Disc Reviews

Cosplayers UK – The Movie Review

23rd Feb 2014

This documentary follows a handful of Cosplayers on their journey to the May 2011 MCM Expo. For those who haven’t yet discovered the world of Cosplay, the documentary starts with a great introduction to this world’: ‘Cosplay is short for costume play, a performance art in which participants wear costumes and accessories to represent a specific character often from the fantasy, anime, Sci-Fi or comic genre.’

So you now have the definition, its time to follow this creative, passionate Cosplayers. We have students, those in retail and those in management positions. Everyone has a love of different characters, and the costume parade is full of the well known to obscure.

We can see they are a family, they all appreciate each others costumes, help fix any problems backstage, support each other, have made friends and even housemates through cosplay. When someone else turns up in the same costume as you? Its about the photos, swapping tips on what went into making that costume, and how can they make theirs better next time?

The time they take and the detail poured into these costumes is pretty incredible. Some have spent a year making their costumes, some spend huge amounts of money and they are a pure labour of love. This is not something they get paid for, but when they step onto the stage, even for a few moments everyone can see the hard work they have put into this. They get a buzz and for those few moments they are more than just someone in a costume, they really are that character.

Some of them have stumbled into Cosplay by pure accident and are forever challenging themselves to create bigger and better outfits. One of my personal favorites was Skeksill The Chamberlin from Dark Crystal, ten months research and eight months build time went into the creation of the costume. And when the show is over? Its time to start working on something new, to start all over again and spend more time on another costume.

Something that started as a small subculture is growing, its not just something for the ‘freaks and geeks’, everyone is accepted in the Cosplay community – every culture, race, size, gender and age. It doesn’t matter who you are or what your background is, if you make a costume you can step into this world and join this family.