Cosplay - Costume Play

Cosplay short for "costume play", is basically describing a performing-art behaviour of self-rigging out as a character with corresponding costume, accessories and/or parameters. In society, interactions of "cosplay" behaviour form a subculture centered on dressing as characters from manga, anime, tokusatsu, video games, and less commonly, fantasy movies, Japanese pop music bands, Visual Kei, fantasy music stories (such as stories by the band Sound Horizon), novels, and anything in the real world being unique and dramatic (or their more anthropomorphic form).

In some circles "cosplay" has been expanded to mean simply wearing a costume, without considering the mind of an actor and the common form of "cosplay" in a major "cosplay" culture. The most specific anecdote about the origin of the word "cosplay" was that Nov Takahashi (from a Japanese studio called Studio Hard) coined the term "cosplay" as a contraction of the English-language words "costume play" while attending the 1984 Los Angeles Science Fiction Worldcon.

He was so impressed by the hall and masquerade costuming there that he reported about it frequently in Japanese science fiction magazines. The word fits in with a common Japanese method of abbreviation: combining the first two moras of each word. "Cos" becomes kosu and play become pure hence becoming the nearest Japanese approximation of cosplay, which is kosupure.

Cosplay costumes are radically different from typical Halloween costumes. Because the object of cosplay is to literally become one's character, the intricate details of the costumes are critical.
Costumes must meticulously adhere to the designs of the characters' attire, and even more generic costumes are often elaborately artistic Rigorous attention to detail may include ensuring the seams are aligned properly, thread colors are appropriate, and fabric colors precisely match the character and their attire.

Some cosplayers will buy their costumes from talented artists, while others may spend months creating the perfect cosplay outfit. Because the costumes are so elaborate, like-minded people gather to see others' costumes, show off their own elaborate handmade creations, take lots of pictures, and possibly participate in best costume contests at different cosplay events.

In Japan, there are 2 cosplay magazines, Cosmode, Dengeki Layers. COSMODE has the largest share in the market. There are also 2 emerging cosplay magazines outside of Japan, USA's AniCoz and Mexico's Cosplaymix. An English digital version of COSMODE has been created. (wikipedia)