Voice-over artist, Michelle Ruff, will be in attendance to discuss her roles in dubbing anime, as well as several other well-known voice talents including Tiffany Grant, Spike Spencer, and Doug Smith.

“We are very excited to invite Michelle back to Lansing, especially to see how much Lansing has grown since she attended college at MSU” said Shuto Con convention Chair, Stefanie Shall, who founded the convention last year with her husband, Joe. “Our attendees will have a very rare chance to get to meet one of the best voice actresses in the world!”

Local video game remix band, Year 200X, will also be in attendance to meet with fans, as well as Hobocon, a troupe that became famous for traveling to similar conventions on a tragically low budget.

In addition to family-friendly panel discussions and autograph sessions with guests, attendees can expect anime screenings, an exhibitor hall featuring artists and dealers from across the state and beyond, dances, adult-themed evening entertainment, and plenty of “cosplaying”.

“‘Cosplaying’ means ‘Costume Play’ where attendees are encouraged to dress up as their favorite characters. At our convention we not only encourage them to dress up, but to act like their favorite characters as well” said Shall, who has participated with Interactive Cosplay groups elsewhere in the country.

In addition to cosplay, Shall also hopes that convention attendees support the nonprofit Lansing Food Bank, through a non-perishable food drive that will be held during the show.

“We are asking when attendees come to pick up their membership badge over the weekend, they donate non-perishable food items like the anime fan favorite, instant ramen, to the LFB,” said Shall, who added designated event staffers will also collect cash donations. “We believe hunger is something no family should have to go through!”

Local business Otakumals, a Japanese-inspired plush doll maker, will sponsor the exhibit hall, and gaming cafe, Evolution Games, will host tournaments and programming in the video game room.

More information about Shuto Con is available on the convention website, including lodging and pre-registration discount information at: www.shutocon.com.

Anime is a type of cartoon from Japan, typically with more grown-up themes, often based on mangabooks. Manga is the written and drawn counterpart to anime and can be likened to comic books for older readers.

TOKYO (Kyodo) — A hair salon in the Akihabara district, the “anime” mecca of Tokyo, is helping costume players get closer to the anime characters they aspire to emulate by trimming and styling wigs they bring in to emulate the characters’ hairstyles.

Cosplayers, who often go to great lengths in matching their costumes, makeup and hairstyles to those of their favorite characters in Japanese anime, manga comic books and video games, can bring in wigs to salon “fuwat,” where a team of a hair stylist and an assistant stylist will cut them into a desired shape upon careful consultation with the customers.

“What’s important is that we try to grasp the different images people have of the same characters,” said an assistant stylist who goes by the name Umeko.

The customers leave their wigs with the stylists for about a week and the wigs have a final fitting when they return to the salon for pickup. The service is by reservation only.

“We are trying to create a 2.5-dimensional world between the two-dimensional, virtual world and the three-dimensional real world,” said Aki, a stylist at the salon.

In this world of busy life, it’s very difficult and tough to take care of any decision regarding babies. For instance, purchasing the safe and best toys for babies is one of the hectic jobs. The toy that one selects should be safe to play for the children and should also impress them for playing. But after seeing many toys, you may be confused on which one to purchase and which ones are safe to play. Don’t pick the toys that you like, you just need to select the toys called as plush toys that are safe for playing.

You can select the plush toys as the initial toys for your child. The soft and the smooth plush toys will be liked by the child and are safe to play. Some plush toys will be in the form of some cartoon figures and with different styles in the online market. These plush toys are cuddly, smooth and are easy to carry to any other place. The toys will not have any kind of choking pieces or hazardous substances that will harm to the child. Make sure before selecting the plush toys will be of good material at affordable prices.

There are different colors and different patterns in these kinds of plush toys. You can find teddy bears, spider mans and many more different kinds of plush toys. If the child becomes big, then you can plan for purchasing plastic toys for the kid. But, if the kid is small, then you need to be very careful and should purchase the plush toys that will not harm kid. When you got the first kid, then you need to purchase lots of plush toys for the kid to play with. You can purchase all the toys at affordable prices and at whole sale prices.

There are many online stores for you to select the plush toys. You can select the color and the size of the plush toys and then make the payment and place an order with the online store. This will help you in easy purchasing of the plush toys at affordable prices. For this you need to select the best website for purchasing the plush toys. You will have the pictures and the price of the plush toys from the websites, from where you can select the safest plush toys and purchase them for your sweet and cute kid.

Cosplay costumes can be worn as an individual or in groups to enhance the experience. Apart from the basic costume, accessories are there to add great effect, wigs, shoes, weapons are all necessary to complete the full costume. Depending upon the budget, this can be expanded to any extent. To get the perfect costume, you can even purchase some old clothing and design it yourself.

Cosplay costumes are perfect for parties, asusement parks and other public gatherings and is a favorite trend among children. There are many anime characters like naruto bleach, Spiderman, batman- to name just a few that have influenced the minds of people; to such a great extent that children like to satisfy their secrete desire of imitating them by wearing cosplay.

