Weekly Qs #5: Are you more into the fandom aspect of the hobby or the costumes?

By **Duckeh**. 20/11/12, 02:36 am

Are you more into the fandom aspect of the hobby or the costumes?

So, are you cosplaying because you like the material you cosplay from, or do you think it's weird to cosplay a character for the design rather than being a fan of the material? This is a topic a lot of people are talking about at the moment due to the ~Tony Harris~ scandal. Weekly Qs #5: Are you more into the fandom aspect of the hobby or the costumes? 519410

Weekly Qs #5: Are you more into the fandom aspect of the hobby or the costumes? 519410

I've personally cosplayed from something I hadn't played before. I enjoyed making it! But wearing it was a little strange. It's often a mix between the two, I think, but what's your opinion?

By Fettman. 20/11/12, 02:43 am

I agree that it is a mix between the two. You have to think the costume looks cool, but being a fan of what ever it comes from helps you to feel comfortable wearing it and enables you to better embody the character.

By azeria. 20/11/12, 02:50 am

For me its definitely cosplaying because I love the character/show that they're from. The only times I've cosplayed from something I hadn't seen/didn't particularly care about was being asked to join a cosplay group.

Though I am considering making a GE cosplay sometime in the future just because the design is so hggnnn. I doubt I ever would though, too much that I want to cosplay because I actually like them xP

By RenaStar. 20/11/12, 03:32 am

I like to cosplay characters familiar to me usually, but once in a while a design crops up and i think, ooh i would love to make that! But haven't made that yet haha

By Suixelo. 20/11/12, 05:55 am

I'm not a gamer by any stretch of the imagination, but I would still cosplay from a game. There are some amazing designs out there that I get really excited about seeing in cosplay form! I also don't watch a lot of anime now compared to what I used to watch. But I still cosplay and I still LOVE cosplay. Next year my plans are all from older series that I have watched/played and am a fan of but I could see myself cosplaying something that I was only a fan of the design and not the game/series. It all depends on how you view cosplay and WHY you cosplay, everyone will have a different reason or a different story.

I think as long as the cosplayer is respectful of the game, series etc that they are cosplaying from it shouldn't really matter if they're a massive fan or not. If they're having fun creating the costume or portraying the character, all good! It's supposed to be fun and I think some people do ruin the fun by taking it all too seriously. Who cares if one girl is only cosplaying for attention? That's HER choice, not yours. Do your thing anyway!

**Guest** Guest

Of the 3 cosplays I have, 1 of them is from something I know about, 1 is from something I am currently reading and 1 I have because I like the design of it.

I don't really read or watch that much, I play games more and that's generally what I want to make more. I'm bad because all my costumes I have bought because I don't have the skill to make any, or a license to drive and get supplies in my own time.

Also from my point of view, a lot of guy characters look generic and don't really stand out with out a female counterpart which makes me kind of sad, I definitely don't cosplay for the attention, but it is nice to be recognisable.

As long as you have fun doing it, it doesn't really matter to me, unless you are going around as a character and are completely mocking something that other people are into, that's not cool.

By Le_Saboteur. 20/11/12, 09:44 am

I'm more into the fandom aspect of it at this stage- I love dressing up from source material that I really enjoy and meeting other people who are into it. That said, I would DEFINITELY do a costume if I just liked the design, or if some pals wanted me to be in a group (and, you know, the costume was cool).

I don't really get the elitism and gatekeeping stuff. Who cares? I agree with Suixelo, I think it's more important to have fun, and there are different ways to do that. As long as the person in costume is cool with it, I think it's rad.

By IcyRose. 20/11/12, 10:18 am

Personally, I am more for the fandom aspect of cosplay. I see it as a way of expressing my particular liking of a character and/or series. That said, if I was invited into a group from a series I was not familiar with I would probably still consider it.

I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to cosplay a character based on the design of them. A good number of my cosplays are characters I liked the design for but before I decide to cosplay them I like to get to know the character first as I still feel that I need to like the character or some sort of aspect of their behaviour to enjoy the cosplay.

By kyokyogirl. 20/11/12, 10:28 am

I'm another one for a mix of the two. I like to cosplay characters from series I love but I have to like the costume design as well.
The love for the character and the series is what sustains me through the process (blood, sweat and tears) of making the costume.

By Pura. 20/11/12, 11:45 am

I always feel a little uncomfortable cosplaying from something I haven't watched or played. Or if it's a series I don't really care about P:

I base who I cosplay mostly off if I like the series and like the character and costume, etc. I'm not against cosplaying from things I haven't watched or seen, but I'd rather not Razz

By lolixNYAFUUN. 20/11/12, 12:20 pm

I usually only cosplay from soemthing i have played, read or watched. But sometimes when i'm playing/reading/watching something i fall in love with a characters design and just have to cosplay them even though the series wasn't that great or the character isn't particularly likeable aside from their design xP.

So yeah, a mix of both ^^

There's also the case of joining groups and cosplaying in order to fill up the group members which is sometimes a character i don't have a strong affinity to.
Or the case of falling for certain characters (for example lightning from ffxiii, tohou, vocaloid etc) because they are just so my style and i would love the challenge of making their costumes and pulling off the cosplay.

