This is 2024
"Hello, this is Sean Sackdavong, President of the Anime & Manga Society at Sac State. If you would like to participate in the cosplay contest during Japan Day, please find the Cosplay Booth at the library quad any time between 10AM and 1:15PM to register. As the theme of this year's Japan Day is 'Children's Day', please keep cosplays family appropriate. Cosplays will be graded based on creativity (home-made outfit versus purchased pre-made), accuracy (likeness to source material), and relevancy to the theme of Children's Day (recognizable children's characters such as Pikachu, Doraemon, etc). At 1:45PM, we will announced the top 3 winners. Until then, please enjoy Japan Day!" (if sent as an email, include parking permit and japan day/cosplay contest flyers)
General Cosplay Rules
Costumes can be based on anime, comics, or video games. The country of origin does not matter. If you wish to enter an original character or design based off an existing characters, a full color picture of the character is mandatory.
There will be three awards available to win: Best in Show, Craftsmanship, and Audience Favorite.
Best in Show = Available only to those that made their costumes. Entries will be scored on both the Craftsmanship of their costume, and their Presentation while on the stage of the event. Each half of the competition counts for up to 50% of the total score. As such, only entries that participate in both Craftsmanship and Presentation Judging will qualify for “Best of Show” consideration.
Craftsmanship = Available only to those that made their costumes. Judging for with will be based on accuracy to character, attention to detail, and completeness.
Audience Favorite = This can be entered by anyone whether the outfit is store bought or hand made. The judges and Emcee will listen to hear how the audience reacts to your character as you take the stage. After the contest, the judges and Emcee will discuss who they felt had the most reaction from the crowd.
Please be aware that costumes purchased or rented from a costume shop, seamstress, eBay or other auction site are excluded from entering in the Craftmanship award. However, these costumes can but entered for the audience favorite. The only two exceptions to the rule are “Found Item” costumes with heavy modifications. This is basically a costume that was build by collecting various, appropriate pieces from normal clothing stores and then heavily modified through sewing, gluing, painting, etc. Judges will get to use their own discretion as to how much they believe the costume was modified. The other exception are groups where the seamstress is present to describe the work they did for another individual’s costume.
Each contestant may wear one and only one costume. Multiple entries worn by the same person will not be allowed. No exceptions.
Costumes should be self-contained and self sufficient. Any body paint must be properly sealed to prevent it from rubbing off. Connections to electrical sockets will not be available. Some bulky costumes will require an aid to move or see so please secure your own escort as we will not be able to provide you with assistance. There should be no stairs at this event when getting on the stage so do not be worried about that.
All entries must go to pre-judging before 12:00 pm at the Cosplay Contest booth before they can walk on stage at around XXX pm. There will be 30 spots available and it will be a first come first serve bases. These sports can be solo, duos, or groups. There will be a small form to sign including your name, the character name and series, a short description of your character, and whether the costume was bought or made. References and progress-shots are not needed but they can be really helpful for our judges.
This is a family friendly event, so all costumes must comply with a PG rating. No costumes that are derived from “adult content” sources will be allowed in the contest. If your costume is determined to be too skimpy, or inappropriate for children, you will be asked to cover the offending portions before participating in the contest. Failure to do so will result in disqualification.
Also, please no props. We want you to enjoy the event as much as possible and we would hate for something to happen at the event to your props.
On-Stage - Costume Portion
This is a strictly WALK ON contest. There will be no skits allowed nor any time allowed for a monologue or any sort of dialogue other than what our Emcee will be saying about your character. While you are on stage, please be aware that the reaction of the audience will decided the Audience Favorite award. Our Emcee and Judges will be paying close attention to this so make sure to shine~.
Judging
Judging will be done using a point scale on four factors:
Hair and makeup 10% – Styled wigs, face and/or body makeup.
Accuracy to Reference 25% – How well your costume matches the design you chose to replicate, including color and scale.
Difficulty 15%– Functional buttons, hidden pockets, or lining can add to the degree of difficulty. Props, armor, wings and other accessories may also add to your difficulty score.
Ensemble 50%– Is your outfit made well, and most importantly, look good? Does it fit well?
Please note that some pieces – including wigs and shoes- may be store bought but the majority of the costume must be hand-crafted.