Cosplay Forum

Apparently the Daily Beast, a web-based entertainment mag focusing on various pop culture features, posted an article declaring the "craziest cities" in the United States (mostly in a relatively positive light, although the factors involved psychiatrists per capita as well as "eccentricity"). Seattle, Washington ranked #19 and a blogger at Seattle Metropolitan Magazine blogged about their ranking. And how did they choose to depict "crazy"?

If you guessed "a picture of Naruto cosplayers goofing around at Sakura-Con," you win the big prize! (It's extra-funny because the blog's focus is on drinking, and the post talks about Seattle's ranking as a boozy city, and I'm pretty sure those Naruto cosplayers are NOT legal drinking age. Or drunk.)
 
For the record, I have no problem with the depiction of cosplay as "fun-crazy"-- the photos on the original Daily Beast are almost invariably of wild and crazy people at wild and crazy parties and usually in wild and crazy outfits.

No, my complaint is the suggestion that somehow cosplay is representative of Seattle's own unique craziness, as opposed to something that goes on in pretty much every state in America (not to mention abroad). So, without further ado: 

Dear Seattle Metropolitan Magazine, 
 
Cosplay is NOT, in fact, something uniquely Seattleish, much less NARUTO cosplay-- hell, I've seen hobos in Portland wear Naruto headbands! Come on. I'll be honest: I like Seattle's Sakura-Con, but it's not usually where I see the really crazy cosplay. And it's DEFINITELY not where I see the craziest and most chaotic anime fans. (That's a compliment to Sakura's staff, by the way.) 
 
Perhaps instead of using a picture of young cosplayers to depict Seattle's craziness, you should replace it with pictures of the traffic that flows into Seattle on I-5 on a Friday night. Now THAT is crazy. 
 
Lulz, 
gia

 Pretty ironic that this would come up the week we post the "cosplay" 3-Minute Expert. What say you folks?

@ThePsychoGamer: Who's questioning the craziness? I'm questioning that the crazy is best represented by some Naruto cosplayers =P 
 
As a former damn Portlander myself, I'm familiar with Seattle's brand of crazy, which is pretty good-quality stuff, if slightly inferior to PDX's :D

I wont lie, that's pretty funny.  Hopefully they will learn their lesson from you gia.   :P

If none of the drunk ones were a Rock Lee, then they fail at cosplaying.
 
Sometimes you almost have to be weary of the kind of people who dress up as your characters. Last thing I think a manga creator wants is to see some guy in the newspaper dressed up like Luffy being dragged away in handcuffs for some nasty crime.