Why Cosplay?

I couldn't believe myself. In once week, I had managed to finish the manga Cherry had loaned me. And I wasn't even bored of it yet. Knowing myself, I would probably lose interest in mangas before long.

But Cherry wouldn't let me.

Within my handing her the book, she seized me and took me to a classroom, one that was usually open during lunch hour. Most of the kids in school flock to the snack bar, for most students wouldn't eat the food in the cafeteria and bringing lunch from home was out of the question for most. Nevertheless, I still brought lunch from home in the 8th grade, until the kids teased me, saying that sack lunches were for those who were in kindergarten and I wasn't supposed to eat cute little sandwiches, tiny little cupcakes, and drink from a juice box. I eventually had to give that up.

So, I followed Cherry into the classroom, where several people were sitting around the room, watching some sort of anime on TV and/or reading mangas. Toys were everywhere. A kid came up to me. He had almond-shaped brown eyes that were like two bronze coins. His thick, straight, yellow hair was worn in a style that reminds you of a sea urchin. He was short, had an angular build, cream-colored skin, delicate ears and a wide chin. He said, "Hello, and welcome to the Anime Appreciation Club."

"Anime Appreciation?" I questioned.

"Well," said Cherry, "most of us grew up watching American-made cartoons, but as of last year, Hector Webber and I met up over the summer and decided that we would do a club dedicated to anime."

"And how did the school board take it?" I asked.

"Well, the student president wasn't too pleased with the idea," said Lisa Chung. "In fact, most of the student board decided that there would be no ethnic-centered groups allowed on campus this year." I looked at her strangely. She reminded me of a scuttling lizard. She had slanted brown eyes that were like two splotches of mud. Her thick, straight, brown hair was worn in a style that reminds you of a pile of shredded paper. She had a plump build, deeply tanned skin, bushy eyebrows, and small feet. She was dressed almost like the stereotypical anime schoolgirls, who wore tiny skirts that went up well higher their knees and tiny little shirts, with their socks pulled over their knees.

Hector continued, "Last year, there had been a serious fight at another school in the city when several clubs wouldn't let a boy join. One of them was a club dedicated to some ethnic group, which one I don't recall. Anyway, this kid named Grady Willam wasn't allowed to join, so the student president decided to ban all ethnic clubs and encouraged all other schools to do the same. But some were allowed, providing if the members met in a place that was far from the school."

Cherry said, "I then pulled a couple of strings and managed to get this club up and running. But even then, the student president doesn't know it's a Japanese club." She gestured to everyone in the room. "I want you all to meet Nicholas Blue Prater, who will be joining us." I frowned. Cherry then continued, "I want to introduce you to Hector Webber, Lisa Chung, Johnathan Lyles, Alisha Singer, Chance Glenn, Holly Reeves, Micheal Berger, Sara Christian, Percy Garner, Alfonso Goode, Rachel Boyle, Abby Sprague, Adam Ames, Richard Puckett, and Riley Hampton, who is my brother."

Everyone all waved to me and cheered. Hector said, "Most of us here are of Japanese descent, with a few exceptions." I noticed Grady Willam in a corner. He had deep-set sapphire eyes. His fine, straight, alabaster hair was worn in a style that reminds you of a kitten's soft fur. He had a masculine build, cream-colored skin, and hollow cheeks. His wardrobe was mysterious, with blacks and deep midnight blue. He was not exactly Goth, but not really emoish, either.

Lisa said, "Well, we got Grady to join after he left his old high school. He wasn't too happy with how they treated him there."

Then someone came through the door. Cherry said, "And this is our coordinator, Mr. Vang." He stared at me with unusual large brown eyes that were like two splotches of mud. His luxurious, curly, ebony hair was worn in a style that reminds you of a cobra's hood. He was short and had a boyish build, tanned skin, and nearly nonexistent eyebrows.

"Mr. Vang is also the Japanese language teacher," said Hector. "He came here last year to teach Japanese when the city saw a surge of Japanese people coming here. Most of his family remained in Southern California, with several other relatives still living in Japan."

Mr. Vang said, "Well, I welcome you to this group, Nicholas. Or should I call you Nick?"

"Nicholas will do nicely," I said. I had spent many years trying to get people to call me Nicholas and not Nick. I despised nicknames and would often address people by their given names. Even if said given name was almost impossible to pronounce or just the teacher decided to give the student a name, effectively depriving the student of experiencing life with their name.

"Well, Nicholas," said Mr. Vang, "you will do just fine in here. As Cherry was so kind to mention, we had to pull a few strings around just to get the club rolling. Even the principal seemed interested in the club, as a few relatives of hers live in Japan, and most people would like to try to understand why anime is very popular around the world."

He turned to the students and said, "I have picked up a few copies of the cosplay magazines if you would like to look at them." Several students reached for the magazines and began reading. "Begging your pardon," I asked, "but what's a cosplay?"

Everyone stared at me before Lisa said, "Cosplay is a term for a costumed role-play. Have you ever dressed in a costume for Halloween?"

I nodded; before dad married Stella, neither he nor me were very interested in Halloween. My mom would dress me in a costume, but that was to an extent. Stella, however, had everyone dress up in elaborate costumes she made. Including me.

Lisa said, "Cosplay isn't like dressing up for Halloween. It's different in the sense that you're dressing up as a certain character of a manga or anime or anything of that nature. Cosplayers try to portray their characters the way a stage actor would try to portray his or her character on stage. But cosplays are different from stage plays."

"And costumes?" I asked.

"Costumes may be made or created," said Mr. Vang, "and they had to be worn in a certain way, as how a character would wear that costume. Everything has to be perfect; no mistakes are to be made."

"And unlike stage plays," said Hector, "cosplays often recreate a certain moment from anime. Have you ever tried to recreate your favorite TV show or movie?" I stared at him. "That is the same thing."

I was a bit overwhelmed at all of this. Cosplay seemed to be a lot more complicated than I thought. It wasn't the same as my stepbrother Billy dressing for his role-playing games. Cherry said, "Don't worry too much about it, Nicholas. You'll understand more about cosplay in time."

Just then, the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch and return to class. I walked out the room as Mr. Vang said, "And don't forget to go to learnjapanese.com and get your word of the day."

I would never understand cosplay right now, but I could learn about it on the Internet. But what I would learn would help me to not only understand anime and manga, as well as cosplay, but the limits of my own imagination as well.