g33k 3

In the g33k series, we've looked at generic geeks, and now, for the first time, I present to you a literal geek genre- Cosplayers.

Cosplayers were, for the longest time, simply an offshoot of anime and gaming fans (And still tend to be). Cosplayers are geeks who are interested in dressing up like their favorite characters from Anime, Manga, Video Games, or other media formats. Cosplay is basically broken down into two parts- making the costume, and parading the costume around at conventions (Or just taking photographs).

Cosplay got it's nominer from Nov Takahashi at the 1984 LA Science Fiction Worldcon. American geeks have stereotypically cosplayed favorite characters (Such as Star Trek fanatics dressing in the uniforms from the show) for quite a long time, and it finally combined with the explosion of Japanese Anime in the 90s. Quickly, cosplay of famous characters boomed, and thus came the Cosplay generation.

So, I have had the priveledge of speaking with some hardcore cosplayers- two girls who have cosplayed for quite a long time, and are quite knowledgeable on the subject. Instead of piddling around with my own explanations from a third party perspective, I present to you the interviews. (Thanks to those who helped with interviews, even if I never contacted you back accidentally. No thanks to the websites who I queried for people to interview, who were about as helpful as kicking me in the crotch.)

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