Alright well.. I've been thinking about the cosplay contest for next year (I like to get a head start too..), and I already have a pretty set idea on how it'll be run, but I'd like to hear some input too. So, if you have some suggestions about improvements from this years, or things that you did like about it, say it here.

One thing I'd like to stress is bringing reference images. I don't personally know every single anime character out there off the top of my head, so reference images help a lot. While I'm not going to make them mandatory, it does help us judges out a lot ;_;

I say make it madatory, and then mock people who don't bring them.

I had thought about that... man, it's like, the first time I entered a contest, I didn't have ref pics, and I felt horrible because Samurai Deeper Kyo isn't exactly so popular over here -_-;; Now it's like.. I can't *not* think of ref. images.

MAYBE. If they don't bring ref. pics, they don't get cookies. *nod*

Really, most cons have a requirement of ref pictures, and all it takes is five minutes of reading the website's rules ahead of time to figure that out. Shoot, they should be reading it anyway to see what the cosplay rules and such are. (Or stealing the printer in the business room of the hotel to print out reference pics, assuming we have one, when they find out they need them.)

You are doing it though, so, it is up to you in the long run *shrugs*

Yeah, I was going to clean up the cosplay rules on the site.. well that was the idea anyway.
I also noticed the lack of people who read the website to begin with -_-; But, I'll do it anyway, and if people didn't bother to read them, then it can't be helped.

Exactly. We post our rules ahead of time, just like any other convention, they should take the time to read

Don't assign three staffers to judge cosplay if only two are available.

Everything else that went wrong in 2006 went right in 2007.

We can post pictures of the winning costumes and videos of the winning skits on the AP web site. The craftsmanship winners can say how they made the costumes and the skit winners can give director's commentary.

Convince female staffers to cosplay Agent Aika girls who are not Bandara.

In case they can't get good references, let the contestants sign up before the convention, with early sign ups ending a week before the convention starts. Then one of us can find the references without having to rush.

Have the craftsmanship judging start at 10:00. Earlier if the convention is even bigger than in 2007.

If the previous winners for fanserviciest cosplay attend the convention, bring them to the Hentai Olympics for an event that shall determine who is the most fanserviciest.

I like the posting of the winners idea ^_^ I'm all about getting more people to the site.

I however am not going to be convinced to cosplay as Agent Aika :P

I had thought the pre-con signups Brian, but honestly, I or any of us shouldn't have to do their work. That is, we shouldn't have to look up references, which is something THEY should be responsible for. It's not elitism, ref pics are just insanely common courtesy and should just be..ugh they should just be made mandatory. AP is so diverse with cosplay, and I don't know every character/anime out there.

Now, I don't think it should be started earlier. At all. It can be managed, and within a decent amount of time, but there are some things I think would help... which I'm not going to mention publicly, hehe.

I'm all for "no references, no entry", as horrible as that sounds. For God's sakes, it's a cosplay contest, and especially for workmanship, how the hell do we know they just aren't blowing hot air? Even something as common as SailorMoon (does anyone cosplay SailorMoon these days?) should have multiple reference pictures, as even having an internet-capable computer doesn't necessarily mean that you'll get the pic they were looking for. Also, looking up references that <i>they should have brought with them</i> takes time better used to register people for the contest.

Well~~~...not sure I agree. I wouldn't refuse anyone who had the passion for a character without references to not be able to enter. I don't really think that's anything that AP stands for.

One thing I've noticed was that AP has a ton of "first-timers", which I think is awesome and great. I'm willing to bend backwards to praise them, judge, and help them out, but they need to help us in return by reading the rules and following them. I think if we could word the rules correctly, we'd be able to see who actually read them or not, and judge a bit more accordingly. (which could add in a rule for ref. pics, blah brain no worky) ^_^

A small penalty for not having reference would be good though; even the really common or simple stuff needs reference, because honestly, there's details on that stuff that one just overlooks and can make or break a costume. When they're simple , you need all the detail you can get x.x

Lets post the damn rules for a 3rd time (on website & in program guide as well) on the damn entry sheet maybe?

If people don't read that I really can't help them there.

As for ref pics, they help. A LOT. But as Codi stated, we do indeed have a lot of "first timers" who don't really know how the contests work, and may have not thought about the judges not knowing everything.
(For the record, I have never seen an episode of Naruto in my life. Doesn't matter how popular it is, I simply do not know the characters outfits that well. Please do not assume this!)

What about bringing a plushie or figure of the character your cosplaying as an alternative to bring a pic?

What about different cosplay contests? Say the big one for anime and swimsuits on Saturday, but add like a Friday night one for video games. As a way to easy the few who do get upset at the 'only anime characters' rule. The question becomes, could you enter both if your cosplay fits.

Another idea is attending judge hallway contest. Way I've seen it done is polaroids are taken of the people who want to enter and they they are posted up at a desk for all to see. Then people get to vote on their faves.

The problem is that AP is meant to be an anime only convention. If people get upset that they can't enter their costumes in the cosplay contest, it's their fault for bringing the costume to this con and not reading over the rules properly.

By in large most people don't mind the whole no-videogames thing. It's just a few stubborn people, self absorbed people, or people who didn't read the rules.

