The Cosplay Roadmap for 2007

With the convention season rapidly approaching, it's about time that I lay out my cosplay plans for the year. I should probably say our cosplay plans as every single one of them involves Shelby in just about every way. Our plans were a bit sketchy last year as we were marred with last minute plans and technical difficulties. We're in an infinitely better situation this season and to say that we're getting ambitious would be a gross understatement. Let's take a look at what we've got planned for the first stop of the season (and my favorite convention), Fanime'07, with the help of an elegant, yet civilized, bulleted list.

• Death Note, Light Yagami & Misa Amane - Truth be told, I really hate Death Note cosplay. You can google "Death Note cosplay" and find out for yourself why that is. Still, we love the (first part of) series and planned to do this last year but I left my dress shoes at home by accident and I wasn't about to let us contribute to the appalling amount of bad Death Note cosplay floating about.
• Avatar: The Last Airbender, Jet & Toph Bei Fong - The problem with Avatar cosplay is that for the guys, you either have to be bald or ambiguously tanned. Since I didn't want to work with a bald cap to be anyone (and Shelby has a friend who does a kick-ass Prince Zuko), I went with Jet, which is fine because he's fairly swank anyways. Shelby gets to be rock-loli because, well, it was an obvious pick.
• Pop'n Music, Roku & Murasaki - Another problematic choice. Most of the outfits are fairly plain, so it boils down to taking creative control and mashing together bits and pieces of different versions of the same character.

The second anime convention of the year for us is also the largest and it's Anime Expo'07. This is where we're going absolutely, positively, nuts. It starts with a throwback to last years AX where we debuted our Eureka Seven cosplay and ends with, well, something crazy.

• Eureka Seven, Renton Thurston & Eureka (Episode 50) - We'll be teaming up with my cosplay buddy Patty for this one as we return to AX with Eureka Seven. For me, it essentially boils down to a new jacket while Shelby has to fabricate some insane wings. It'll be a nice send off for my favorite anime of all time.
• Trusty Bell, Chopin & Polka - This will be hilarious. First of all, no one will have any idea who we are (hi Pop'n Music), but that doesn't matter to us. Secondly, I get to wear a top hat and she gets to wear jumbo sized pantaloons. This is going to be awesome.
• Project: Unicorn Giggles - Top secret!

Let me tell you something about Project: Unicorn Giggles, or PUG for short. Considering that we have a whopping one month between Fanime and Anime Expo, you'd better believe that we're getting on this as soon as possible. This is going to be a gargantuan project and should we manage to pull it off, well worth the effort.

Project: Unicorn Giggles is so grand in its scale that upon agreeing to it, Shelby said that she "will have nothing left to work for." Essentially, she will have defeated cosplay. She will have won, or beat cosplay, if you will. We've been talking about it every night for a week or so now and all I can do is express my disbelief with what we're about to tackle. It'll be a long, hard road to AX, but it will be made of awesome and win. We don't want to spoil the surprise, but expect a lot of updates on our progress as the time draws closer. Until then, it'll remain a mystery.

I have a few other bits to share regarding the cosplay season this year, but it'll have to wait. I'd like to get some lunch in me before the worst Wrestlemania of all time. That way, I have something in my stomach to toss up should Cena defeat Shawn Michaels.