Auckland cosplay enthusiasts are expected to dance the night away this evening in celebration of geek culture.
The Cosplay Ball is entering its second year and with more than 200 expected to attend, it looks set to become an annual event.
Cosplay is short for "costume play", a hobby in which participants create and show off costumes based on pop culture characters from a wide variety of sources, including Japanese anime and manga, videogames, Western comic books and retro characters like Rambo.
Cosplaying has seen a rise in popularity in New Zealand over the last few years as Kiwis embrace many aspects of the ever-increasing geek culture.
"We wanted more events to cosplay to," says organiser Amiria Aperahama. "There weren't any except for Auckland Armageddon, so we decided to throw our own."
Armageddon is New Zealand's largest entertainment expo and has been hosting cosplay contests since 2002. Contests are now held across the country at expos in Christchurch, Dunedin, Wellington, Hamilton and Auckland, as well as Australia.
More than 60,000 attended the Auckland expo alone last year, and organiser Bill Geradts is expecting more in October. He says the number of attendees has doubled in size over the last two years.
He says cosplaying at events such as Armageddon allows people to show off what they love, without getting strange looks. He recently strutted his stuff in a Jon Snow costume from Game of Thrones.
"[Cosplaying] is just fun. It can look a little odd from some respects, but when you walk around in a cape it's liberating," says Mr Geradts.
Ms Aperahama says cosplay is often an outlet for people and gives them confidence.
"For a day you can become your hero or you can express your dark side… If you are normally shy you can cosplay as the guy who always gets the girl. If you are body conscious you can wear revealing outfits and experience being comfortable in your skin."
Head co-ordinator of the Armageddon cosplay contests Michaela de Bruce says cosplay culture in New Zealand is all-encompassing.
"While it used to be assumed to be only related to J-culture (Japanese anime and manga) it is simply a term to describe dressing in costume as a character- whatever the art source, whatever the event," says Ms de Bruce.
"It's an adaptable and personal - yet also very visible - way of making a statement."
Sophia Chan has been cosplaying since 2010 and has won several awards at Armageddon contests around country. Ms Chan - who goes by the cosplay name Brunetteyes - is a mechanical engineer and enjoys creating all of her costumes from scratch.
Her recent Belle costume from Disney's Beauty and the Beast is one of her favourites, having constructed the entire dress - including complicated spring steel corset and hoop skirt - by hand.
"I find that some people are either into the anime, Japanese-type scene, or gaming, or more into the western type stuff, like movies or Disney. I find I do a bit of everything."
Ms Chan says as a "very niche sort of sub-culture", cosplayers like to celebrate individuality.
"I have friends in cosplay who are over 40 [years-old] and there are also some I know that are 12. There are just so many different types of people… In that sense is it very accepting."
"One reason why cosplay is becoming so popular is the second you tell another cosplayer that you cosplay, or would like to cosplay, you instantly become accepted into the cosplay community," says Ms Aperaham. "It's amazing really. People that seem to have nothing in common with each other suddenly become united."
For those wishing to get involved in cosplay, events such as the Cosplay Ball and Armegeddon expo are the perfect environment.
"Pick something you enjoy," says Ms Chan. "The most fun is being a character you love."
The Cosplay Ball will be held at The Winchester in Auckland on Saturday. More information is available on Facebook.
3 News
source: newshub archive
