Well, I just recently had a look at the difference between American & Pinoy cosplay.
The majority of Americans that do attempt cosplay is obviously in the 1000's and may seem hard to compare to, but I think not.

It's really quality not quantity, I really do have to give a thumbs up to the pinoy cosplayers for the hard work, and the posing!

Keep it up!

Tony (From New Zealand) (I do cosplay a bit myself, but it's hard to express that in my country)

OMG!!! 1000+ cosplayers??
thanks for joining hir in PC!!

They have a big country!
But no match for quality ;)!!

1000+ cosplayers,dats a huge number!
how long does it take to complete the whole catwalk??
5hrs??

i think
its the quality and the passion for cosplaying
that makes Filipino cosplayers
stand out!! ^_^

Meto ^_^, Oh and most American shows don't do catwalk.
It's just photoshoots.

saan ako? what category do I fall under?XD
I live in the US pero born and raised in the pinas :lol:

@chibi
nayhahaha
cguro ur n d american side
kc jan k ngcocosplay

@tony
can u understnd tagalog??
fil am??
or not??

Quality never goes out of style. Welcome to Pinoy Cosplay, Tony! :)

not for long! :lol: pag uwe ko ng pinas, ill bring *all* my costumes

@chibi
cool
cge patour sa closet mo ha??
:lol:
kelan k uwi??

Unfortunatley, I can't understand tagalog, i've tried to learn but it seems i'd proberly need a tutor with it, it is a goal along with Japanese!! so i'm open for help.

*ALSO* You fall under Pinoy, you are representing the phillippens in america!

I'm willing to help ya out Tony! ^_^

@Lexy: sige, I'll let you have a walk in tour :lol: Uuwe ako sa 2007 (im coming home in 2007) for a family reunion and by then I will be sure to bring all my stuff. I might have to wear several of my wigs on the plane :lol: and I plan on cosplaying everyday I'm home sa Pinas -_-

I want to go home earlier...so maybe by some miracle i get to go home at 06! ^_^ I need to be back in the US by July for Anime Expo :lol:

@Chibi: Oh great!!!, That'd be awseoum thing for me to do, how do you plan on helping me out ^_^

@tony
:lol: feel free to browse our threads
its easier to learn tagalog dan nihongo
^_^

@chibi
waaaaaaaahhh
i think nsa cali na ko nun
uhuhuh
baka mgkita p tau jan eh!!!

@Tony: if you have a instant messenger, that would help then we can start with the basics ;) it's also better if your somewhat familiar with Tagalog or have a family member that speaks it so it also helps. Listening works as well.

@Lexy: Sige! mag kita tayo! Punta ka naman sa mga conventions sa Cali. ;) Marami dito

@chibi I don't have any family that knows tagalog, I use the following MSN/AIM/Skype, you can pick ^_^

MSN: stonix@gmail.com
AIM: waiukusucks
Skype: stonixer

CREATIVENESS:

Actually, most of the American cosplayers can make great costumes coz most of them are dressmakers themselves. They know what materials to use & where to get it. And most of them are resourceful.

Here in the Philippines, most of us rely on professional dressmakers especially when we choose difficult costumes. There are few cosplayers who make their own outfits.

PUBLICITY:

I've read that America got lots of monthly anime conventions. And from what I saw from Radical Akira's (a friend who went to one of those conventions) photos, the area is huge & well organized. There are lots of anime booths & tickets are limited & expensive. Rad was able to catch up before the last ticket was sold & boy did he spend a lot on those Gundam figures. I don't know if the cosplayers have catwalks on that one but since Tony mentioned they only have photoshoots so maybe it's just the same.

Our country also have monthly conventions but most of them are small areas crowding with tons of fanatics & spectators who just wanna see what's going on. Unlike the western conventions, we have few anime-related sponsors & booths. The familiar ones are from Online Gaming companies. But unlike America, we have our very own catwalk & photoshoots. This is where cosplayers can demonstrate how well they act like the characters they're imitating. View cosplay catwalks at the Cosplay Videos thread located at Cosplay Gallery

POPULARITY:

I've no idea if the western countries have their local cosplay celebrities. But here in the Philippines, it's a different story...

Most cosplayers who've become popular are contacted to make a company well-known & spread the news that there is cosplay existing in the country. Most of them are paid to pose for magazines, TV shows, & others are given opportunity to become Game Masters in a certain Online Game.

