Cosplay, Gaming, and Conventions: The Amazing and Unexpected Places an Anime Club Can Lead Unsuspecting Librarians

Teen services librarians have worked hard during the last few years to respond to teens' love for manga and anime. As a result, anime dubs have become a staple at many libraries. The dedicated librarians who run these dubs, many of whom have spent hours previewing screeners and watching many, many episodes of Inu-Yasha and Full Metal Alchemist, will testify that it seems anime is more popular than ever. They realize that hosting regular anime nights is a terrific way to serve an often hard-to-reach customer base. At the Harrison Branch of the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County (PLCH) in Ohio, for example, anime night may bring in anywhere from twenty-five to forty teens ages fourteen to nineteen. What's even more surprising is that half of them are guys. These teens crowd into a program room to watch anime, chat with friends, sketch manga characters, play Yu-Gi-Oh, and snack on Pocky. For two hours the library is completely theirs and they know it. PLCH'S embracing of anime clubs has given teens a feeling of ownership. Anime dub teens know their ideas are valued. When a teen at one branch asks if the library system can purchase a new anime or manga series, we do our best to make that happen--preferably before the next time that branch's anime club gets together. Once anime club teens realized the library was paying attention to their DVD and book suggestions, they started voicing their opinions and offering suggestions about some other, slightly stranger-sounding ideas. Idea One: Cosplay The term "cosplay" is derived from combining the words, "costume" and "play." There is evidence that the trend of dressing up for conventions started not in Japan, but in the United States, when twenty-two-year-old Forrest J. Ackerman and a friend attended the 1939 Science Fiction Worldcon dressed in futuristic costumes. (1) In the 1980s, masquerading and cosplay made a big splash in Japan, garnering much science-fiction media attention. To gain a real-world understanding of cosplay, close your eyes and picture cat ears, humongous swords, and hot-pink hair. This is the stuff of which cosplay is made. Lots of librarians probably know firsthand that teens devoted to manga and anime enjoy dressing up as their favorite characters. Serious fans may come in costume to regular anime club meetings. But when the anime club teens at PLCH'S Anderson Branch suggested that the library host a cosplay event, they wanted a stand-alone event with a convention-like atmosphere. In Cincinnati, the library's cosplay event is a chance for the anime faithful to show off their creativity. Two basic competitions are included: costume and skit. Such rules as no nudity, no lethal or real weapons, and no flashpots (a pyrotechnic device), were used when advertising the costume part of the cosplay. These rules are a little tongue-in-cheek, but do acknowledge that serious cosplay costumes can be pretty unusual. Costumes run the spectrum from very simple to extremely elaborate. Some participants come in purchased costumes, but those that show real ingenuity in utilizing what's at home are often the most impressive, like using PVC pipe as armor or airbrushing fabric or skin. When participants arrive, they sign up and are assigned a number. Three or four volunteers from the audience who are not dressed up serve as judges. Judging criteria include the effort put into assembling the costume, realistic portrayal of the character, and creativity. As participants' numbers are called, either the panel of judges or the facilitator asks questions about choice of character or costume. The second element of the library's cosplay event is the skit. These are usually kept to fewer than two minutes and feature pairs or groups of teens. Skits can be judged independently or as extra points for the costume competition. Again, the skits give participants a chance to show off their extensive anime and manga knowledge and highlight their own creativity. …