Its 9am on a sunny Saturday morning and a large army has descended on the Excel centre in London. Some of them have guns, others giant swords and quite a few of them appear to be ninjas. But I’m not panicking. Why not?... partly because I’m a hero (and heroes don’t cry), but mostly because it’s just the London Expo.Expo is heaven (albeit a crowded one) for fans of Movies, TV, Anime and Manga. It features countless stalls selling toys, t-shirts, DVDs and all manner of nerdish delights. There’s also a few famous faces signing autographs and posing for pictures too. This year’s guest stars were a varied bunch; they included John Connor’s gun totting mother form the Terminator movies (Linda Hamilton), that evil looking bunny from Donnie Darko (James Duval) and a Hollywood acting legend who used to date Marilyn Monroe (Tony Curtis).
This eclectic gathering of stars should be the big lure for the crowds, but it’s not. An increasing number of people flock to Expo for one reason, it isn’t celebrities or shopping, it’s Cosplay. The opportunity to gawk at someone in ill advised spandex, wielding a Styrofoam sword while wearing a head made of papier-mâché. Impressive, beautiful, shocking or bizarre... pick an adjective and you’re guaranteed to bump into it walking around the Expo. A bearded man dressed as a Japanese schoolgirl is like a roadcrash, it’s horrifying, yet difficult to avert your eyes. Thankfully, some of the costumes are more alluring and amusing. Each year the costumes get more elaborate and numerous; once a minor oddity, they have become a principle attraction.
The term ‘Cosplay’ was first used by a man called Nov Takahashi to describe behavior he witnessed in L.A. in the 1980’s at the Sci-Fi Worldcon. Japanese language has a penchant for combing separate words to make one really cool one, in this particular case, Costume and Role-play. It’s more than just fancy dress, as ardent fans compete to recreate the look of their favorite characters in intricate detail. Popularized in Japan (the place where crazy trends go to become national pastimes) Cosplay has long been a part of the American convention scene too. Judging from this year’s Expo, we’re catching up in some style....
If you want to see what you missed or just relive the magic/ordeal then check out the gallery of this year’s heroes, villains and weird looking furry things.
UPDATE - Video links now below...
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