It seems that anime has been in full effect the last eight or so years, as is evident by the sheer number of people with divine knowledge of anything pertaining to Dragon Ball Z and other popular anime shows. This is not suprising since it was only a matter of time until America caught on to the anime craze, and just how cool it is to watch animated characters beat the hell out of each other and school girls with incredibly short skirts fight demons. But being that anime has become so popular it has also spawned some interesting ideas from it’s fans over the years, the main being the idea to dress up like your favorite anime character and go out into public places. Yes, today we will be discussing that oh so loved past time of all anime fans, cosplay, and just how it came to be using extremely loose facts based on what I can think of at the moment of typing it.

Once anime finally came out of the closet as an accepted form of entertainment to the masses (meaning that you would not be jumped and beaten repeatedly by the football players in your lunchroom for mentioning it), it was only a matter of time until more and more fans started to catch on to what anime was. Soon, a large rabid fan base was forming across the country and more and more were being added to the ranks every day. School yard conversations no longer centered around kids speculating as to what the girl who sits in front of them in algebra breasts looked like, but instead speculating as to what Sailor Moon’s breasts looked like. All across America the anime bug had bitten, and an exciting new way to be a complete and total social outcast had been found.

Soon afterwards it seemed that anime fans were not content debating over what happens in rare episodes of Inu Yasha, and instead decided it was time to find a new past time to enjoy while they were together. It was only natural that that past time would involve making cheap costumes out of old clothes and running around in public, acting out various scenes from their favorite anime shows. This new fad caught on almost instantly and has been going strong since with no sign of leaving any time soon. Yes, this new scary obsession would soon become to be known as:

Cosplay

Welcome to the exciting world of cosplay!

If you are not familiar with what cosplay is then you have truly been missing out on one of anime’s greatest and sometimes most embarrassing aspects. Cosplay generally involves a fan dressing up as his or her favorite anime characters and going to some type of public gathering that hopefully has other cosplayers involved. While this may sound a bit strange, if not a tad scary, it is considered by most anime fans as a normal and relatively fun thing to do with their friends. If this sounds interesting to you and you have not run away screaming yet, then read on.

Cosplay is an integral part of being an anime fan and should be viewed as something that should be done with your friends on occasion, either at an anime convention, or when you’re really, really drunk. Plus it can be a fun way to express yourself and show everyone just how much you love your favorite anime characters. So I have decided to write a small guide to show everyone just how easy it is to gather the supplies needed and make a cosplay outfit for yourself. So I present you with the OMGJeremy guide on how to create a successful cosplay outfit, using all the best tricks and strategies that someone who has only viewed cosplay from several hundred feet away can provide.

Lesson 1: Find an anime character to cosplay

The general idea of cosplay is to show your love for aparticular anime character that you saw in a movie or made up in your head while you were in yet another drug-induced black out. So of course the first thing you must do is find an anime character that you would like to dress up as. It does not matter what character you pick, or for that matter even the sex of the particular anime character, just as long as your costume can be vaguely recognized as that particular character they will suffice. Many popular cosplay characters follow the general rule of thumb that makes for a good cosplay costume:

Character must have ungodly large hair

Chrono is rolling in his grave

All anime characters usually have uncharacteristically large spikey hair, and the rule of thumb seems to be that the spikier and larger the hair, the better cosplay costume this will create. To get a mental image as to if you are headed in the right direction with the hairstyle, you should measure the radius of your head and multiply that number by at least ten times to get an accurate measurement as to how large your hairpiece should be. Another good way to know is that if once you have put on your hair piece you suddenly realize you have crushed every single vertebrae in you neck and lower back, then you have succeeded with flying colors.

Character must wear bright clothes

Bright = accurate. Also painful for everyone else around you

Your character also should wear colors so bright that anyone standing within a ten-foot radius must wear sunglasses to prevent their eyes from bursting into flames. The wearer might also need to wear a protective helmet to also protect him/herself from the color emanating from your fabrics. If you notice that the person standing next to you has went blind because he caught a glimpse of your headband, then you have definitely succeeded in this part of your costume

Character must wear a costume impossible to make with modern technology

The general rule is the more outlandish the costume on your character is the better. Even if there is no way possible with modern science to ever construct it for yourself. This will just show your ingenuity when you replace the character’s cyber organic wings that stretch ten feet and shoot lasers off of them into a crude version using a piece of cardboard and some duct tape to strap them to your back. If you are finding it too hard to recreate your character’s costume, here are a few helpful tips on things you should use to create these common trouble spots:

Cybernetic sword – Cardboard
Large laser gun – Cardboard
Robotic companion – Cardboard
Full body suit – Cardboard, and maybe a few paperclips

He is learning well

As you can see even the most impossible of costumes can easily be reproduced with a little imagination on your part. Besides most anime characters are totally impossible to recreate anyway, so pick any one that catches your eye.

