Heroes of Cosplay

Over the years, I've seen some amazing costumes at comic book conventions- but few as elaborate as what we see here. I had no idea that "playing dress-up" could be so time-consuming- or so expensive. The desperation some of these contestants experience is understandable when one factors in the amount of time, the workload and the out-of-pocket expense(s). By far the most impressive of the cosplayers (for me) is Yaya Han (or, as Howard Wolowitz of THE BIG BAND THEORY might put it: "Yaya YEAH!!!"): I can't think of a better ambassador for cosplay than Miss Han; anyone who thinks that cosplay is just for kids only needs to take a long look at her...

Cosplay wants to bring role play/costume making to the public. It wants you to see/experience the competition. The problem is all of the drama (fake drama also because the camera is in someone's face for all of it) that is prevalent in every single competition show nowadays. This show would have benefited more by showing how the contestants made their costumes and their creative ideas. By also having Victoria on the show you have damaged any positives that you could have had for the Cosplay community. First off: she does nothing for herself and has a boyfriend who she "uses" to make every single outfit for her; secondly: she just gripes on the boyfriend and complains about every single thing; third: she made a disparaging comment on how heavy people should not wear costumes (and in a world that want you not to be judgmental of their work -- she is a hypocrite) and lastly she is just a nasty, negative, spiteful person who is a bad example of a Cosplayer.

Heroes of Cosplay was a tv show that made me feel ashamed to be a nerd.

I have to say about this show is the realism. The toxicity behind the scenes of these cons is uncut. Starting off with getting in or at all to a con. Entering a comic con parking is a nightmare. One would have to pay exuberant amounts of money just to get into these things and valet for parking.

Next is getting cosplay to go through. There are serious winners and sore losers at these things. Sometimes people will dress up as Raiden from MGR with his robotic visor down to his outfit and his sword and hair. On the other hand I kid you not, someone would probably dress up as some mediocre superhero that wouldn't look out of place in Concord. The outbursts and breakdown these nerds have is so funny yet so sad at the same time. It's weird. There will be endless mishaps.

Feminists going crazy. Social rejects just fighting each other.

But really, no one needed to record this cringe. It's so sad to watch. I guess what they say is true. Social media only shows the highlights.

As a person who's never experienced Cosplay before this series, and dislikes Reality TV (people with no lives watching others with no lives), I thought a more neutral view was required for other like minded souls.

Every great story starts with people who are driven, people who love their hobby so much it becomes something more. The computers of today were once the domain of geeks in garages trading capacitors and diodes, wrestling was a sport generally restricted to schools or drunken brawls, and anyone who played computer games was part of a curious minority group called "nerds" ...... who would have believed that hobbies would be worth millions in the future?

This story follows several people as they show their intense passion for a unique but growing form of entertainment called Cosplay. For those who are unsure, Cosplay (I assume is short for Costume Play) appears to be people competing in role playing a character from any fictional source where each person/group designed and created their own props. Some of these costumes and props can range from basic and economical to true works of art with a price tag to match.

Each episode revolves around a particular competition, most set at different locations. As the series follows these unique people through their lives, many of whom have their financial situations closely related to these Cosplay competitions, there is a strong sense of community. Seeing peoples dreams and aspirations, their success and their failure, it's hard not to feel empathy. Possibly it's easier if you've felt the addiction of competition but by then end of the six (6) episode you feel, on some level, bonded to each of the actors.

The only area of disappointment resides in the producers attempt (only a few scenes) to hyper inflate certain situations to imbue emotional reactions in the viewer, it cheapens the empathy a person feels.

By far the true value came from watching the props and costumes go from thought to production to completion. Some of these people have prodigious levels of talent, and as a team, they compliment each other perfectly. Jinyo and Victoria for example. At first they appear complete opposites, but within minutes we can see how well they suit each other. Jinyo is a skilled designer and helps keep Victoria grounded. Victoria has extraordinary flare as an actor and helps to bring some much needed chaos into Jinyo's life ..... after all, what's the point of existing if nothing changes.

If you haven't found interest within the first thirty (30) minutes then you likely won't enjoy the series, if you do then you'll probably watch all six (6) back-to-back like I did.

The producers miss the mark. Cosplay isn't about winning a contest, it's about living the fantasy. The show should have focused more on character history, costume design, fabrication details, how to make your own, what's behind the costumes and performer profiles. What does a weekend cos player superhero do during the week? What's their secret identity? We do not need a over-dramatized contest of faked relationships to tell which costumes are awesome. The stupid series is self-aggrandizing, promoting the unimportant, bent on finding evil hatred, rather than showing the love that brought everyone together in the first place.