Films/tv shows that are based on cosplay/con culture or at least reference it in some way.

I felt that 2Kawaii4Comfort was (for better or worse) the most accurate description of going to a small con and having a bad time at it. It's a shame it ended on a cliffhanger.

Knights of Badassdom(2013)

I feel like this one got slept on. A bunch of LARPers have to fight a demon that was accidentally summoned by a member of their group. I remember it actually being pretty funny

I found out that LAPRs (tv series) isn't getting a 3rd season. Which just like with 2Kawaii4Comfort is such a fucking bummer. But the first 2 seasons are fantastic and wrap up enough to where only having 2 seasons is still enjoyable.

>>10863227
That movie was AWESOME in the stupid way. I remember putting it on with my friend because we wanted to watch something terrible and see how fast we would turn it off, we watched the whole damn thing. He was baffled at the number of actors he recognized from other shows ("That guy is in Mad Men! What the fuck is going on.")

this shitshow

>>10863278
Yaya should just retire, she recently did Lucy from Cyberpunk and looks AWFUL

>>10863278
What's wrong with it? I've not seen it, I like watching cosplay tutorial videos for fun so this show seems like it would be up my alley.

>>10863338
From what I remember from when it was airing, it's more of a "house of characters" type of reality show with some cosplay challenges thrown in rather than a competition challenge type show. So teams would have to vote someone off based on something stupid like the team doing poorly in a cardboard maze challenge rather than the merit of their cosplay creations. Basically a lot of people (myself included) were expecting a show like Faceoff or Great British Bakeoff where their skill is the focal point, and ended up getting Big Brother but with nerds.

>>10863409
Christ, that's disappointing. I'm honestly surprised it's like that because I feel like the commercials present it as a Faceoff version for cosplayers. They really dropped the ball on what the community would want from a show like that.

Con Man (2015)

I'm a few episodes in and I'm enjoying it. It's about a guy who was on a popular sci-fi show and is resentful that he's famous for it. He mostly has to show up to Cons and deal with his weird fanbase.

I held off on My Dress-Up Darling because I thought it was just going to be nothing but fan service. But it was actually pretty good!

Motherfucking GALAXY QUEST. Years after Not Star Trek goes off the air some aliens see it and mistake it for a documentary. Needing help with a space warlord, they pick up William Shatner at a sci-fi convention. The movie is kind of a love letter to the fans.

I'm thinking about starting Cosplay Complex next week. It looks more like a laid back kind of anime that would be nice to relax to.

"The Wild Hunt" - a longtime favourite of mine, well played characters, some nice, based LARP-con-humor. The story turns dark in the last third, but it's more of a character study than a "horror"-movie.

Erik Magnusson and his girlfriend Evelyn have a falling out, in part due to stress from Erik's dying, incoherent father. She leaves to play a steady role in a fantasy LARP with a wild mix of characters such as Celts, elves and Vikings. Murtagh, the leader of a group within the game, wants Evelyn to participate in the Wild Hunt, a ritual that, if successful, will give his players a significant rule advantage in an upcoming mass battle.

Erik pursues Evelyn only to disrupt the game's proceedings. Erik partners with his estranged brother Bjorn and other players and referees on a quest to find Evelyn. He rescues her from the Wild Hunt and the two are reconciled, despite Murtagh's efforts to persuade her to come back.

Having lost Evelyn and been humiliated by Erik, Murtagh snaps and ritually cuts off his gamer wrist band. He leads his followers in a vicious assault on the main camp, injuring people and killing Erik. Murtagh flees, witnessing Evelyn commit suicide as he escapes through the woods.

Days later, Bjorn breaks into Murtagh's home and beats him to death.

>>10867806
haha what the fuck sounds decent. reminds me of that shitty cult movie everyone swooned over a few years back

"Mazes and Monsters" from 1982 - less cosplay (only as a mindgame), but a nice portrait of the satanic panic of the 80ies, as parents read Chick-tracts and feared that roleplaying games turn their children insane. Literally. Tom Hanks in one of his first roles, driven mad by playing dungeons and dragons, to the point that he doesn't recognize his own mother...

It's worth it. Takes a triple perspective on LARPing... on the dedicated, passionate players; on the ridiculous and nerdy stuff; and the dark, murderous rage and insecurity which somehow hides between the other two traits...

