By far the most highly anticipated event of the convention, the Cosplay is where members, or groups of members, perform a rehearsed skit based on anime and/or gaming characters.

Rules

1. All CosPlay participants must be members of AnimeFest 2009.
2. Mandatory Rehearsal: 4pm-7pm.
3. Forms will be available at the convention or you may bring your own. The forms will be taken from 7pm-9pm on Thursday. On Sunday forms will be taken from 12pm-3:30pm.
4. No Costume is NO COSTUME. Please remember some of the attending fans are young so if you can't wear it to Grandma's you can't wear it here.
5. Please remember AnimeFest is a family convention. Try to keep skits within the PG or TV Y7 range. You can find more about the movie rating system here: The Motion Picture Association of America and the TV guidelines here: TV Parental Guidelines.
6. No more than 8 people on the stage. You may trade players by having one walk off and another walk on but no more than 8 at any one time.
7. All costumes must pertain to Anime, Manga, J-Pop, J-Rock, or Video Games to be eligible for Grand Prize and "Best" category awards.
8. Please do not throw anything onto the stage or at the audience. We WILL make you clean it up and the Event Director WILL be grumpy about it. It could also get you removed from the convention.
9. No flash pots, explosives, fire, smoke, fog, or mist of any kind.
10. No real weapons of any kind.
11. No microphones will be provided. All music must be pre recorded via cd or .mp3. Please make sure your tracks are clearly marked and turned in with your sign up sheet.
12. Time limits will be as follows: (Time limits will be enforced. A sign will be held up at the 2- minute mark. If you go over your time you will be asked to leave the stage.)
    • There will be no walk ons – they will show their costumes at the Masquerade.
    • Individual or group acts have 5 minutes.
13. The CosPlay staff may disqualify anyone for any reason deemed sufficient.
14. There will be a mandatory rehearsal the day of the CosPlay. Bring a script if you are unsure about the rating or your skit. Rehearsal 4pm-7pm.
15. You might consider bringing a picture of the character you are portraying to help the judges. They have seen a lot of anime, but no one has seen it all.
16. Awards are as follows:
    • Grand Prize: The group/individual must display an exceptional monologue/ dialogue as well as innovation of props, accessories, or movements that help identify the settings.
    • Best Dramatic Skit: The group/individual must use drama in a skit as an art to appeal to their audience and judges. This would include a loss, struggle, a plot change, etc.
    • Best Comedy Skit: The group/individual must use comedy at any level to appeal to the audience and judges, whether it is an irony, parody, satire or screwball comedy. Please make sure your skit does not include lewdness or you will not be able to participate in CosPlay.
    • Judge Award/Honorable Mention: An award in which the judges give a group/individual that displayed great skills on their particular performance. This award can be given to someone that performed either a comedy or a dramatic skit.

Please remember to use common sense. We want everyone to have a good time so please respect the rules and other players.

If you have any questions please contact cosplay @ animefest.org