So you think you've got the goods to enter the most popular event Manifest has to offer? Well, we'll just see about that! Here are the rules for the Manifest 2008 Cosplay Competition!
By submitting an online registration form for the Cosplay Competition (CLOSED), you agree to be bound by the following rules. If you have any problems or concerns regarding any of the rules, please contact the Cosplay Coordinator BEFORE submitting your registration.
1. Entrant must pre-register to enter the Cosplay Competition.
Entrants must complete all sections on the online registration form to have their entry accepted. Entrants must have also purchased a Manifest membership for the day they wish to enter the Cosplay Competition to be accepted. YOUR ENTRY WILL NOT COUNT AS BEING ACCEPTED UNTIL YOU RECEIVE A CONFIRMATION EMAIL FROM THE COSPLAY CO-ORDINATOR. On the day of their performance, entrants MUST sign in, which can be done in the Cosplay Register Book found at the Manifest Registrations desk. This is to prevent delays due to “missing” cosplayers.
2. Costumes must be from a Japanese anime/manga/video game series.
Costumes from non-anime related doujinshi (fan work), or work by J-Rock/J-pop performers are not eligible for entry into the Cosplay Competition. Original designs based on Visual Kei/Gothic Lolita/FRUiTS or similar fashions are also ineligible for entry. For these types of costumes, please consider entering the FRUiTS (insert link) competition.
3. Purchased costumes will not be eligible for entry in the Cosplay Competition.
If a winning entry is found to have been purchased, the winner will be stripped of their title and action taken to retrieve any prizes awarded to them. The entrant may also be barred from entering future Manifest Cosplay Competitions.
Please see below for a definition of "purchased" costumes.
4.All entrants must adhere to the time limit for their appearance on stage, regardless of whether they are performing a skit or not.
This ensures that all entrants are treated fairly with respect to exposure on stage and that we don't miss out on anyone's turn by running overtime. The time limits will be as follows:
Skit:
- SINGLE ENTRANT: 2 MINUTES
- GROUP: 4 MINUTES
Time limits will apply to all groups regardless of size. The time limit includes posing time for photographs, prop set up and interview questions from the Judges/MC. Entrants will be given a 15 second time warning, and at the end of the time the gong will be hit and entrants will be ushered off stage by the MC. Entrants who refuse to leave the stage at the end of their time will face consequences such as ineligibility for rewards to removal from Manifest.
Technical Entrants will be given a special portion of the show dedicated to them after skits in order to allow the judges to finalize the skit winners. Details of how this is handled is subject to the number and nature of the costumes and will be emailed out in finer details closer to the event to entrants.
5. Singing/performing a song will not be accepted as a skit/performance, unless the entrant provides enough proof that this is a legitimate action for their character to do. For example. Shindou Shuuichi (from Gravitation) may be permitted to sing a song of the cosplayer's performance, but Tamahome from Fushigi Yuugi would not.
6. Feel free to surprise the audience but not the Cosplay Coordinator.
If in doubt about your skit - even a tiny, tiny bit - mark it on your registration form. We'll do our best to accommodate you within the time, space and physical limitations we have.
7. Technical Entrants will be required to answer questions from the Judges/MC regarding their costume.
Sample questions may include "How long did it take you to make your costume" or "What is your favourite aspect of the costume?” More character-specific questions may be asked but please keep in mind that the time limit will still be enforced.
8. Entrants cannot enter the same costume for the Cosplay Competition on both Saturday and Sunday. This is to allow the maximum number of unique costumes and entrants get their turn on stage. Entrants are welcome to enter the Cosplay Competition twice, ie: once on Saturday and once on Sunday, provided that they are wearing different costumes on each day.
9. For the safety of all Manifest attendees, props are to be made in accordance with Federal and Victorian law, the Manifest Weapons Policy and the Attendees Code of Conduct. Please check out the Weapons Policy and FAQ if you have any questions. Your props may be needed to be held in the Cloak room for safety reasons. Depending on the nature of the prop, Manifest reserves the right to hold it in the cloak room during the competition itself if it deems this necessary. The weapons policy can be found at the following location
Weapons Policy10. Overly lewd or vulgar behaviour will not be tolerated. Costumes must adhere to the Manifest Attendee's Code of Conduct. Remember, "no costume" is STILL no costume!