"Heart of the Warrior" / "El corazón del guerrero" (Spain 2000). This is a wild ride, like "Mazes and Monsters", but told from the perspective of the RPG character, with good special effects, settings and a very good soundtrack.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4plD1_imMc

Ramon is your typical nerdy teenage boy in Madrid who likes to dream himself away playing DnD-style roleplaying games and imagines himself being Beldar, the barbarian warrior, fighting alongside his companion Sonja.

Unless the story is about Beldar, a barbarian warrior, who gets wounded while trying to steal a valuable gem - the Heart of the Warroir - and wakes up in the body of a meek teenage boy in Madrid; with his companion Sonja being a prostitute, not aware that she's in reality a warrior like him. Both of them seem to be hit by a curse that banished them to this strange world of refrigerators and cars and roleplaying games...

As I said, the movie is a well made wild ride between what's real and what's imagined; what may be a conspiracy or a real curse; or just a DnD fantasy in an insane mind...

>>10867807
It's worth it. Takes a triple perspective on LARPing... on the dedicated, passionate players; on the ridiculous and nerdy stuff; and the dark, murderous rage and insecurity which somehow hides between the other two traits...

Interested - which cult movie do you refer to?

>>10867811
midsomnar

forgot the name had to look it up

>>10863278
Oh man I remember this one . The scenes with Holly Conrad aged like milk

>>10863223 (OP)
2Kawaii4Comfort crystalizes a certain soft spot in every (regular) congoer's experience through the years and manifests it as a melancholic tale through the eyes of those early weebs most of us used to be. I don't think it's supposed to represent having a "bad time" as much as it is a multi-perspective introspection that touches on good moments, bad moments, heartwarming highlights, agonizing cringe, and that sheer feeling of being "home" among it all. I really wish they'd finish it, but the cliffhanger ending gives me similar misery as post-con depression, so I'll tolerate it on that note. However there literally is nothing like this in existence, because nothing like this feels like it was pulled directly from the eyes and ears of an entire community.

>>10863223 (OP)

>>10865046
This one is actually pretty good, especialyl the manga later on when they focus a little more on crafting

>>10867948
>i wish they would at least release a script or something. hell just an outline.

The creator of the show came out with an hour-and-a-half-long video essay. It's actually pretty interesting if you're into hearing stories about directors and their journey making their films and why they picked specific editing styles.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfLnMpzlIH4

Notes from the video:
1) 1:14:50 - 2Kawaii4Comfort will be revisited Next January (2024). Not 100% what that will be, but the project isn't dead. He's currently working on a project that will take the rest of the year to finish that's not 2K4C related.

2) They made a TikTok to help get the word out about the show. I think they're hoping for clips from the show to become memes which is easier said than done.

3) He did a remaster of 2K4C and posted them on Vimeo. So a bunch of footage color correction, but he's keeping the original edits on Youtube.

4) They never had a trailer for the show and they released one for it. You can see it at 1:17:56


Assuming he somehow manages to make 1 final episode to wrap everything up. It'll be interesting to see what he does.

>>10868330
I don't give a shit where it is, I will get a plane ticket and fly out to whatever state airs the world premiere of 2Kawaii4Comfort: The Final Chapter.

>>10867944
this sounds like it would give me miserable depression as an mid 2000's congoer.

>>10867944
>I really wish they'd finish it,

I do not believe for a second that they didn't finish it. What I think they did was release everything up to a the second to last episode to hook people, and then launched a kickstarter to hold the last ep hostage, to recoup their costs. All while saying the kickstarter was to "finish it".

>>10868565
>this sounds like it would give me miserable depression as an mid 2000's congoer.

It's sort of like a bitter-sweet love letter to early 2000's con-goers. I personally recommend it because I've not seen any type of film feel like it was made specifically for people like us, but I get why a melancholy film like that wouldn't appeal to people.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlnqgt7mYM0

>>10871865
>Video isn't available in your country

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWX0BmC_TjM

This video sent me down a rabbit hole of who she is

>Spends thousands of dollars on TWO implant surgeries that were fucking up her body
>wig from party city
>Chest piece awkwardly glued to body
>Deletes all social media after Botched appearance
>Marries a 42-year-old cosplayer called PinkyPowers

It's a shame people will damage their bodies and risk their health for fame in a niche hobby.

>>10868550
>I don't give a shit where it is, I will get a plane ticket and fly out to whatever state airs the world premiere of 2Kawaii4Comfort: The Final Chapter.