The parties are the perfect place for such a celebration and the choice of the right anime cosplay costume is very essential to get the desired impact. Basically, the cosplay costume should be selected keeping in mind the physical stature of the person, his physical features and age. It is better to pick up anime characters that have a lot of similarities between the wearer and the character. Then, it needs a little bit of research to find the perfect cosplay costume

The internet offers a lot of ideas and there are many forums through which you can discuss the success of various cosplay costumes through other’s experience. The choice of cosplay costume also depends upon the personality of the person. For a soft hearted, mild character, naruto costume would fit and for action- fascinated people, costumes of final fantasy characters would be suitable and for the fashion trendy, Raye Hio of sailor moon would be a great match.

If the professional is not aware of the characters, you can show a model of the anime and stitch the costume, accordingly. Cosplay costumes help a lot to get break away from the monotonous routine and enjoy the vacation or party, better. The site offers lot of cosplay costumes that can be purchased online and discounts are also offered.

http://bravocosplay.com/2010/08/26/unique-performance-art-cosplay-activities/

http://bravocosplay.com/2010/08/24/cosplay-restaurants/

http://bravocosplay.com/2010/08/23/dining-manners-in-japanese-culture/

Cosplay has captured the nation, young and old alike. And, for those wanting to get started in the art of anime it is basically the imitating of a character from an anime, video game or manga!  Just follow the simple steps below and you’ll be on your way to the world of Cosplay! A world that may quickly become a lifestyle that you find yourself enjoying more and more every day. What started in Japan has swept across the nation and has captured the hearts and souls of many!  Enjoy and most of all have fun!  This is a true art and something that is making the history books!

1. Choose a character to imitate.  Preferably one that you admire.  Watch a few serious, look on the Internet for the various characters and start getting to know the various Cosplay characters.

2. Study the character.  What is their attitude?  What do they look like?  What do they dress like?  It is important to get to know the character so that you can imitate the character in his/her real light.  What episodes of the series or study on the Internet.  But, definitely know the character before beginning.  Know the stance, the walk, the whole enchilada.

3. Design you costume.  There are many Internet sites that sell cosplay attire and costumes.  Know what the character wears and put together your costume or purchase a costume like the character.  While some characters may have strictly one costume, others may have many.  Be selective!

4. Style your hair.   Aside for the costume setting this is one of the best factors in Cosplaying.  Each character has a unique hairstyle.  Either get a wig that matches the characters hairstyle or style your hair to the style of the character’s hairstyle.  If there is color involved then you might consider a temporary dye.

5. Accessorize.  While the original character may not exactly accessorize, it adds a unique touch to your costume.  Whether a pair of earrings, a necklace or something that adds to the costume, add!  Have fun, this is a way to put your initials on the character!  Get your friends involved and start making your mark in history!  This is sweeping the nation like Rock n’ Roll once did with the young!

Cosplay has taken the world by rage both as an art form and as a costume culture. New animation, fictional and cartoon series are created everyday and that increases the potential in the Cosplay fashion field. Cosplay is a performing art where artists try to replicate popular mythological or animation characters on stage by wearing similar costumes and accessories. Apparels, accessories, wigs, hair care, shoes and a whole list of things are required to bring the character to life before an audience. This has become a culture for a section of the world’s population where people dress up as their favorite fictional characters and meet up just to enjoy and celebrate.

Anime Cosplay refers to the art of replicating popular animation and cartoon characters on stage. Nowadays many such inspirational series are exposed to the public both as books and movies. Assassin’s creed, burst angel, death note, dragon ball, final fantasy, full metal alchemist, hellsing, Inuyasha, naruto and vampire night are some well known anime Cosplay characters. Fans throng both online and normal Cosplay stores to get goods related to these series. But clothes alone can never complete an authentic Cosplay outlook. Wigs, hats, masks, crowns, tiaras and beards are some very important components. Cosplay originated in Japan and this reflects in most of its products. Purple Cosplay wigs, soul eater baya Cosplay wig, lucky star Hiiragi Tsukasa Cosplay wig, neon genesis Evangelion Ayanami Rei wig, Vocaloid kamui Gackpoid wig and the Prince of tennis wigs are all very popular and hot commodities in Cosplay stores.

Boots and shoes complete the total appearance of a Cosplay outfit. Lace up front militant boots, pirate boot with ribbons, angel sexy shoe, doll red shoes, sailor shoes, platform patent leather pumps, and red sequin shoes, witch shoe with buckle, saddle shoe and power ranger shoes are some commonly preferred gothic Lolita shoes. Cosplay conventions and contests happen in many places in the world on a regular basis. The birth place of Cosplay Japan hosts numerous Cosplay competitions every year. Australia is another popular place where the Cosplay culture is very vibrant. The Madman National Cosplay competition happens in many levels in different cities of Australia and concludes with a grand finale event. Winners of these contests become world famous celebrities within a short period.

Cosplay is not only an entertaining activity but also educates us about the rich mythology of our culture and various animation stories.