Cosplay: Catgirls and Other Critters (Anime Costuming Handbook) [Paperback]

Gerry Poulos (Author)

Book Description

Series: Anime Costuming Handbook

Why just draw your favorite anime character when you can be it? Cosplay-short for "costume play"-is sweeping the anime con scene from coast to coast, and once again we're leading the way with a pair of books for both beginning and veteran cosplayers. Each volume features:

transforming ordinary fabric and accessories into fabulous contest winners
creating genre-specific costumes from scratch
duplicating your favorite characters or inventing your very own
cosplaying both for competition and just for fun
accessories from shoes to makeup
finding hard-to-get and imported items
patterns, measurements, and sewing techniques
money-saving tips and how-tos for cosplay on a budget
pointers on the care and transportation of costumes
resource lists, websites, where to find character models, etc
. full-color photos, plans, and drawings.

Volume 1 covers Catgirls, a favorite of fans from All Purpose Cultural Catgirl Nuku-Nuku to Hyper Police and great for purring and prowling. Volume 2 is all about Schoolgirls (think "Sailor Moon") and how to make uniforms with just the right bouncy-skirt anime style.

Gerry Poulos is a longtime anime reviewer, illustrator, and photographer. He lives in Ohio.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

GW Poulos lives in Cambridge, Ohio and has worked as a journalist in the anime community for seven years. He has been writing specifically on cosplay in the West for over 2 years, having also seen and photographed literally thousands of cosplayers from all over the world over a course of 5 years.

Product Details

• Paperback: 80 pages
• Publisher: Stone Bridge Press (May 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1933330023
• ISBN-13: 978-1933330020
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 6.8 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #821,211 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A solid piece of reference material, October 9, 2006

By 

MarzGurl "Anime Convention Videos" (San Antonio, Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cosplay: Catgirls and Other Critters (Anime Costuming Handbook) (Paperback)

I originally purchased this book as a reference for a speech I had to give in a college course concerning Japanese animation (anime) conventions.

This publication is good because it easily makes anime conventions and cosplay accessable for people who don't necessarily know what any of these things are.

The cosplay creation instructions are simple and easy to follow. Even when the author gets more in depth with the catgirl ear creation instructions it is very easy to read and stay on track.

What I appreciate is that the author chose to describe what sort of role a cosplayer plays at an anime convention. You are told what sort of competitions are usually made available to you as a cosplayer, as well as what cosplay judges will be looking for and how to give photographers a great photograph.

As far as the author's credibility is concerned (as a previous reviewer mentioned), it's true that the author is described more as a photographer than a costume creator. However, the costuming steps are pretty much foolproof, making the credibility not a huge concern in this publication. There are a few pages at the end of the book giving resources and general information, but these don't actually appear to be references that the author himself used. Or if he did, it isn't very plainly mentioned. It seems that the references are more for the needs of the cosplayer. There are artistic resources given, cosplay sites and forums, convention sites and forums, and general catgirl studies references and links. These are placed in the book for the reader to find the things they need quickly and easily.

Again, I am not sure precisely how the author earned the knowledge of costuming, but the book itself is very well made, and lt is a good piee of reference material. I would definately recommend this book for anyone who wants to have a handy cosplaying book at their disposal.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A good book, September 23, 2006

By 

meefus - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cosplay: Catgirls and Other Critters (Anime Costuming Handbook) (Paperback)

I own this book and I have read it. It is a well-written, well thought out book about cosplaying as a cat girl. It goes through how to make the perfect catgirl costume in great detail. I would recommend this book to beginner cosplayers because the steps are simple and clear. Nearly every page is illustrated. The photos of actual cosplayers are also great. :) Nyan!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cosplay Handbook, February 17, 2011

By 

Rangachan13 - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Cosplay: Catgirls and Other Critters (Anime Costuming Handbook) (Paperback)

This product is very good. Exactly what it was advertised to be with good prices. However, it took much longer to arrive than was estimated. This greatly annoyed me but was made up for by the awesome book!