We'll never make anyone happy all of the time, so stubborn people I'm not worried about, and self absorbed people aren't worth our time. This thread however, has revolved around the issue of people who don't read the rules in the first place.

Considering they didn't read (and that's the group who gives us the most trouble) I don't think they would know about the Friday night contest in time, and then would bitch about that.

As for a plushi referance, it's really up to the judges, though my guess would be that plushis don't have enough definition to be valid or accurate. If they are though, my opinion is "go for it". Generally I like to be as lax as possible (which is why I don't want to disqualify noobs who can't read).

The hotel has a nice business center with printers, so if people didn't pay attention I guess we can send them there. I like the idea of posting that rule on the signup sheets as well.

OMG NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO... I WANT COOKIES.

A plushie was accepted as a reference in 2006 for a costume that ended up winning.

I've been thinking. I think for 08 I'd like to do pre-signing before the contest (not like before the con, but at-con, say like sometime Friday afternoon, and then Saturday morning)

That way, if a person has a pre-assigned time, I'm:

1) not responsible for wondering where they went if they're a no-show and fucking up my Christmas -

2) Spending tons of unnecessary time on people. I like chatting it up with everyone but I also don't want to spend 10 minutes on one person and 2 on another (unfair advantages possibly?). This saves us time, and saves everyone else time too so there isn't a backlog like there was with tons of people in the room and not being able to hear the person we're judging. It also gives us judges time to eat and use the bathroom, something we weren't able to do last year (so going from 10 hrs we did last year to maybe 4 or 5 is yay for everyone involved).

3) Let's the cosplayers know what time they *definitely* need to be in their costume.

4) Also gives those 5-6 costume changes a day cosplayers plan out things instead of having to be in one outfit all day and fucking up their schedules. (that being said, they'll have to be in said costume when they go up on stage for the walk)

And then having people who are interested in skits have their stuff ready by these pre-signup times, and not having to deal with things getting lost/having to deal with tons of middlemen. Skit people would basically just turn their stuff in then, and show up Saturday evening.

One thing I'd like to see is more skits, I loves them!

1.Yeah but people can still not show up even with preassigned times ya know. >.> We'll have to make sure we have some time at the end for late comers. If someone is late would we just toss them in at the end or squeeze them in right there?

2. I don't think it's an unfair advantage, some people just have more complex costumes. However, what slowed us down last time was the whole reference pictures thing moreso than people explaining their costumes. -_- Let's not do that this year.

I also agree that we the judges should be the *only* people responsible for handling the skit CDs and the like. Grrrrrr.

Yeah and I love skits!!! More skits!!

The idea of a pre-registration for the cosplayers would be a good idea but you would deffentally have to save time at the end or another day for the people that didnt know about the pre-reg for the cosplay, cause if they can miss the rules on the website then i figure theres a pretty good chance they can miss a paper on the wall, or on the table. That and like stated before you could plan an intermission inbetween all the people. Also if they had designated times but didnt show then you could throw one of the non-registered people in there if they were ready, just so everyone wasnt sitting there waiting for a no show.
Another idea is that if they did register then you could space out the skits so there wasnt a long gap without one and a bunch jamed together.

The rules would be posted both online and in the program guide. It's not our fault if people refuse to read.

true true, but as I think about it more and more I totally like the idea of having cosplay more than one day. Cause i rember last year I didn't make it in time cause I had to work.

Alright, things aren't totally official yet but what we'll be going for this year is scheduled cosplay judging times instead of just coming up to the table, signing up, and walking to the room.

Sign-ups will Saturday morning/afternoon, and then all cosplayers/groups will be responsible for showing up at their assigned time to be judged at a soon-to-be announced location. The difference between single cosplayers and group cosplayers (3+ people) will be that groups will probably get more time. (5-8 minutes instead of 3-4 for single entrants)

If you don't show up at your assigned time, you'll have to face the wrath of us and we'll talk it out.

As for reference images, it's not going to be a strict or enforced rule, but it would make us way happier if they were brought. (protip: Judges like you more when you have good reference images!!) There is a business center at the hotel with a good-working printer so theres really no excuse for not having them. We don't know every anime character out there so it really helps us out to have them.

We all think that this idea will make things run a bit smoother ^_^

how is the swimsuit contest going to work?

Hopefully not during judging again. -_-

I don't run it but I'm assuming the same as last year, although this time probably meet in the Noise room, and then head to the pool and take the lap.

I don't recommend wearing wigs for swimsuit cosplay unless you wanna jump in a pool with it, or like I did and just fling it off really fast ^^;

i have a quick question i read that video game cosplays will not be judged.. but i also saw somthing about a correction... is it true that videogame costumes will not be judged even if they are animne style? if so NANI?!? ive never heard a rule like that at any con, why is that? if u need to kno whic game it is its called dynasty warriors.

Ookami Yokai Here:
This is strictly an ANIME convention, if you come into any sort of costume contest at this convention with a video game cosplay your entry will be null and void, you will not be able to enter. I was in the room last year, when a video game cosplay was declined. They do do it.The only exception would be video game to anime, such as .hack//, pokemon, ragnorok, devil may cry etc. but the costume would of had to been seen on the anime itself. This is why reference images are key.

