Cosplay is a huge part of the convention experience. While not everyone participates, it has become one of the things most people are aware of when it comes to anime or pop culture conventions of any kind. However, there are a lot of things people with no or little experience with cosplaying and the cosplay community may misunderstand about it. At this year’s Anime Pasadena, the non-profit organization Kids Can Cosplay was there to help with a panel of volunteers debunking common misconceptions about cosplay.
Kids Can Cosplay
Kids Can Cosplay is a non-profit that does charity events and visitations for kids throughout Southern California, entertaining kids with cosplay and activities. The panel was hosted by Elemental Cosplay and consisted of volunteers of the organization with a range of years of cosplay experience. After offering up some information on their own experiences with cosplay, including how long they have been cosplaying, they began digging into some of the myths and misconceptions they were there to counter.
Panel at Anime Pasadena
The panel kicked off by tackling the idea that cosplay is mostly for younger people. Everyone confidently stated their ages, the youngest of which was thirty three, and went on to talk about how cosplay is for all ages, from young kids up to seniors. They then jumped into discussing how some people feel like they can’t cosplay because they don’t know anything about anime. The misconception here is that cosplaying is specific to anime and anime characters, which they quickly disputed. One of the panelists explained that her preferred genre of cosplay is superheroes and villains, while others discussed a love for video game character cosplays. One panelist also argued that you don’t have to know everything about a show or a character to cosplay them, so people shouldn’t be afraid to just jump in if there is something they like and want to try.
Two huge parts of the discussion revolved around the ideas that you have to be an expert crafter or sewer to get into cosplay and cosplay has to be expensive. Everyone on the panel quickly offered up examples to counter these. From going out to thrift stores to put together outfits, to using household items like ribbon and paper clips for cheap and easy accessories, everyone had suggestions on how to save money and get into cosplay without any particular crafting skills. They also said that for those who do want to get into the crafting part, they shouldn’t be afraid to make things that don’t look perfect. Just like anything else, the skills that go into making cosplay from scratch take time and practice, and the first step is getting over the fear and nervousness to create something.
Overall, the panel was a very inspiring conversation about how fun cosplay can be for anyone, no matter the age or skill level. It was a really supportive environment, with a very fun group of people that had a lot of great advice on taking the leap into the world of cosplay. If you are interested in the Kids Can Cosplay organization and what they do, you can learn more about them on their website.
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