The idea is not bad at all but for some, they think that the celebrities are puppets for fame & glory.

for me... Philippines is a best place to cosplay... most of the materials here are cheap and as for the cosplayers we are more resourceful when it comes to materials.^_^

@chibi

hehe... pagdating mo dito.. I'll take you to cosplay material source heaven.... Divisoria!!! :D

@polence: oi! sige! XD I want to go XDDD

here in america, we have alot and i mean alot of conventions everywhere where organizations rent out a whole convention center/arena + hotel just to house the convention.

most are expensive. very expensive. At PMX I atleast paid $25 for a days pass. For Anime Expo, for a 4 day pass at the door purchase ran me atleast $50 not to mention hotel and food cost. which in total ran me atleast $120.

we have our own little catwalk which is the cosplay contest, where everyone gets to walk through stage and gets interviewed by judges. The only way you can do the 'run walk' is if you made your own costume and if you win the cosplay summit, you get to represent America in the cosplay contest overseas. Theres also the masq. where cosplayers get to do skits aka acting. I have a few videos from Anime Expo which I still need to upload.

But most just like to walk around the convention and people randomly come up to you to ask for a photo. Or by just standing in the hallway and posing you can gather a crowd where they just go and snap the shot and walk away unless they run or represent a website/org then they do a mini photoshoot with the cosplayer.

popularity wise: Yaya Han is a pretty big cosplay name. She constantly visits conventions with her well extravegant costumes and is usually hired be several companies for advertisement.

But usually, if you have a well known costume you get to make a name for yourself. Such as Manfaye. he became popular because of obscenity.

Material wise, yes the philippines in cheaper but when it comes to more complex costumes that requires fiber glass and all that stuff. I think America is the answer. But honestly, sa Pinas, my family runs a construction company :lol: so either way, sagot naman ako sa materials when it comes to welding and creating props since I took metal and wood shop.

Many cosplayers here spend hundreds to thousands of dollars on their costumes. Some of them actually goes to a fashion school. I am actually trying to apply to FIDM the fashion college to go into Costume designing.

Theres actually a person from cosplay.com that made a Gankutsuo costume (he/she is a costume designer) using fiber glass to get the optical illusions it requires.

Alot also spends hundreds of dollar for contacts as oppose sa pinas where they can be cheaper :lol:

American cosplay is very different from Pinoy cosplay. I think it's because we have better access to materials....(I.E. JoAnn Fabrics and Walmart if we're desperate), where I bet (I really don't knw) in the Philippines, there are no such things as big giant corporate stores....it's all small businesses I think.


Anyway, both have their strong points.

And not all American cosplay is lacks quality in comparison....there are some high quality stuff.

Just look at my friend Stripper Vash

magsshopping kmi bukas sa

divisoria

nyahaha 168 here we come

ilaya najan n kameh! hahaha

Welcome Tony to PinoyCosplay

from my point of view.. cosplaying here in the phil is just rising up from its underground existence... much like airsoft. I've read an article before on Questor mag featuring JM Chua that sooner or later many people would take interest in cosplaying. as for material issues i have to agree with the other posters that america has many sources to get their materials as for the phil it is a matter of surveying your surroundings or shops to find that material you need other than that you have to go to DV, quiapo, or manila to search for what you seek. About the convention issues i've read an ad for a con that cost more than our own convetions (assuming 2-3 dollars) but if you consider conventions for the americans yes it is very huge you'll be tired before mid-day from walking around and visitng booths its in a massive scale!!11 yes even our con is not large like that of our US counterpart but still its add a factor if you think of this theory that i have if you alot a big space from a person how would you interact to the other person.. thinking in that way even though we have small venues there is a fine line that the cosplayers could interact with other people.. take this example that if i would ask a person for a picture other people would stop and turn their heads to us and also pitch in... but still it depends on the person that is in the costume nevermind the type of materials he/she has but he/she must stand out from his/her costume (but not too much) its like 50/50 ratio of costume and your own attitude... for example if your cosplaying snake and dont have enough resources why not use his stealth deivice (a box) then during the catwalk have a g-nome soldier tag along with you.. then when he is going to reveal you why not surprise him before he could lift the box and seduce the guard (dirty dancing i guess)..... *eherrmmm* anyway just forget the example... and thats how i see it...

@chie
wah sama ren aku pero maraming gagawen
@chibi-kun
pasalubong koh hehe joke lng ^^;

@chie
2loy bukas sa divi...

divi the best!
168 n tutuban welcome us!

elo po sa lahat.... :)

@manero: sige XD mag dadala ako ng mga pasalubong para sa lahat then :lol:

america does have a larger convention skale since most of them take up a convention center + hotels or just a hotel.
And despite the fact that it is a pretty large convention, that never stops the person from actually getting intouch with the cosplayer. I mean its harder since you usually have to wait until the crowd of photographers die down before you can actually go up to them to talk :lol: and there tends to be hundreds and hundreds of cosplayers to talk to.