The fact that all we know from the director is "I'll revisit 2K4C next year" got me heated. Could had just factored in the cash for ONE last episode to wrap everything up, but dude had to bite off more than he could chew.

Here's hoping we'll one day see the final episode, whatever form it may be.

>>10865073
Galaxy quest is the SHIT

>>10865073
I gave this film a chance after finding out that Alan Rickman passed away. It's easily the best film I've ever seen him in. He perfectly plays the role of the professional actor burnt out on sci-fi stuff.

Ted 2, they shot at Javits Center where NYCC and Anime NYC that place, and hired a bunch of cosplayers to pretend t be at a generic comic con a month before the NYCC of that year.

>>10875543
>Ted 2, they shot at Javits Center where NYCC and Anime NYC that place, and hired a bunch of cosplayers to pretend t be at a generic comic con a month before the NYCC of that year.

That sounds like so much fun!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koUxspPIBoM

>>10873682
>>10868330
The actors don't even look like themselves anymore. I don't remember who but one of the girls got inmensely fat

>>10867944
I loved that show so much that I literally translated the thing and put spanish subtitles (before youtube got stupid again) so my best friend could watch it

https://geeknewsnetwork.net/ghost-dive-a-new-cyberpunk-film-you-need-to-support/

Just saw this clip from My Tiny Senpai.

https://www.tiktok.com/@petabyteanime/video/7267672889254481198

>>10878654
"America's best cosplayers"

LMAO! Get this spammy trash out of here!

Welcome to Eltingville pilot (2002)

I saw this on Adult Swim back in the day and IMO, it's ahead of its time in commenting on nerd culture.

Welcome to Eltingville takes place in Eltingville, Staten Island, and focuses on the lives of four teenage boys: Bill Dickey, Josh Levy, Pete DiNunzio, and Jerry Stokes, all members of "The Eltingville Club", who have shared interests in comic books and science fiction, among other things. In the pilot episode, Bill and Josh fight over a collectible Boba Fett action figure.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQnRdc_eyjs

Note: The show never got a full season, but the comic book was completed a few years ago.

>>10868330
The fact that this video essay got unlisted lowers any expectations that 2K4C will be revisited...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJJ3XmCJtoU&list=PL99PCYdTX-vcCIJx4McZceyvt0I1WScfO&index=8

Most of these are cringe
"I'm a Sea Hitler troll"
Imagine saying that to people in current year

>>10884258
It's pretty socially awkward to go around calling yourself a Sea Hitler, but she actually seems down to earth. I also appreciate the enthusiasm of the panel host. It seems like he actually wants people to be successful in finding a partner.

>>10863409
People didn’t get voted off heroes of cosplay. They went around to a bunch of cons to enter cosplay contests and kinda of just annoyed/pissed off every normal cosplayer they came into contact with. Maybe you’re thinking of cosplay melee?

>>10863223 (OP)
I watched this and showed it to all my friends, it’s genuinely pretty funny

The BPD breakdown episode was kinda cringe though but still, very entertaining writing the whole way through

>>10887482
I do agree that it's pretty funny!

Also, there are very few bits of media that make me cringe so hard that I physically can't watch it. The Rita-Chan breakdown at the cosplay contest is one of them.

Chasing Amy

>>10885179
sea hitler is a homestuck reference

>>10884258
I finally got around to watching every episode of Geek Love.

The last episode had a surprise Chad at the end

SPOILER: The dude gets multiple dates (even had a chick RUN to be the first to date him), moves out his mom's house, and starts a whole new life. Fuck yeah, random nerd guy.


A lot of these episodes weren't success stories, so I have happy this series ended on a high note.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul

>>10889920
It's fine as long as you don't do what I did and watch it like 3 days before going to a con. (I know, I know, sometimes my judgment is just very bad.) I had to fight pretty hard not to let it bring my mood down.

>>10896408
In the "final" episode (Spoilers), when Spencer was talking about how he used to feel like he was a part of a community and now it's no longer fun hit me hard. I think anyone who has gone to cons for a long time sooner or later loses that honeymoon phase of cons and it feels watered down.

Role Models (2008)

Two energy drink salesmen avoid prison time by joining a Big Brother program. One of the kids is a LARPer and LAPRing plays a big role in this film.

