No, the focus of this piece is the amazing Space Michael, which following on from months of teary-eyed celebrities and dirty cash-in movies is probably the sweetest tribute to the fallen pop idol as we've seen.

［コミケ77］ゲームキャラのコスプレギャラリー＜その1＞ [Kotaku Japan]

Cosplayers came out in droves, and Kotaku Japan has galleries up: here and here. And reader tsukasa1288 sent along photos that document some of this year's Comic Market cosplay.

Yes, Japan has Ronald McDonald, but in Japan, he's known as Donald McDonald. He doesn't usually hump people!

And those girls in skimpy duds? It's December. They must be cold.

ZerinaX, WoggyWooWoo, Yummy, startoonhero, Tzion, muburkit, Clarke, SHIMATTA-BAKA-NI, micahmidnight, Zanduar in AfterlifeUSEC, Natalie, Cody_Mau, Minion21g, Steffa,  Anne, Shelly, Chinako, Rhys Berresford and HezaChan.

"A Japanese friend of mine told me very casually, in a totally matter-of-fact kind of way, that the difference between Japanese and American cosplay is as clear as moeru and naeru," says Patrick Galbraith, author of The Otaku Encyclopedia, University of Tokyo PhD candidate and cosplaying Akihabara tour guide. "Moeru" means "to bud", while "naeru"is an antonym and means "to wilt"."

"My friend said that when he sees a Japanese cosplayer, the response is moeru, and when he sees a non-Japanese cosplayer," continues Galbraith, "the response is naeru. He didn't mean any harm, but this is a pretty damn racist statement." It is a sentiment shared by Westerners, too, believing that Japanese cosplay is superior, placing it on a pedestal.

The history of cosplay is intertwined with the West — it was not developed in a vacuum! The word cosplay was coined by journalist Nobuyuki Takahashi and first appeared in print in an article he wrote in a June 1983 article in the magazine "My Anime."" Takahashi shortened the word to "cosplay" after hearing that "costume play" was not actually an English word. A direct Japanese translation of masquerade, with its aristocratic nuances, would not suffice. "Costume" and "play,"" both borrowed words in Japanese, became "cosplay," In the early 1980s, attendees at doujin manga show Comic Market, or Comiket, began drawing pictures of their favorite manga and anime characters on their shirts. This evolved into a handful of individuals dressing up as actual characters.

While Japanese fandom was trying to find its footing in expressing itself, its American counterparts had been dressed up at science fiction conventions for decades. Takahashi was surprised to see Trekkies in full Star Trek gear at the 1984 Worldcon (The World Science Fiction Convention) in Los Angeles. Takahashi hoped that the trend would catch on in his native Japan, and now had the newly minted term he needed to sell it. Geek culture is largely universal. The idea of dressing as one's favorite characters — whether that be from Star Trek or Mobile Suit Gundam — has undeniable appeal.

"Cosplay" is Japanese for "costume play" — individuals dressing up in costume. In Japan, it is not restricted to video game, manga or anime characters, but can encompass dressing in all sorts of outfits: maid, nurse, schoolgirl, etc. The term is a shortened form of borrowed English, yet cosplay is viewed as something uniquely for and by the Japanese.

In the West, dressing up in costumes has a myriad of meanings — all different. There is a rich and long history of masquerade in European aristocracy, which was centuries later appropriated by the sci-fi expos as "costume contests" with participants dressing up as characters from domestic movies or TV shows. The West gave birth to Halloween, a holiday in which children don typically monster costumes. Finally, there is cosplay.

For Japanese, the appeal of dressing up like anime, manga or game characters is understandable. "We see these characters all the time on TV," says multimedia artist Julie Watai, who also does modeling under the name Ai Amano. "And because of that, we view them in the same category as pop stars or actors." But, unlike the popular thespian or rock star, it is not possible to actually meet these characters. They exist in video games, on television screens and in the pages of manga. Dressing up as those characters gives them a chance to, not meet that character, but to become one with that character in a sense. "Not everyone likes these characters in Japan," Watai notes. "But they can dress up as maids or other cute costumes that are sold in Japan." For the Japanese, dressing up and having fun is cosplay.

"It seems that costumes inspired by anime, manga, video games, light novel, figures and so on have come to be called cosplay in the United States," says Galbraith. In Japan, however, Galbraith notes that it would be considered cosplay to dress up as Jack Sparrow or a Stormtrooper. Cosplay could even be considered dressing up as a policeman or a nurse. Americans have separated cosplay with earlier costume costume-wearing traditions (masquerade and Halloween) by East and West — "cosplay" is a Japanese word, so it, for Westerners, encapsulates Japanese popular culture. When the word was re-imported into the West from Japan, it was assumed that the origin was completely Japanese and associated with video games, anime and manga by default.

