Fandom Fashionista

…let’s call the whole thing off? Nevermind.

While in Boston last May, a few friends and I happened past Hynes Convention Center where we were privy to some of the best fashion-watching on the planet: the cast of characters from AnimeBoston.

I don’t write about cosplaying nearly enough in this blog, so I’m devoting this entire entry to them (don’t you just feel loved, cosplayers?). These amazing DIYers are the folks who go above-and-beyond to emulate their favorite characters from both anime and other pop culture media. Here’s some of the best dressed I caught that afternoon:

The Pokemon Gang

First, I saw a smattering of the original cast of the Pokemon franchise. From left to right (of the chracters I can make out), there’s a Psyduck, a Togepi, Ash Ketchum, a Jigglypuff and a Blastoise. The others I either can’t figure out or don’t know who/what they’re supposed to be. My favorites in this shot are Togepi and Blastoise (and not just because they were on my original team on my Pokemon Red cart). I think these two make for the most accurate here and let’s be honest: can anyone resist a guy in leotard?

The Sim

Do I really need to go into why this cosplayer is awesome? I mean, I’m not a huge fan of The Sims franchise, but you can tell that this young lady thought this through. She was definitely the only Sim I saw that day and my first thought was to ask her “Where can I buy one of those?” to which she replied “I made it myself. “(duh!) Of course, I responded by telling her she should quickly setup an Etsy store where she could produce and sell one-of-a-kind Dress-as-a-Sim merchandise, but I’m not sure if she was to keen on the idea. Needless to say, it’s amazing how something so simple can evoke a fan’s commitment to their fandom. Love this.

The Cast of Trigun

I had been there for 30 minutes  snapping photos when I thought to myself, “Where are all the Trigun fans?” Right about then, my prayers were answered as the cast walked up behind me. From left, you have Milly Thompson, Nicolas D. Wolfwood, Meryl Strife, and Vash (aka Vash the Stampede aka The Humanoid Typhoon). These four literally made my day because Trigun has always been a personal favorite  and it’s a great succinct gateway anime for me in the tradition that Akira or Sailor Moon were for some of my anime friends. Notice the use of props here. Cosplayers go to great lengths to recreate the characters look & feel; this group is no exception. Wolfwood is famous for carrying that cross (his sins) throughout most of the series; proportionally, it works perfectly here. Well done.

The Piplup Girl

Walking behind this girl on the way back to our hotel, I could have sworn she was the Twitter bird (you may have seen my tweet about how much I fail in this regard). Upon further inspection (and seeing that her friend was carrying a plushie), I realized she was Piplup, one of the newer generation starter Pokemon from Diamond/Pearl/Platinum. I’m more of a Chimchar girl myself, but I can definitely appreciate where her head (and heart) was at. She looks adorable and I was tempted to ask her for the pattern so I could make a Chimchar mock-cloak as well.

The Cockney from The Mighty Boosh

Full disclosure: this was by far the best cosplayer of the day (maybe of the year? stay tuned…). He’s dressed as The Cockney, a popular character from one of my favorte Brit comedies, The Mighty Boosh. What I love even more than this costume (and how the guy went to great lengths to recreate everything to the very last detail) was that he didn’t break character. Not even once. That’s a cosplayer in a nutshell: willing to devote their time, energy, and interest to becoming the role. I know it does’t count as anime and perhaps it was lost on many people there (what with its US launch on Adult Swim only coming later that weekend), but it was the one cosplayer I positively flipped over and found the need to tell everyone, including my good friend and fellow Boosh fan MaryBeth, akak Nagini. This guy is aces in my book.

That’s all for now. Sorry I haven’t written lately. There will be more pre-Azakatraz mojo to be discussed, including a special upcoming review on my latest fandom fashion obsession: steampunk.

Ciao babies!