>>10865073
By Grabthams Hammer, I agree

>>10863409
Didn't the show runner for the first season admit they didn't want any male cosplayers because they're not good enough?

>>10887482
>>10889920
It's actually incredible to achieve that feeling of cringe in that medium. It's honestly on the level of a Hong Sang-soo movie.

>>10899436
Actually really loved this film, not sure if it holds up since I last saw it.

>>10902009
I feel like it holds up pretty well, even with the early 2000s style of comedy.

But moments like at 0:22 in this video make me feel like they actually wanted to represent what LARPing is like and didn't just want to write half-assed jokes at it being the butt of the joke.
https://youtu.be/Cnh4Vr0UruI?si=lBK-KU1qRrd_m9bd&t=22

Chip and Dale
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbZZyU-qZaM

>>10905869
I forgot how unpleasant Ugly Sonic was.

>>10867876
Oh my god I thought she was gay with that other girl before discovering game grumps. Then all projard shit it makes sense lmao

>>10868089
Do they ever get together? I can't stand in manga when the build up so much fucking romantic tension between two characters and they don't even kiss.

Did anybody see this?
I'm not sure if I did, but I'm pretty sure I did. It's weird but I think I liked it.

>>10905992
I tried to enjoy it, but the whole plot of the film is a major bummer.

SPOILER:
The plot is a Star Wars fan is dying of cancer and travels across the country with his friends to see one last Star Wars film before he dies (that ends up being a terrible film...). I know there's a "It's not the destination, it's the journey with friends" plot in it, but that's a depressing journey.

>>10905991
>My Dress-up Darling
>Do they ever get together?

The manga is still ongoing and they haven't ended up together yet, but it's moving in that direction.

This has some con scenes

Has anyone seen Genshiken?

Plot:
Genshiken is an anime that’s more about otaku culture similar to Wotakoi. It’s about a group of college students who created their own otaku club known as Genshiken. Kanako Ohno is the main cosplayer of the group and is usually the main attraction for the club at student fairs. Normally, she’s soft-spoken but is extremely passionate when it comes to cosplay and talking about yaoi. She develops a relationship with Souichirou Tanaka, another cosplayer and costume designer in the club.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/frankenbabes/frankenbabes-from-beyond-the-grave-a-short-film

>>10863278
Honestly as someone in the competitive scene this show is like crack to me and my friends. Competitive cosplayers are just /like/ that, the show is spot on with the ridiculousness and how life or death serious people get stressed over it

>>10911577
I just finished the first episode and I agree. This is pretty accurate to how intense/emotional some of these people can get with this competition.

On that note, the difference between the contestants who are treating the cosplay contest as a life or death situation vs the ones that are having fun with it is night and day. One of the contestant's perfectionism resulted in her completely skipping the competition.

>>10912048
Agree, will say it's also super interesting to rewatch the show through the 2024 lens of competitive cosplay, where we have so much more available technology that is the norm in contest cosplays now. Seeing a pre-3d printer competitive scene was great

電車男 (Densha Otoko). Although it's an exaggerated comedy and not directly related to cosplay, it's one of the few series I've seen that still pretty accurately portrayed anime nerds and 4chan-esque culture (there are a couple cosplayers/LARPers featured in it) in many respects. I recommend the TV series over the book.

>>10912087
So I'm 5 episodes deep into this show and here are some moments that stood out.

1) One contestant wearing wool that she is allergic to. Which made her so sick before a cosplay skit she ended up puking before going on stage, only to do a performance that no one understood or enjoyed.

2) Yaya Han having this weird beef with Jessica Nigri over her doing lewd cosplay. It turns out they're friends in real life and the show overdramatized it simply because Jessica didn't want to be on the show.

3) Monika Lee saying to another cosplay that "you'd be the last person I'd team up with" was just a dickhead way of going about that. It's fine to not want to collab with people, but she could have had more tact.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CM8eal6rEI

Otaku Unite (2004)

A great film for learning about con history from the 80's - early 2000's.

I like that iCarly episode where they go to WebiCon. I feel like Jack Black was the perfect pick for that role.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRlmX4ekN-Q

ANIME: 2.5 Dimensional Seduction

Plot Summary: Okumura, the president of the school's manga club, claims to have no interest in real girls. He's your typical otaku, obsessed with a sexy (fictional) 2D manga character known as Lilliel. Then the new school year starts, and a real girl named Lilysa whose passion is cosplay joins the club.


