Cosplay

General Rules

All attendees in costume, whether or not they are participating in the Cosplay Competition, must abide by the following rules:

• No weapon props that look realistic, particularly guns and metallic swords and knives, are allowed. Real weapons are absolutely prohibited; per the 2005-2006 BGSU Student Handbook, p. 14, "The University prohibits weapons of any kind on campus." In addition, on p. 47, it is stated that "[e]xplosives, firearms (actual, or novelties/toys reasonably resembling actual firearms), fireworks, firecrackers and similar devices, and weapons of any kind create a potential safety hazard and, therefore, the use or posession of these items is prohibited in University residences. Weapons include, but are not limited to, knives with blades over three inches, guns, pellet guns, paint guns, tazers, bows and arrows, machetes, Ninja stars, nunchucks, grenades and swords." (The Student Handbook may be viewed here.)
• Shoes or other similar footwear and a shirt or other garment that covers the chest be worn at all times. Bare chests and bare feet are not allowed.
• Animarathon and University staff members have final say on what is allowed.

If you have any questions or concerns about the general cosplay rules, please contact the President of ANO, Alicia Smith.

Animarathon 2006 Cosplay Competition

Schedule | Registration | Weapons and Costume Policy

Competition Information: General | Craftsmanship | Performance

Schedule

5:30P--Performance approval time.

6:30P--Curtain Call for both Craftsmanship and Performance participants.

6:30P--Seating for Masquerade begins.

7:00P--Masquerade begins.

Registration

Registration is REQUIRED for both competitions. Pre-Registration is suggested, but not required.

Pre-Registration is open until April 1, 2006. Please contact Cosplay Coordinator (Traeonna at email@traeonna.com) for more information.

Registration at the event will be located at Animarathon Registration from 12:00N-5:00P.

Weapons and Costume Policy

Animarathon PROHIBITS the following:

• Weapons prohibited under Ohio law. All federal, state, and city statutes are in full effect.
• Real firearms (working, disabled, or otherwise) (e.g. rifles, shotguns, hand guns, BB guns, etc.) and ammunition of any and all sorts.
• Gun replicas, even if they have an orange cap at the nozzle.
• Projectile weapons (e.g. pellet guns, airsoft rifles, disc guns, cap guns, silly string, etc.).
• Water pistols or other liquid "weapons."
• LIVE STEEL. This includes any metal weapon that can be sharpened to an edge. Examples include, but are not limited to: swords (e.g. katana, wakizashi/kodachi, tanto), pudao, kwan dao, miao dao, kama, sword canes, knives, daggers, stilettos, switchblades, axes, hatchets, tomahawks, scythes, etc. This also includes shuriken (throwing stars and darts) and other throwing weapons as well as sharp costume accessories (e.g. sharp metal wings, spikes, etc.).
• Laser pointers, laser-aiming devices, or similar devices.
• Any other potentially harmful weapon/prop as determined by Animarathon Staff or violates BGSU Student Handbook, p. 47: Explosives, firearms (actual, or novelties/toys reasonably resembling actual firearms), fireworks, firecrackers and similar devices, and weapons of any kind create a potential safety hazard and, therefore, the use or posession of these items is prohibited in University residences. Weapons include, but are not limited to, knives with blades over three inches, guns, pellet guns, paint guns, tazers, bows and arrows, machetes, Ninja stars, nunchucks, grenades and swords. (The Student Handbook may be viewed here.)

Animarathon ALLOWS the following:

• Replica weapons made of wood, foam, plastic, resin, fiberglass, or other craft materials provided said items are not sharp and do not pose a danger to others. This includes replica martial arts weapons of any kind (must not be made of metal).
• Bokken, shinai, nunchaku, sai, escrima, tonfa, staff, bo, jo, fighting fans, jutte, and other practice weapons (made from wood or other non-metal material) such as kama, katana, wakizashi/kodachi, tanto, pudao, kwan dao, miao dao, etc.
• Bows and crossbows, however arrows must be kept in a quiver and only if arrow tips are removed.
• Cosplay props such as gourds, wings, musical instruments, etc.

Costume considerations:

• Must wear footwear at all times. No bare feet will be allowed for any reason.
• Costumes must be "street-legal" and suitable for all audiences as Animarathon is an all-ages event. If you would be stopped on the street for indecency, then it is most likely not appropriate. Upper half: No bare chests allowed. Lower half: no less than what biker shorts would cover.
• Must be kept to a manageable size. Should not extend 1' to the right, left, front, or back of the person UNLESS they can be folded up or otherwise contained while navigating hallways. This applies to wings, tails, weapons/props, etc. Be aware of your costume and props at all times.
• Must have a clear line of sight at all times. Being only able to see through a tiny eye slot does NOT constitute a clear line of sight. If this is unavoidable, cosplayer MUST have a handler with him/her at all times.

