Cosplay is a waste of time?

*insert buzzer noise here*

Wrong.

Think of it like this: there are people out there who are willingly spending their money on things that they enjoy. What's wrong with wearing costumes? Childish, sure, but it's something we enjoy to do. It's not easy either, depending on the route. You can take the easy way out and buy one online/get one commissioned, the middle route and alter clothes, or the much more challenging route, and make it all yourself (mostly all that is, making wigs doesn't look too easy).

Each one has it's own benefits as well:

Making the cosplay, though it may be challenging, as long as you know what the hell you're doing, it pays off in the end. You get an amazing "handmade" (I say this because you might be using a sewing machine and I'm not sure if that counts as handmade) costume, that's custom fit and to your liking. It's pretty damn rewarding when you get to wear it and say you made it yourself. Plus you can even enter contests with them and maybe win awards. Even though they may only be worth a certificate, doesn't it feel nice to be recognized for your hard work? It takes a lot of time though depending on both skill level and what you're aiming for, but it can be fun if you like sewing and prop building.

Then there's the "closet cosplay". Why does it have the word closet in it? Often these are costumes made of clothes you already own. Now this isn't as difficult as making, but it still is a challenge. You can't just throw on a baggy white long sleeve with baggy jeans, scribble on eyeliner and say you're L. No. Just get out. Now.

It takes more than that. I know cosplay is just for fun, but put more effort into it, eh? Try picking something suitable and simple to do. I can't really pull anything off the top of my head that's very easy to do, but lets say Namine from the Kingdom Hearts series. a white dress with scalloped ends and light blue sandals, and straight blonde hair with styled, straight across fringe/bangs ( I've committed this crime many times, and it angers me to no end, but hair is a big part on cosplays!). Very doable, even without the scalloped edging on the dress; who knows, a girl can have these simple pieces in her closet, and from a series so popular, someone is bound to recognize you!

The "easiest" method is to buy or commission a cosplay. It's not entirely easy I'll admit. I've never ordered one, but I've read stories of how rough it can be: shipping errors, sizing errors, scams, poorly made costumes/props, and so on. The only word of advice I can give you is, READ REVIEWS. Were many people satisfied? Did anyone complain about poor quality/service? Had anyone complained about being conned out of their money? Pay attention! It's one thing to make a small mistake like a typo in the address you want the costume sent to and it's arrival is delayed, but it's a completely different story if the person/company you bought from stole your money. Make sure to give plenty of reference images too, you don't want to order a cosplay for Sora (Kingdom Hearts) but get a cosplay for Tidus (FFX) instead!

So yeah. Cosplay is srs business from my standing. I won't lie, people might disagree with me, I have pet peeves about cosplays which I probably have committed before. I'm not perfect at it yet, and have only just begun my journey into the world of cosplay. There's plenty to it aside from that: choosing a cosplay, materials, props, makeup, wigs, shoes, acting the part when needed, etc. Is it a waste of time? I say no, it all pays off eventually. Have I changed your mind about cosplay? Probably not, but hey I'm just trying to get people to understand it's not stupid or a waste of time. It's a hobby, like anything else, and if you enjoy it, go for it. If it's not your cup of tea, just go and accept that it's something people actually do, like watch Jersey Shore (though I've yet to meet one I could understand).

Cheez-pages

Now for anyone who's known me for more than a day knows that I am a huge anime buff and would like nothing more than to have some big breasted Asian girl from space crash onto my front lawn, naked and explain to me that she the harbinger of doom/savior of humanity and I'm the only guy who can help/save her from whatever yadda yadda yadda so on and so forth. Now liking anime normally means you like manga, and I do manga is the s**t to me and I read it all the time but damn do you need to have a threshold for cheese. Some manga and anime are cheesy in a good way like Dragonball Z, you watched that for the epic fights and the straight up ass whoopins', most didn't give a crap about the story even though it was actually pretty good. But where there's good theres bad, and where there's bad there are you serious?

The good is anime/manga like Fullmetal Alchemist. Action? Check. Drama? Check. CLOSURE? Check. Not only that it very rarely was cheesy to the point I wanted to find the creator and beat him with his own book. Outlaw Star was pretty damn good too. Sure it ended up being a love story but it was funny and things blew up...alot...like every episode. That and Melfina was pretty hot. Even anime that looks lame like Lucky Star for example, can be pretty good. But Darryl isn't that for chicks? Yes and no...for those of you that have not seen this particular anime go watch it with your girl if she likes anime otherwise sneak and watch it alone. Personally it's one of my favorite series thanks to the jacked up shots at pop culture, sex, itself, and the gaming industry, that credit goes to the shows leading lady Izumi Konata. Lady isn't even five feet tall yet stood over the rest of the cast. She in essence, is the lazy gamer template if you ask me. Lazy, smart as a whip, and a pro at procrastinating. Characters like this can make a manga worth reading out of a cast of well rejects...(I'm looking at you Inuyasha.)

Now the fun part, the crap. Two words, well 3. SAILOR FRIGGIN MOON. But Darryl, 4kids animation ruined that show! Shut your face, it was crap the second it was spawned. Anyone who had a little sister in the late '90's watched this show at least once, us older brothers bared through because it either A. made your baby sister happy. or B. you thought the girls where hot. (You see the trend yet?) This particular anime was like a box of cheez-itz. The have a day at school, monster attacks they transform into an exact replica of their school uniform (albeit it's a slutty version but its essentially the same damn thing.) fight said monster and go home. That's the series in a nut shell...I'll admit my older sister Luna (yes that's her real name) has paid me off with booze to watch the uncut and fully Japanese versions and while slightly better (English voice overs sound like a dying komodo dragon gargling acid) it still was dumb. They look EXACTLY the same why not bust in their houses and end em' on the can or in the shower Psycho style?

But enough about them, harem mangas are by far the biggest offenders. Picture this...you move into your grandmothers hotel as the landlord, your in charge. Now there's five ladies living there most of which are your age and two jail baits that you ignore of course. Now your the LANDLORD the live in landlord at that, but these tenants are running around making you do all the work while they beat/demean/maul you. Oh, and they don't pay rent. I just described Love Hina, it's a good manga, funny and full of fanservice but seriously...what kind of landlord or dude, hell human being, takes that kind of abuse for free? I mean at least get your rent dude. Harem mangas always follow the group of anime stereotype girls, wimpy, down on his luck, wuss guy get stuck living with them, they all warm up to this failure and eventually fall in love with him at the same time, he's already in love with the first chick he ran into, they hook up at the end, cue credits. That's every harem manga...every last one...see what I'm getting at? The manga market is getting stale Japan stop doing what just works and step out your comfort zone. You made Godzilla...stop failing manga with lame crap. Oh, and don't even get me started on Bleach and Naruto...