This show JUST dropped its first episode a few days ago, but the manga has several chapters.

There was an episode of Psych that was about a bomb threat at a convention and took a lot of potshots at nipple-armor Batman but none of the cosplayers are cosplaying anything real.

Simpsons did this classic:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25VcFU45umg
They did another episode about nerd culture on a cruise ship which I'll admit wasn't particularly great https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJkBSqMFW4E

>>10908988
Times have changed if no one remembers Genshiken.

>>10927166
>First Simpsons clip
I couldn't appreciate the joke as a kid because I had no anime con experience then, but the idea of a bi-monthly convention is hilarious. The amount of work to keep that going and interesting would be a nightmare.

>Second Simpsons clip:
Damn, I'm actually gonna watch an episode from the newer seasons of Simpsons.

>>10908988
>it took almost a year after the thread started for someone to mention Genshiken

>>10905999
>that ends up being a terrible film
It wasn't the Christmas special, was it? I'd hate for that to be anyone's last film they see before they die.

>>10930000
What a get

>>10863223 (OP)
Quest of the Muscle Nerd is a go to

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ovm55TbwPyw&ab_channel=MuscleNerd

Cosplay Universe (2022)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5_nGLd7gtA

>>10868330
welp, here we are over a year later...

>>10933574
>welp, here we are over a year later...

He made a 12-minute-long channel update video a few days ago.
At no point in that video does he even reference 2K4C. It's a 12-minute rant about how he made a 2-and-a-half-hour video about SnowPiercer and deleted it because of anxiety...

It seems he'd rather spend the rest of his YouTube career making spooky Willy Wonka fan theories than wrapping up 2K4C in any meaningful way. Which honestly, if that's what he wants to do, then that's his choice. But to tell your fans you're going to revisit something in a year and then pretend the project doesn't even exist is disrespectful, which is ironic because his latest channel update is all about feeling bad that he betrayed his fans and how he wants to do better by them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfCX18muxtc

>>10930001
It was The Phantom Menace, the movie takes place in 1999

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxlPMWsLvkc

A new 6-part cosplay documentary just dropped. It's got a bunch of people I follow, like SKS Props, Yaya Han, Adam Savage, and Kamui Cosplay.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EejXBnfid6g

Their website:
https://www.alteregosdoc.com/

>>10917759
My friend John is in that, years before he became chair of MatsuriCon! Just look for the only Asian guy in a sequined jacket.

>>10929466
Few of the newer episodes are surprisingly good especially the Death Note and Se7en parody.

This documentary looks at Black people's interest in comics, cosplay, and more and asks whether this is a new phenomenon or something not highlighted.

It's on Tubi.

Ren Faire (2024)

This documentary about a Texas Ren Faire has about as much drama as a Game of Thrones episode, which is fitting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHZUVTrrexE

Ms Marvel

>>10936066
The first episode got posted online!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EElPdMiuJJk

We're finally getting a Season 2!!! Season 1 dropped Jan 9th, 2022, so it's been a minute.

>>10937706
is it good

>>10926947
>ANIME: 2.5 Dimensional Seduction

I feel like this anime/manga is far more cosplay-centric than My Dress-Up Darling.

My Dress-Up Darling Spoilers:
Somewhere after the hotel scene, I feel like they stopped focusing on cosplay and more on the drama between the different characters. This isn't bad, but it feels like the cosplay aspect of it is being put on the backburner.

Where as 2.5 Dimensional Seduction has been pretty consistent with focusing on cosplay and does it's best to keep it that way, regardless of what direction the plot is going.

Also, the anime has a lot of fanservice, but it is very censored compared to the manga.

>>10946570
>I feel like they stopped focusing on cosplay and more on the drama between the different characters.
just like in real life

>>10868330
>Notes from the video:
>1) 1:14:50 - 2Kawaii4Comfort will be revisited Next January (2024).

>TFW we're past January 2025

>>10948587
Grim

>>10948587
Damn, I just gave it a proper watch through last month and I loved how cringe it was, I guess somethings are just not meant to happen anymore

>>10867362
thanks for reminding me I have this. It's in a drawer somewhere but I'll definitely watch it later

>>10863223 (OP)
weird

>>10954685
Is it?

10954685
10955883
Kys already, moron

>>10954685
>>10955883
>>10955918