For the safety of all please observe the following:

ABSOLUTELY NO MOCK FIGHTING! Weapons or props may NOT be wielded or brandished in a reckless manner that could cause harm. "Brandishing" is the handling of any item for the purpose of real or implied threat, or any act that may cause anyone to believe that the intent was there, real or implied. The intent is irrelevant and will be treated as assault upon another person. If you are caught using any item in such a manner it WILL be confiscated and repeated offences could include ejection from the event. All confiscated items will be marked with the attendee's name and held at Registration until the attendee leaves Animarathon.

If you are posing for a photo, you are permitted to hold out your weapon or prop, but remember, posing does NOT require you to move! Again, please be aware of your surroundings.

Also please be courteous of other attendees and ensure your props to not impede the flow of traffic in the hallways, panel rooms, etc. Please move out of the flow of traffic when posing for pictures. Please do not wave props around or point them at people.

Weapons purchased in the Dealer's Room/Artist Alley, whether real or replica, must be peace bonded, kept wrapped, and immediately removed from the premises.

General Information

Must have READ and AGREE TO the guidelines set by Weapons and Costume Policy.

Maximum number of members for a group is 6 people. If participant's group has more than 6 members, they may petition Cosplay Coordinator to allow the group to compete.

Divisions

Youth: (Craftsmanship and Performance) Anyone 15 years of age or younger regardless the number of costumes or performances.

Beginner: (Craftsmanship) Has made 1-3 costumes. (Performance) Has not performed at a convention.

Advanced: (Craftsmanship) Has made 4 or more costumes. (Performance) Has performed at a convention.

Craftsmanship

Participants are judged on craftsmanship (design, construction, execution, and general presentation of costume).

We would prefer costumes that are at least 60% handcrafted by participant. We would prefer no commissioned, purchased, or rented costumes (i.e. no costumes from a costume shop, designer direct, eBay, Yahoo Auctions, Cospa, or any other store-bought costumes). Exceptions: The costume is a "found item" costume, which were constructed by collecting various pieces from stores and putting them together (with or without sewing) to make a costume. The costume's creator is present (the creator wins, not the model). Youth participants (at least 50% of the work had to be done by the participant). If competing as a group and the creator is part of the group.

All costumes must be based on Asian animation (e.g. Trigun, Wonderful Days), manga/manhwa (e.g. Angel Sanctuary, Faeries' Landing), a Japanese-origin video game (e.g. Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest), Asian music artists (e.g. Morning Musume, Malice Mizer), Asian Live Action Films (e.g. Battle Royale, House of Flying Daggers), Street Fashion (e.g. Lolita, FRUiTs, Kogal, Kodona), or East Asian mythology (e.g. Kirin, Ten-gu, Amaterasu, Fujin). Generally, if it originated outside of East Asia (Japan, China, Korea, Vietnam), it does NOT qualify. Japanese adaptations of foreign material that are nevertheless extremely Japanese are permitted (e.g. Marie Antoinette-Rose of Versailles, Count-Gankutsuou, or Utena-Revolutionary Girl Utena). Other animation styles (e.g. Shaolin Showdown, Teen Titans), comics (e.g. Star Wars, X-Men), video games (e.g. Halo 2), TV series (e.g. X-Files), and films (e.g. Harry Potter) do NOT qualify. Exception: The costume is a creative interpretation (e.g. Jewish Wolfwood, Pimp Gaara).

Performance

Participants are judged on performance (artistic presentation, technical skills, charisma, entertainment, and overall performance).

Feel free to surprise the audience, but not the Cosplay Staff. Performance must be shown to Cosplay Staff at approval time as you intend to present it at the Masquerade. Cosplay Coordinator reserves the right to cancel your performance at any time for any reason.

Performances are a total of three (3) minutes long. Participants will have 30 seconds to set up/enter and 30 seconds to break down/exit.

This is an all-ages event, so your actions and speech must reflect that. The rating of the material in the performance should not go much over PG13/TV14. Actions, dress, or mannerisms that would not be allowed on a public street or thoroughfare must be avoided. Specifically, the following must be avoided: explicit sexual gestures, nudity, and explicit swearing (e.g. Seven Forbidden Words of TV). Violating these rules will disqualify you and possibly result in your being escorted off the premises.

CDs are the ONLY media accepted. CDs will NOT be queued. The music and/or prerecorded dialogue must be ready to go as soon as it is put the CD player (this means the participant must edit the music and/or prerecorded dialogue BEFORE the event and put it on a CD). The audio file MUST be exactly three (3) minutes or less. If the audio file is longer than three (3) minutes, it will be stopped (even if it cuts out some of the performance). All CDs MUST be labeled.

All weapons must be cleared. For more information, please read Weapons and Costume Policy. In the interests of safety, stage combat is severely restricted. All prop weapons must be used with extreme caution and never used in a manner that may cause injury to another. No projectile weapons will be permitted. No throwing objects (even soft ones) into the audience. If you intend to use any martial arts, falling techniques, gymnastic talents, etc., you must petition the Cosplay Coordinator IN ADVANCE to get it approved.

All presentations must be confined to the performance area. The aisles and other audience areas are NOT to be used for any part of the presentation.

*Any of this information is subject to change without notice.*