- Hall Costume Contest

Introduction:
Cosplay is a unique and beautiful part of anime fandom, and the New York Anime Festival celebrates the world of cosplay through two events -- the Masquerade and Costume Contest. The Costume Contest is for newer, younger, more casual cosplayers, as well as serious cosplayers who prefer not to walk across stage. It is a closed-door judging of costumes only (no performances), with the winners receiving prize packages from Anime Insider.

The Sponsor:
The New York Anime Festival's Costume Contest and Masquerade are both sponsored by our friends at Anime Insider. You can learn more about Anime Insider at anime-insider.com.

Contest Participation:
There is no pre-registration for the Anime Insider Costume Contest. To participate, cosplayers need only to visit the Anime Club Lounge between 5 and 7 PM on Saturday, December 8 or 11 AM and 1 PM on Sunday, December 9. To enter, a cosplayer must fill out an Anime Insider Costume Contest Registration Form (located in the Anime Club Lounge), be photographed by the New York Anime Festival's photographer, and be interviewed by the judges. Judges will judge cosplayers purely on the accuracy of their costumes.

Divisions:
The Anime Insider Costume Contest's judging will be divided into the following divisions:

Youth: Any entrant under 13 years of age.
Novice: Any entrant who has won no major awards in costume competitions.
Journeyman: Any entrant who has won one to three major awards in costume competitions.
Craftsman: Any entrant who has won four or more major awards in costume competitions.

Prizes:
All Youth entrants will receive a Certificate of Participation. Novice, Journeyman, and Craftsman entrants will all be judged based on their costumes. 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Place winners from the Novice, Journeyman, and Craftsman categories will be announced at the Closing Ceremonies. Winners will all be featured in an upcoming issue of Anime Insider, receive a complimentary year subscription to Anime Insider, and also receive DVD prize packages.

Submission Guidelines:
There are a few basic rules we ask all Anime Insider Costume Contest entrants to follow. Follow these and everything will be peachy keen.

All participants must have a valid New York Anime Festival badge (this includes Exhibitor, Press, or other badges)
Participants must bring in reference material to familiarize judges with their characters.
Participants must wear costumes. Naked isn't a costume.
Costumes must not have won any major awards at any conventions prior to the New York Anime Festival.
Costumes must not be store-bought.
Participants may not wear the same costume in the Costume Contest and Masquerade.
The Anime Insider Costume Contest is not open to the public. Only participants, parents of participants, and children of participants will be allowed inside the judging room.

Weapon Policy:
Please read this entire policy before attending the New York Anime Festival. Failure to follow this policy may result in your removal from the convention without refund. The following items are forbidden at the New York Anime Festival:

Functional firearms (including air soft guns, BB guns, cap guns, paintball guns, and pellet guns)
Functional projectile weapons (including blow guns, crossbows, long bows, silly string, slingshots, water balloons, and water guns)
Metal-bladed weapons (including axes, daggers, hatchets, knives, kunai, shuriken, swords, sword canes, and switch blades)
Explosives (including firecrackers and fireworks)
Chemical weapons (including mace and pepper spray)
Blunt weapons (including brass knuckles, clubs, and nunchaku)
Hard prop weapons (including props made of metal, fiberglass, and glass)

Prop weapons will be allowed providing they are composed of cardboard, foam, wood, or other light materials. Prop firearms are allowed only if they cannot be mistaken for real weapons. The barrel of all prop firearms must be covered with a brightly-colored cap. Prop bows will be allowed providing all arrows have soft tips

Basically, don't be an idiot. If you bring a prop that could maim, damage, or cause serious bodily harm, we're going to take issue.

Costume Origin:
The New York Anime Festival celebrates everything connected with anime culture -- with manga, J-Pop, and MMORPGs just the start. Costumes must be connected to anime but they need not directly be from an anime. Understand, though, that if you are cosplaying as a character from a Korean online game or J-Rock band, the judges may not know your costume. Please bring reference material to familiarize our judges.

Get To Work:
We've given you the ground rules. Now, astonish us. Put together the biggest, baddest costume we've ever seen and swing on by the Anime Club Lounge between 5 and 7 PM on December 8 or 11 AM and 1 PM on December 9! Good luck!