Correct. We do not allow video game costumes to be allowed into the cosplay contest. We have this rule because we are strictly an Anime Convention, and this is how we want things.

View the rule as a chance to expand your horizons and cosplay something from some awesome anime! If you need suggestions, most of us have great taste in shows, we could toss a few ideas your way ;p

We also ask that you only wear anime costumes at the con in general, and leave your other costumes at home. We do not enforce that though.

The swimsuit cosplay is the only place we are not so strict. Video game cosplays are not immediately disqualified from it.

I have a question can you enter both craftsmanship and skit competition at the same time? Our group has worked really har don our costumes this year and our skit as well so can we do both?

You are allowed to compete in both.

For this year, I don't know how the two will be correlated. For the previous two years, winning an award in craftsmanship hurt one's chances of winning an award in a skit or interpretation, and a skit or interpretation award hurt the chances to win a craftsmanship award. And I mean REALLY hurt. Swimsuit cosplay was completely uncorrelated with the other contests.

wow that sucks... i feel sorry for the many con goers who r going to this one but dont get on the rules forum... i just hope that if its this strict on the cosplay rules that the rest of the con is the same aka, pannels.. the rave music... events... does this mean the game room will be only anime based videogames?!? what about super smash! what about ddr?!? guitar hero? wow u really cant have an anime con without the videogames too... oh well i guess its just the con's choice, maybe next yr lol... yeah right

Zetsubou Shita!

video gaming room
card gaming room
Hentai Olympics
Katamari ball
4-chan panel what Mike said
glomping panel good riddance

As far as I know, that's it for the nonanime stuff. Since Mike stopped calling it an "anime only" convention, there hasn't been a contradiction there.

Raver, the fact remains that it is a rules choice that we make, and no matter what the con, it is advisable to visit the forums WAY in advance if you are planning to enter the cosplay contest. Most cons have rules unique to them, and not being informed when you get to the con is a sure way to be disqualified (or miss the chance to enter entirely; persay, Ohayocon - they do prereg for cosplay almost exclusively, so if you didn't visit the forums, you'd be shit out of luck.)

To slightly correct Kamiokande:

video gaming room - This is correct. Our gaming room leans towards Japanese and anime games, but does not exclusively focus on them. We WILL have Smash, DDR, and Rockband.

card gaming room - Same as above. We demo a lot of anime games, such as Fruits Basket, and of course have Yugioh and Pokemon. I am not sure if there are any non-anime tournaments scheduled, but the fact remains that we do allow people to play magic there, making it an exception to the strict anime focus.

Hentai Olympics - Hentai is certainly anime, but this event is only loosely tied to it. A lot of the mini-games have their root in anime trends (schoolgirls, tentacles, futunari), but not all of it does. Even still, I try to make sure that everything is related to anime somehow, so that in consideration, I honestly don't consider this an off-topic event.

Katamari ball - Completely non anime, and completely nonsensicle

4chan panel - We do not have a 4chan panel. The closest thing we have to that is photoshop duelmasters, which relies on a lot of 4chan memes. It should be noted that the boards /a/ and /m/ are both VERY anime, and the bulk of what many (if not most) of the 4channers on staff view.

glomping panel - We do not have a glomping panel.


For the record we DID have a glomping and internet panel last year. They, amung other non-anime things have been weeded out. As I'm working on the schedule, the only exceptions to the anime focus are for two of our guests, one of which is from the video game industry, and the other from the manga industry.

As for the rave, our two currently confirmed DJ's are Maiku, who remixes anime music, and Panda who (aside from being well along the path the inventing his own genre) samples quotes and soundbytes from anime. Both are excellent DJ's who have never failed to put on an awesome show. If DJ Ed can make it, he'll do something anime-ish as well.

We may be of a very narrow focus these days, but we're also pretty good at throwing a really great show. I think you'll have a good time, even if we don't dig your cosplay.

Incidentally, you don't have to read the forums to know this, you just have to look at the cosplay section of the website, something that EVERY COSPLAYER should do before entering the contest, or even showing up to the con, to make sure there aren't any restrictions or special rules. Some conventions have strict venues that don't allow for a lot of things that most of us consider commonplace at an anime convention, and it can get the convention in a lot of trouble because some cosplayer was too dumb or too stubborn/indignent to read/follow the rules.

Truth, you don't need to read the forums to be able to know the cosplay rules, or in general, the rules of the con. Everything that we say here is posted on the website, and even then, much MORE is posted on the official website than said here.

That also being said, every cosplayer who wants to the enter the contest should read the con's rules before entering anyway. Every person who wants to be a panelist should read the programming section. Anyone who wants to enter a fanfic should read the fanfic page. It's just common sense.

If they say that "anime" is the Japanese word for animation in general or if they quote the Merriam-Webster Online entry for anime, should I bang my head on the desk before or after I utilize the Final Disclaimer?

Don't headdesk, that will hurt *shrugs*

Good luck breaking it to them, hopefully we won't get too many people trying to get wrongfully technical on you XD