All cosplayers posing for a group photograph.
More than 500 enthusiastic fans of the Cosplay Culture joined the fourth UTAR Cosplay Event which was held at the Heritage Hall of the Perak Campus on 18 June 2014. It was a time for fun role-playing adventure as the participating students got to dress-up as their favourite characters complete with wizard-like robes, wigs, shiny swords, metal armorplates accessories and even the typical pale Cosplay make-up.
Organised by the UTAR Japanese Culture Club, the enthralling event aimed to create awareness of Japanese Animation & Cosplay Culture, networking among the Cosplay aficionados, manga or anime lovers and sharing of experiences about Cosplay, manga and other comic artists.
The event started off with the emcee’s opening remarks followed by a sketch based on the famous multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), Ragnarok Online and the subsequent “kawaii” themed dance performances of two mega-hit songs, Senbonzakura and Hare Hare Yukai.
Hogging the limelight in the UTAR Cosplay Event were the Cosplay sketch performances and the exhibition of different anime or manga characters of Cosplayers. The amazing customs displays included manga characters such as Sailor Moon, Bishop from Ragnorok, Dante from Devil May Cry and Len from Karakuri Burst, sister characters; Anna & Elsa from the film ‘Frozen’ and even the web-slinging superhero; Spiderman. Both the Anna & Elsa characters stood out in their medieval shimmering gowns, braided hair-dos and distinctly thick eye-lashes with paled make-up.
“Kawaii” themed dance performance by cosplayers.
Germaine Lim rocks the night with the song The Crimson Bow and Arrow.
The audience was also captivated by the powerful vocals of both Germaine Lim Chin Mun and Siew Shun Shu-Wei of Verano Attack in the delivery of the song; The Crimson Bow and Arrow from popular anime,Attack on Titan. The accompanying band performances were from Drum Guitar Bass Keyboard and Verano Attack groups.
The chairperson of UTAR Cosplay Event, Chee Weng Fai said, “Besides having fun and helping the students to release the stress by participating in this event, we also hope that this event would be a memorable and fascinating experience.” He added that there were relatively more Cosplay performances as compared to the previous year.
Cosplay (the short for costume play) is a hobby since the 1990s where the participants wear costumes and fashion accessories to represent a character or an idea. It has grown to form a popular sub-culture especially in Asia where Cosplay strongly influences Japanese street fashion.
The sisters from Frozen - Anna and Elsa.
A scene from the sketch Devil May Cry.
A sketch based on the famous multiplayer online role-playing game, Ragnarok Online.
A fictional character called Flying Tiger (centre).
About UTAR
Established in 2002 with 411 students, today, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) offers more than 110 programmes in fields including Accountancy, Actuarial Science, Agriculture, Arts, Business and Economics, Creative Industries and Design, Engineering and Built Environment, Information and Communication Technology, Life and Physical Sciences, Mathematics and Process Management, Medicine and Health Sciences, and Social Science and Education to over 23,000 students in its nine faculties, three institutes and three centres located in three Klang Valley campuses in Bandar Sungai Long, Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya and the main campus in Kampar, which was awarded the Pertubuhan Akitek Malaysia (Malaysian Institute of Architects) gold award in the education category in 2013. The employability of its 33,000 over graduates exceeds 97 percent within six months after graduation.
For more information, go to www.utar.edu.my