Although american cosplayers (such as myself) have more and bigger conventions, the prices seem outrageous. I'm planning to go to the Anime Expo in 2006 along with my anime club. (And I'm leading it...... <_< ) We're going to stay there for all 4 days. With that in mind I have to collect $4200!!!!!!! And that's without the pre-con room. There is also the fact that although we have access to high quality materials, they are expensive. Plus, some of us have a hard time finding the right materials. (You guys in the Philippines though are more resourceful than us.) We also have Famous/Infamous cosplay celebreties. (Search ManFaye) But we are usually never hired for cosplaying. It's more of a hobby here. Yet, we are noted by credible media (i.e. Asscociated Press, MSN) But all in all, it's still fun. It acts as a creative outlet for me.

P.S. Have they found Garci yet? :mellow:

^that's why Filipino Cosplayers are lucky to have Divisoria and 168

@animegamer:

paying that much just for Anime Expo is pretty crazy. I paid only $120 and that includes, gas, food, hotel and convention admission (and we paid at the door which was $50). I guess it really depends where your coming from as well as how your going to get there and which hotel your staying at. The hotel we stayed at was Days Inn which was conviniently a good 2 block walk from the convention center and there was a shuttle to take us there anyway and its at the corner from carls junior as well as a convenient store.

WE Filipino CosPlayeR,

we are Proud, inspite of all this crisis, we still able to join a cosplay event

and come up with a beautiful costumes.

and we are very thankful that we have Divisoria,tutuban and 168...

"the Paradise of Cosplayer"

one day we will able to set a cosplay event on a hotel or may in Boracay..
isn't that cool?!

To Chibi-kun:

I didn't mention that I'll be bringing 24 other people with me and that we're staying there all 4 days plus a day before the con (We're staying at a hotel that the con uses). We live at least an hour's drive to Anaheim, so we don't worry about gas money. So as follows:

Registraion cost: Unknown/Pending
Marriott hotel room cost per night (maximum): $150
Days Staying at the con: All 4 (Plus a day before the con)
Number of people going: Estimated 25
Rooms needed: 7 (4 to each room)
Group discount: $125

(150 x 7) + (150 x 7 x 4) - 125 = $5125

$5125 / 25 = $205 per person (maximum amount)

And I'm stressing out on the money. Wait until I need chaperones.....

P.S. Merry Christmas over there in the Philippines by the time you read this message.

NOTE: What's Diviorsia and 168 :huh: ?

divisoria is like a market place full of stores ;) (well thats what i remember of it before i left the PI)

the marriot is expensive and wefound out that we can actually fit in several people in one room. And the marriot is bigger so you could probly fit atleast 6 but 4 max if their cosplaying. but there are some good things for using the con hotels i guess. Free tickets to the masq. -_-

suddenly i've got this urge to join this forum.....

whadya' know! my first post! ;)

i don't see the point why people have to compare Pinoy Cosplayers and American Cosplayers.

so why do people do cosplay? well for a number of reasons, one of them is that they adore the anime and/or anime character they like. so they dress up, spend like hundreds of dollars for materials and talk about spending your waking hours to put together a nice costume.

the only reason that why we see cosplayers in the US having nice and detailed costumes is because they spend their time polishing it. when your making costumes, you just don't make one to have it as a one time use, but to practically improve every fiber of that costume. you see what works, you see what materials that will make it better, and you see what will make it stand out from the rest.

i dunno why people do get discourage to see other people with better costumes. most of these costumes have undergone several revisions and improvements. so if you make a costume, once wouldn't be enough, since it is a trial and error for you.

if you're new to cosplay, start with simple designs. then from there move up...

i might post some pictures here. i dunno why nobody, and not one has ever mentioned FanimeCon. <_<

welcome to pinoycosplay Tony

btw:
in my opinion:
its not about quantity of quality we're talking about with regards to cosplay.
cosplay is meant to cosplay your favourite character or the characters you would like to portray regardless if you look like the character or not.
its about enjoying cosplay that makes it fun, if your just in it for fame or which is a better cosplayer or which looks better, your missing the point ;)

anyways still thanks for your compliment but i still see some american cosplayers that are good!!! take pikmin for an example :)