This should get you started on your way to knowing what kind of character you should use for your cosplay outfit. Next we will take an in depth look as to the supplies you will need to have on hand to create your cosplay masterwork.

Lesson 2: How to make your outfit

Your cosplay outfit will have to made up of several different components, all of which you should have laying around the house or at your local Wal Mart. We will first go over the various supplies you will need and then take a look at how to construct your outfit in record time.

Fabric: The fabric you get for your outfit should be as heavy as humanly possible. A good fabric for this is the ever popular “velvet” fabric that has recently been registered by the national science foundation (Note: the national science foundation may or may not exist) as the “heaviest known fabric to mankind”. This is certainly the truth as a single piece of velvet has approximately 7 pounds per square inch and can easily triple if put into water. This of course is the perfect fabric for your outfit as it shows your commitment towards your character. Even if by the time you put it on you need a back brace just to walk around it’s all worth it. Imagine the look of jealousy on your friend’s faces as they see the beautiful stitch work you have produced in your velvet fabric, even if they did have to rush you to the hospital when your shoulders and back collapsed when you accidentally spilled water on your sleeve.

I don't even know

Glue: One of the many suprises of cosplay is that you really don’t need to know how to sew at all. Sewing simply gets in the way of things when you need to make a fast, yet interesting costume. So why take all your time stabbing yourself with a sewing needle when all you need is a few bottles of super glue? In no time you’ll have your costume fully assembled and ready to go. Just be sure the glue has fully dried before you put it on, otherwise you may find it slightly painful when you pull off your costume and fifty percent of your flesh comes off with it.

Accessories: The big rule to a cosplay outfit is that the more accessories you can strap to your body the better. It does not matter what accessories you have, just find an empty space on your body and strap it on. Accessories add depth and sophistication to your outfit and can easily wow friends when they discover you have effectively added a 1974 Ford Mustang tire axle to your costume.

MY MIND

Glitter: You can never use too much glitter. In fact most cosplayers seem to think that glitter has descended directly from heaven and should be used with wild abandon on any part of the costume, including yourskin. So when you see that dead spot that you just can’t figure out anything to do with, grab a few bottles of glitter and go crazy. If you notice your friends begin to move away from you, then be proud of your accomplishment, as they are nothing more than jealous that you have somehow been able to apply glitter to 99.9% of your costume.

Now that you have the accessories it’s time to put them all together. First you will need to make a general size to the costume. This is done by getting a permanent marker and drawing a crude outline of the part of the costume you are about to make onto the fabric. It does not matter what the general size of what you are drawing, just so that once you are done gluing it together you can somehow put it on your body. If however you notice that once you put it on that you are slowly losing consciousness, then you may have made the costume just a little too tight. This is easily remedied the way all cosplayers who realize they have done the same thing by simply exclaiming, “it’s supposed to be that way”.

Remember, there is no such thing as a bad cosplay costume

Is your costume not coming out the way you intended it to? Does your costume more resemble something that could easily be mistaken by the FBI as a hostile life form? Don’t fret, because as it turns out there is simply no such thing as a bad cosplay costume. You will see this for yourself when you see your friend’s outfits that seem to resemble a high school science project gone horribly awry. With that in mind sit back and smile knowing that at least one other person that is in the room with you has also mistakenly glued his crotch to his pant leg also.

Cosplay brilliance achieved

After you have finished attaching your costume to your body in various ways then you have successfully created a cosplay outfit! All you need to do now is to find somewhere to show it off, preferably with other cosplayers, as wearing your new outfit to the grocery store will likely not produce the desired effect. And remember the life of the cosplayer is never over. There are always hundreds of new and exciting outfits you can make and wear, so the fun can never end. That is as long as you do not inhale dangerous amounts of super glue and pass into a coma and be buried alive in some horrible way. But at least you can go into eternity in style with your new cosplay outfit. And if God stops you and asks why your sleeve is sewn to your neck, then look him in the eye and tell him the honest truth:

“It’s supposed to be that way”