Cosplay is fun!

Do not adjust your sets, this is not Jitendar's blog, we are not in Anime land! Except I guess to a small extent we are. My knowledge and interest in the genre is pretty low, if I said I hated Battle of the Planets, but enjoyed the odd showing of Pokemon I'm sure someone would point out to me that one or the other (or both) has nothing to do with Anime, or real Anime, or words to that effect.

But cosplay, or "costume play" as it were, that I find fascinating. Halloween is fun, always been a fan of making pumpkins and dressing up as something seasonal. But this takes things to a new level, forget fancy dress parties, people who cosplay do it anytime they like. And whilst you get the odd person dressing up as Star Wars/Trek characters, a lot of them seem to prefer more Japanese origins.

Not being up much on Anime, I really don't recognise the outlandish outfits or people they are trying to represent. Many of them also look rather impractical for anything other than posing, but perhaps that's the whole point, I'm not really sure. The work that has gone into some of these ranges from throwing on a wig, to full blown transformations.

Many of these people really take this seriously, which is I guess very important when you are trying to imitate a cartoon character. Going anything less than the whole nine yards would just end up making you look silly, although sometimes some of them still do look silly, but points for trying! Sites like Cosplay.com have become an interesting community hub for fans of this entertainment, for both those wanting to try their hand at fantasy recreations to those that like a browse.

At some point this will break out of the realms of the internet, and hit the mainstream, there will be a TV show dedicated to it I'm sure. Though probably a very cheap one, sat on a high numbered cable channel, if there isn't already. And I predict it will be hosted by Keith Chegwin, or failing that Noel Edmonds if it gets screened at a more prime-time slot.

But before I depart from this subject, I cannot go without steering you towards WTF Costumes, which contains a few good Cosplay outfits, but mostly a load of very bad ones. Check out pages 25 and 10 in particular, just don't do it at work!

This Week's Videos

First up it's a 4 year old kid who is playing along with classic The Who track Won't Get Fooled Again. He likes his cymbals a little too much for my taste, but he does make me wonder what the legendary Keith Moon was capable of at that age. The latter is still the best drummer I've ever heard, playing them with the kind of passion, style and diversity that is rarely emulated.



Following that, something much more calming, a time lapse video taken from the bridge of a container ship which is leaving port at night. Very peaceful, strangely compelling and with lighting reminiscent of Bladerunner, what more could you ask for?