When the words anime convention or Cosplay come into mind, the first pictures that pops into most people's mind are of a Pimple-faced, retainer wearing teenage boy or grown men dressed up as Star Wars characters. However, anyone who has ever stepped foot into an anime convention knows otherwise. For the most part, I would say that your typical good sized convention is made up in to 4 main groups of the people, Scantly clad hot women, not so hot women, guys, and regular un-costumed people(boring, right)

I got into cosplaying about 3 years ago from a friend who was more or less a veteran of the sport. It appealed to me because of my semi-exhibitionism and love of dressing up for Halloween. It provides an escape from ordinary life by living vicariously through the life of your favorite comic book, manga, or tv character. Where else can a totally sane person dress up as Super Mario brother and be taken seriously?

The cons are not just for display of your most revealing costumes, it is also a thriving marketplace and platform for aspiring artists. Dealers rooms showcase amateur and professional artist's work; you can purchase movies, books, comics, and clothing that you may not have access to other than on the web. Most cons offer gamer rooms where you can get sneak peaks at new games or play the systems of yesteryear. You can laugh your(insert your own word here) at the fat kid getting down on Dance Dance Revolution.

Don't Knock it until you try it, especially if you are a small to medium sized company. With some conventions numbering in the 40-50 thousands for a 2-3 day event, there is always a large economic boost for the days of the con. Hotels overflow, restaurants are packed, area shops can't keep up with demand.

So even if you dont want to dress up, cons can be alot of fun, see you at the next Con......