Local Cosplay Enthusiasts Unite For Animate! Miami 2014

By Aimee Mahmoud

Anime, Animation, Comic Books, Media Guests, and of course - Cosplay. With all the makings of an exceptional fan convention, Animate! Miami is an annual event encompassing the weekend of January 17th to the 19th. Animate! aims to bring its participants the best in the business, much in the style of the highly-influential Comic-Cons of the West Coast. Media and Industry guests participate in a panel discussion and a "Meet & Greet" session with fans that provide autograph and photo opportunities. Vendors line up the convention room with booths selling limited-edition graphic novels, action figures, fan-produced fiction, and t-shirts commemorating the event. Perhaps the most exciting spectacle of all is the convention's Cosplay dress code and competition. Convention organizers and popular Cosplay models and like Yaya Han serve as judges, with prizes ranging $50 to $500 for best costume. 

 Special photo booths and professional photographers are available to take photos of the participants in costume, some who go extreme lengths to recreate the look of their favorite television, movie, comic book, and video game characters. Fans typically browse for costume supply from a variety of different online retailers, often tailoring certain pieces to their needs. Some Cosplayers even tailor an entire costume from scratch in order to have more creative license and accuracy. 

Other popular features of Animate! Conventions include Jeopardy-style quiz games, Live-Action Role-Playing (LARP), and amateur wrestling competitions. 

"Heroes of Cosplay", a Syfy Channel original TV series plans to feature Animate! Miami 2014's Saturday Night Costume Contest in their latest episode. 

But we feel the need to ask ourselves: What is it about Cosplay that convention participants love so much?

Surely, it can't all be about bearing witness to lovely ladies (and handsome gentlemen) clad in skimpy vinyl and spandex outfits.

For ardent Cosplay fantatics, Cosplay is so much more than looking for a reason to dress up and attend some of the world's most prolific social gatherings. As a well-known Cosplayer and Blogger,Meghan Marie puts it, "Cosplay allows me to be social on multiple fronts. I enjoy collaborating on costumes with friends and taking lessons from artisans in order to improve my craft. I love meeting up with Cosplayers from across the world as we converge on the same city for a convention. And I love chatting with fellow fans on the show floor about our shared interests. That’s what’s so great about Cosplay. You are literally wearing your fandom on your sleeve. Cosplay is an instant icebreaker. Mutual adoration of a character or a franchise gives you something in common with people you’ve never even met. I’ve made incredibly fulfilling friendships through chance encounters while in costume, and am a better person for having those individuals in my life." 

Many psychologists have agreed that certain forms of role-playing, including Cosplay and LARP, are in fact healthy, to a certain degree. And let's face it: Reality for the most part is boring. Depressingly, heartbreakingly boring. It's so much more fun to picture oneself living out titillating, magical existence like our favorite media and literary characters. Embodying social archetypes that allow us to feel like we have more control and dynamic over our lives and destinies is nothing short of liberating, even if you might feel a bit silly at first. That's probably one of the reasons that Halloween is such a popular holiday - being able to step out of your ordinary, run-of-the-mill shoes and into those of something magical - say a Witch, for example, - is one of the top reasons for celebrating the much-loved Autumn holiday. And who's to say that costume dress-up is only for kids?

Sales of Adult Halloween and Cosplay Costumes far exceed those of Children and Toddler's. 

And for those adults out there who hold their unapologetic love of media fandom close to their hearts (but are too intimidated to express it out in the open), I'd recommend attending a Cosplay Event. Shed your inhibitions, have fun learning to create your own costume from scratch, meet all sorts of like-minded fanatics, and take a break from being average, John Smith or Peggy Sue for a day!