mainly done at large manga and anime conventions. Cosplay competitions are usually held at these conventions. Cosplay caught on with the rest of the world in the late 1990’s.

Aussies are also Cosplay enthusiasts. The largest anime convention ‘Manifest’ was held in Melbourne over a week ago is held for 3 days. It was held at Melbourne Showgrounds, it was previously held at Melb Uni. The huge event is run by a not-for-profit organisation Manifest Inc and is staffed entirely by passionate volunteers. You will discover all you want to know about anime at the convention! With cell painting workshops and drawing classes. You can by merchandise like dvds, anime plushies. And Cosplay Competitons! Check out my interview with a devoted cosplayer!