This past weekend, Zenkaikon 2009 was held in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania (USA). Zenkaikon is a relatively new anime convention that has experienced some rather explosive growth, especially in 2009. Approximately 1,500 people attended this convention, with Saturday completely selling out. Alltern8.com was there to cover some of the convention’s cosplay festivities.

Anime conventions and cosplay go hand in hand, and Zenkaikon was no exception. We saw cosplyers as young as six years old, although the majority was definitely in their mid to late teens. Not surprisingly, Naruto costumes were abundant. On the other hand, we were a bit surprised to see so many Himura Kenshin cosplayers, considering the series peaked quite a few years ago (we also spotted one from Inuyasha, another series that was super popular years ago).

Zenkaikon featured two different cosplay competitions. The first was the Masquerade competition, which allowed cosplayers to showcase their costumes, as well as a skit or musical number. The Hall Cosplay Costume Contest was for costumers who did not have a skit to perform at the Masquerade, but wanted to have their cosplay judged based on its craftsmanship.

Craftsmanship judging involved providing reference material, and going before a panel of three cosplay experts who examined everything from the styling of the wig to the seams on their pants! Costumes had to be cosplay (no original characters), and the wearer had to be the primary craftsman. Also, you could not have already won an award with the cosplay you were entering.

Alltern8.com’s reporters were permitted to attend the individual judging sessions for the craftsmanship contest (with the cosplayers’ permission of course). These judges knew their stuff! Not only were they inspecting seams and stitches, but they were asking about specific patterns, fabrics, and wig coloring techniques. There was no chance of pulling a fast one on these ladies. They could quickly tell the difference between serger seams and those from a regular sewing machine.