"In all fairness, I don't think this is really a misappropriation of the word," notes Galbraith. Almost no one in the United States used the word cosplay, or probably even knew it, before the arrival of Japanese culture." Thus, the connection in the minds of Westerners between cosplay and Japanese popular culture is natural and makes sense. What does not make sense is the notion that cosplay is exclusively Japanese or that Japanese cosplayers are intrinsically better at cosplaying than their Western counterparts. It's not that one is better than the other, they're just different.

"A lot of times, American cosplayers are just having fun with it, which is fine," says Patrick Macias, editor of mag Otaku USA. "But in Japan, where the otaku spirit runs deep, I get the sense that you can't be as casual about your fandom, so there's a sort of perfectionist streak that runs through the cosplay community there." That means, far less goofing off, Macias continues, or you don't really see silliness like dressing up as a giant Death Note book. The Japanese seriousness has even given birth to a chain store dealing in cosplay costumes called Cospa."

"In America, there's no dedicated chain of cosplay stores like Cospa where you can walk in and buy professionally made costumes or accessories," adds Macias. Those who didn't get a gold star in arts-and-crafts can find the goods they need online. Those that can't must make their costumes. "So Western fans tend be more DIY and crafty, which I think is good." These homemade crafts can lead to spectacularly amazing cosplays or amazingly horrid — that's part of the charm.

"I notice a lot of people tend to focus on cosplayers who have just started out or tend to pick out unflattering photos of Western cosplayers," says American cosplayer HezaChan, who has been cosplaying for 9 years and has made 30 different costumes. "There are just as many "bad" Japanese cosplayers and unflattering photos of Japanese cosplayers." And while the number of "bad" cosplayers could very well be the same, the number of bad Western cosplayers is proportionate to the number of bad Japanese ones. The reason for the higher number of bad Western cosplayer pics isn't necessarily the cosplayers' fault, but rather, the subculture surrounding it. In Japan, the kamekozo ("camera kids") act as PR machines for popular cosplayers, creating a grassroots idol culture. Kamekozo typically specialize in the best cosplays and largely focus on female cosplayers. These images are uploaded onto popular cosplay and even otaku news sites.

This Japan-cosplays-better-than-the-West is hardly a sentiment shared by all. "Online I've seen literally tons of great cosplays from Westerners!" gushes Watai. "Westerners are much better at cosplaying characters designed with an American or European style than Asians are. They can actually look like the physical embodiment of those characters." But many game or anime characters exist in a cultural netherworld, being designed out of a hodgepodge of features and motifs, looking "Western" to the Japanese and looking "Japanese" to Westerners. "Japanese cosplayers routinely voice their jealously of Western cosplayers who have features like green eyes or blonde hair — all the things they have to work hard to make a part of their costume, these foreigners were born with!" says Macias. "Meanwhile, Western cosplayers will sometimes don black wigs and contacts to look more 'Asian.''"

For the nearly the past thirty years, cosplay has been a conversation between 3D and 2D, between East and West and reality and image. It started out in the West under a different name and was appropriated by the Japanese and then reintroduced back to the West. There is no group of people that is stereotypically "better" at cosplay. And the act itself is deeper than Photoshopped images or cleverly staged stage shows — it offers insight into the very fabric of our cultures, what makes us different and what makes us the same.

[Bottom photo Rhys Berresford] [Pic]

Snapped at the recent Jump Festa in Japan, this cosplayer didn't stop at the costume, oh no, but sports a solid effort at the Sazh afro. We like the pose, and the plastic bag is pretty neat, too!

［JUMP FESTA '10］リアルすぎるFF13サッズのレイヤー [Kotaku Japan]

Capcom USA posted this video yesterday, featuring a live-action model wearing a close approximation of Juri's outfit during a 2010 lineup reveal earlier this year. Hopefully this poor model's awkward stint on stage will dissuade any amateur cosplayers with less appropriate body shapes from trying this one at home. Then again, a less professional cosplayer would have been much better at posing for the cameras. and likely cheaper.

Official Super SFIV Juri Cosplay [Capcom Unity]

FF13のセラの服はしまむらで揃える事が出来るらしい [はちま起稿]

The companions were working the NCSOFT Blade & Soul booth. The two companions were professional models hired by NCSOFT, the company stated, but the costumes were provided by the modeling company and not NCSOFT.