But in these cases i would at least put in the effort to research the character i have decided to cosplay, look at some poses, read up on their personality and roles etc etc and what the general game/series is about, so that even if i havn't played or seen the series i wouldn't be completely ooc and clueless about the series i'm representing through the cosplay.

I feel that's the least you could do for picking a character you only cosplay for the looks haha.

By Hannah. 20/11/12, 12:21 pm

i guess i'm a mix of the two as well. I usually cosplay characters i really like but i still consider the design as well, as much as i love the super manly characters it would look a little strange ~~though id probably still attempt it in future~~

that being said i have no problems cosplaying from something i haven't seen (and have done this) because of the design but i'd have to be pretty awesome

In most cases i end up watching/playing/reading something after seeing it anyway
guess it just makes it "mean more" if your putting in the effort to make/wear an outfit and plus references usually end up watching an entire series just for those.

By Paul. 20/11/12, 04:12 pm

For me its a bit of a mix but always I have to like characters clothing / outfit. A lot of the time I really like the character too. Some of the time I hardly know anything about the character. I do a little bit of research in those cases. To find out if they are 'good enough' for me. Weekly Qs #5: Are you more into the fandom aspect of the hobby or the costumes? 755823

Weekly Qs #5: Are you more into the fandom aspect of the hobby or the costumes? 755823

Often I will end up watching an Anime series only because I liked the look of a particular character and want to find out more about them. Which normally leads to me liking the character and the series.

By Number-IX. 20/11/12, 05:06 pm

Like Pura, I feel really uncomfortable cosplaying a character from a game or show i don't know. Often i find really fantastic designs though and that's the reason while i'll play the game or watch the movie/show, so if go ahead with making it, i don't feel bad? Haha
It was initially a mix for me though. But when it comes to potentially-entering-this-in-a-contest cosplay, i might do what i said before, most of the really intense designs aren't from games ive already played etc??? YEah

By EternalOutsider. 20/11/12, 06:20 pm

Well, personally i would find it hard to put the effort into building a costume if i diden't feel some sort of kinship with the character. Weather that be though there design, character traits or story.

There are defiantly characters im interested in purely from a design perspective. Heck, half of the anime i check out is because i like the look of the figure.

As long as your enthusiastic about what your doing, i don't think it matters.

By iwuvanime. 21/11/12, 10:23 am

Most of the time I am a fan of the character/series I cosplay.

However I remember when I first started cosplaying my friend and I saw a picture of a character and decided to make the costume...it was only when i had nearly finished the outfit that I found the source and played the game...It was Disgaea which is now one of my favorite game series XD

By Pura. 21/11/12, 12:53 pm

I think a lot of us base if we watch an anime off if the characters look cool Razz

I base it off art style and storyline, haha.

Like, I chose to cosplay Shiemi from Ao no Exorcist before I had started reading/watching it, and had an "I hope I like her" vibe, lol. And she turned out to be my favourite character (:

A lot of the time I find a cool picture and decide I want to read or watch the series. That's how I found out about Trinity Blood. It was YEARS ago before it was popular and I found an image from one of the very first pages of the manga and it had pretty art work and vampires and wings and all that awesome stuff. So when I finally found out what it was and stuff I watched the anime and I've loved it ever since (and want to cosplay all the characters, whoops).

By Tails. 21/11/12, 02:15 pm

I always find myself oggling over designs of characters from games I haven't played/series I haven't watched, thinking how I'd make it and things but by the next day I've completely forgotten they exist...and end up doing my favourite characters instead because their actual personality and story are stuck in my head. So I always end up only doing things from my own fandoms, with the exception of being asked to join a group and knowing it'll be a lot of fun, or for a specific photoshoot I can't pass up. In saying that, I don't see anything wrong with doing costumes in which you don't know the character but love the design. Some people are more inclined to make something from a design and construction point of view instead of fandom, people make costumes for all different reasons.

tl;dr IT'S ALL GOOD

By Daddylion. 23/11/12, 03:49 pm

I like the fandom aspect more. I often only cosplay characters I feel I can pull off (personality wise) meaning i need to both know the character to an extent, and identify with them. That said i don't mind cosplaying something i'm not that familiar with if a friend asked me to cosplay it with them (if i like the character design too). So i guess i'm into the fandom aspect and the community aspect.

By Mischa. 25/11/12, 03:01 am

I think it's a mix of both!

I usually cosplay from series I love, but I might not be my favorite character because another has a design I am more interested in making)

(I did this with Dragon Age - Morrigan is one of my favourite video game characters ever but I wasn't inspired by her clothing as much as the elf mage concept art!)

I am nuts about Warhammer 40k but 85% of the minis and artwork are male (8ft bald Acromegaly featured) and I am running out of female characters!

the times I have done a character just for the design I have felt really meh about it...I did Polaris because I wanted to do one super hero outfit as a cosplayer, making it got boring very fast and I had no desire to wear her again. (I love comics, I even made one at one point!...just not the superhero genre)

By NikoKadaj. 16/12/12, 01:02 pm

both \ouo/

**Sponsored content**