11. No messy substances (eg: body paint, make-up, excess confetti) that might ruin the costume of another entrant or the venue will be allowed. The entrant must remove all pieces of costume or skit props after their time on stage.
12. Any audio material (sound effects, voiceovers, background music, etc.) that is required for your skit must be submitted to the Cosplay Coordinator BEFORE the Cosplay Competition. Entrants who wish to use audio material must specify this on the registration form. You will receive further instructions on how your audio material can be submitted after your registration form has been received.
13. Technical Costumes will be pre-judged this year. Cosplayers interested in winning best technical or other related prizes will be pre-judged on their costumes. This will take place earlier in the day. It is the cosplayers’ responsibility to make sure they are available and on time to the pre-judging session. Further details about the pre-judging will be emailed out to entrants at a later date.
14. Prizes and/or medallions will be awarded for both Saturday and Sunday competitions. Categories may be (but are not limited to):
- Best Overall
- Best Costume (Technical Design)
- Best Roleplaying/Performance
- Audience Choice
- Best Group
- Best Junior Entry (must be under 13)
- Noob To Cosplay (for first time competitors)
- Surprise On-The-Day Category
- Honourable Mention
Other categories may be added as the 2008 Manifest Organising Committee sees fit. Entrants will automatically be entered into every category they are eligible for.
Costumes that have won prizes in previous years and other anime conventions will only be eligible to win the "Audience Choice" category. This allows for more costumes to be seen and gives a greater variety of cosplayers the chance to win.
15. The Cosplay Coordinator, members of the Cosplay Working Group and Judges are not eligible for entry into the Cosplay Competition. Manifest Committee members are eligible to enter the Cosplay Competition but may only win prizes in the Audience Choice category. Should a Manifest Committee member be judged the winner of any other category, they will only be awarded a medallion and certificate but not a prize (if any). The awarding of medallions to Manifest Committee Members (apart from the Audience Choice) will be subject to a case-by-case analysis by the Cosplay Coordinator.
16. The Judges reserve the right not to award prizes or medallions, pending the standard of entries.
17. THE COSPLAY COORDINATOR RESERVES THE RIGHT TO DISQUALIFY ENTRANTS WHO MISREPRESENT ANY ASPECTS OF THEIR ENTRY ON THEIR REGISTRATION FORM.
18. Any concerns of bias/corruption should first be raised with the Cosplay Coordinator. In the event of a Cosplay Judge being accused of bias/corruption, the Cosplay Coordinator reserves the right to discard that Judges' scores and re-score entries. Should these concerns involve the Cosplay Coordinator, the issues will be dealt with the rest of the Manifest Organising Committee. The decision of the Committee is final and no further correspondence will be entered into.
19. These rules are subject to change. Any changes to these rules will be posted on the Manifest forums, web page and sent out to registered entrants via email.
20. The competition registration will close on Spetember 12th. This year there shall be no on-the-day registration so this is a very important date to remember.
21. The competition has limited places. Because of the high popularity of the Cosplay Competition, there is a chance that not all entrants may be able to get a place - so register early to ensure your spot!
Purchased Costumes (refer to Rule 3) are defined as:
An entire, or large part thereof, costume that has been purchased from a costume shop (eg: Cosmates, Bodyline, etc.)
- Commissioned costumes are eligible for entry into competition. However, commissioned costumes will not be eligible to win Best Costume (Technical Design) category. Should a winner of this category be found to be a commissioned costume, it will be treated as a purchased costume. Consequences of this may involve but is not limited to not banned from future cosplay competitions as well as Manifest and having your details passed onto other conventions so that they may place similar constraints.
- Minor accessories (such as Chii ears and hairpieces, or a Naruto headband) do NOT count as a "purchased costume" for the purposes of this rule.
- Costumes that are made from "normal clothes" without any significant modification (such as wearing a brown tank top and black bike shorts to cosplay Heero Yuy, or a white lab coat to cosplay Icchan-san or L from Death Note) also do NOT count as a "purchased costume”.