G-Star does not allow booth babes in bikini or underwear style costumes in exhibitor booths. Skirts must cover the pelvis. Tops must cover one third of the companion's back. Companies who refuse to follow this guideline will be punished — first a verbal warning, and the third time, G-Star will cut the booth's power. G-Star even has the right to ask companies to leave the event.

The crackdown on booth companions is so that the event is not known as "Girl Star". Instead, G-Star is known as "The game show that kicks out out cosplaying booth companions for wearing outfits less revealing what you'd see at the beach."

Over-revealing Blade and Soul Showgirls Are Ordered Out of Gstar 2009 [News.mmosite.com]

Aquarium Photoshoot!

Owens' built his"Avatar Machine" costume to "[replicate]the aesthetics and visuals of third person gaming, allowing the user to view themselves as a virtual character in real space via a head mounted interface."

Which means...yeah, you guessed it. "The system potentially allows for a diminished sense of social responsibility, and could lead the user to demonstrate behaviors normally reserved for the gaming environment."

That's all well and good, but we just want to know one thing: can you make us one, Marc?

Avatar Machine [Marc Owens, via GameSetWatch]

Igromir 2009 [Flickr]

The get-up was built by an Adafruit Wave Shield user, connecting the gadget to an Arduino system. I know none of what that means, really, but it allows for the motion-activated sounds. And the soundtrack of course is customizable. So you can bet your bippy someone's dreaming up a Mega Man version as we speak.

Arduino Inside a Mario Costume [Adafruit via Gizmodo]

The degree of help Sega's website can give is relatively minimal, unfortunately. Suggestions include wearing a skin-tight cat suit, crafting butterfly wings so you can pretend you are always jumping, and making sure you get the attitude right, or no one will believe you are the witchy heroine of the upcoming game the website is actually an advertisement for. Here's an example of a helpful hint:

When it comes to defining characteristics, you'll be hard pressed to find another action heroine whose eyewear alone could be used to identify her. While you can't buy the butterfly-adorned sides of her frames over the counter, thin rectangular black rimmed glasses should do the trick.

Thin, rectangular black glasses? I've got those! Now all I need is the cat suit, some weapons, an attitude, and Crecente's hair and I am all set to scare the living hell out of children who dare knock on my door Saturday night. Thanks, Sega!

Sega's Make-A-Witch Foundation [Sega]

Option 1 — Actual Cosplay
This gown/crown combo with gloves and earrings goes for the sale price of US$159.99 — and it comes in mens sizes.

Option 2 — Slightly Skanky
This off-the-shoulder outfit comes with only the tiara and gloves, but at $49.99, that's not so bad.

Option 3 — Slightly Cuter Skanky
The bow on this gown is way cuter than the default skanky gown and the crown appeals to me. Also comes with short gloves for $48.95.

Option 4 — Cute And Skanky
You get the best of both the cute and skany worlds with this one — and the gloves are full-length. Still at $56.95, I'd like a better crown.

Option 5 — Cartoony
For those of you who can't bear to bare your legs, this may be your best bet. You get a full-length dress and crown — but no gloves — for $39.99. (At time of press, it's out of stock.)

Option 6 — Hot Topic
You know you're going cheap-and-easy when you turn to Hot Topic. Time was these guys had some amazing Halloween costumes, but just glancing at this flimsy Peach getup shows you how far the standards have fallen. Goes for $49.99. (Note: This might actually be the same dress as Option 4 — but the price is different and this model looks fuglier, so I'm counting it as a separate entry.)

Photographers Peter Lumby and Rob Dunlop will be displaying photos from the book at an open exhibition on Oct. 20 at Hi sushi Salsa in London.

Here's a taste:

The last time our paths crossed with Ms. Morishita's, she was appearing in a NSFW promo clip for the Airi cosplay book. Before that, she was cosplaying as Chun-Li. And before that, she was holding a limited edition DS. Dunno what she was doing before that. Sorry!

Queen's Blade was originally a Lost Worlds style "combat picture book game" and has been published in Japan for the last couple of years. Queen's Blade features only female characters, and its spin-off series Queen's Gate has showcased the likes of Iroha (Samurai Shodow), Mai Shiranui (The King of Fighters) and Dizzy (Guilty Gear).

This latest photobook feature Morishita is done in the Queen's Blade "combat picture book game" style. It's priced at around US$27 and comes bundled with a DVD.

Queen's Blade has also been spun off into an anime and the upcoming Namco Bandai PSP game Queen's Blade Spiral Chaos, which is out this December in Japan. Namco has released new screenshots for the game, which can be seen here.

クイーンズブレイド公式ページ [クイーンズブレイドTHE LIVE via アキバBlog and moeyo.com]