Cosplay
Contest

• Craftmanship – Beginners
  0-2 awards or have never entered a contest before Entry should have at least 50% of the costume made/altered.
• Craftmanship – Intermediate
  3-4 Awards and at least 70% of the costume made.
• Craftmanship – Master
  5+ Awards and at least 85% of the costume made by the contestant.
• Runway
  If you select Runway entry, you would like to go on stage and show off your costume. Note you will not be eligible for most of the awards aside from Judges’ Pick, the A2F Memorial Award, or the Runway Awards.
• Judge’s Choice
  Our A2F Judges will present this award to a cosplayer that stood out to them whether it be due to craftsmanship or stage presence!

1. Participants must complete the registration form to enter.
2. Participants must bring in a printed reference photo of your cosplay for the judges to use.
3. Costumes from both Japanese and western media are allowed. This includes anime, manga, video games, comic books or film adaptations, and etc. Costumes outside these categories require pre-approval.
4. Costumes larger than a standard door frame require pre-approval.
5. Participating in main stage contest is a time commitment and fail to show up for check-in maybe result in disqualification.
6. Participation in the contest includes going before judges during a scheduled time slot as well as walking across the stage during the Arkansas Anime Festival Cosplay Contest event.
7. All costumes must cover “swimsuit areas” – no nudity. Body-paint costumes are not eligible for craftsmanship. Please see diagram above.
8. Do not wear or use anything that will damage, destroy, or ruin the costume(s) of other attendants or the hotel space.
9. Costumes must be self-contained. No connections to electricity, water, amps, projection, PA’s, etc. will be provided.
10. Contestants are encouraged to notify staff if their costume has restricted movement, vision, or is otherwise bulky so we can best accommodate you.
11. Contestants are also encouraged to inform staff if they themselves have any physical or visual impairments that would require accommodations for walking on stage.
12. Entries in the contest will be expected to walk on stage to present their work.
13. All costumes must conform to convention, jurisdiction, and state guidelines for public decency. Shoes are required.
14. Profanity and obscene and/or lewd gestures are simply not allowed.
15. Costumes and presentation shall not be used as a political, religious, etc. statement.
16. Arkansas Anime reserves the right to have the final word on all decisions.
17. No airhorns, glitterbombs, or confetti’s should be used on or off stage.

• Entries/Stage Performances can not go beyond (8) warm bodies including stage ninjas.
• Participants may only appear on the stage ONCE per competition. They cannot appear in more than one entry per competition for any reason. They may not wear more than one cosplay unless it is a “cosplay change” that pertains to the stage time. (Example; a cosplay turning into something else or a character changing for a skit.)
• Each cosplayer is allowed to cross the stage once. If you are in a skit, you cannot also do a ‘walk on’ entry, and vice versa.
• Nothing may leave the stage! This includes yourself, warm bodies, props, glitter, confetti, etc.
• Awards are given by ENTRY, not per person. If you apply as a team of three (3) and get judged as an entire entry, one award will be given to the entire team.
• All performance content must adhere to a “PG-13” rating, as there will be children and minors in the audience. No swearing, sexually-explicit actions or references, and no inappropriate gestures will be permitted. Drug references and alcohol use will also not be allowed.
• Any performance that violates these contest rules will automatically be disqualified and removed from the cosplay contest premises.
• When planning to wear a risqué costume, keep in mind that there are children in the audience. Furthermore, the competition will be recorded and later shared on the internet; keep that in mind when considering potential “costume malfunctions.”
• If your costume is deemed too inappropriate for children audience members, you will be requested to cover up as necessary. Failure to comply will result in your disqualification.
• The Arkansas Anime Festival Guidelines must still be followed (meaning no live steel may be present).

• We will not be providing microphones for any performances; all skit audio must be pre-recorded.
• Skit-only Entries are not required to do Craftsmanship pre-judging. All performance content must also adhere to a PG-13 rating, as there will be children and minors in the audience. No swearing, sexually-explicit actions, references, or inappropriate gestures will be permitted. Drug references and alcohol use will also not be allowed.
• Storage for Stage Props/Sets will be provided but is TBA location. Nothing may leave the stage! This includes yourself, warm bodies, props, glitter, confetti, etc

By entering the Arkansas Anime Festival Cosplay Contest, you agree to the following:

• I give permission to A2F and its designees to photograph and/or video record my costume and performance. I acknowledge and consent to such recordings and its publishing and re-broadcasting.
• I also attest that I am eligible to compete as per the A2F Cosplay Contest rules and that all information on the entry form is true and correct.
• I also hereby acknowledge that I will be asked to sign a copy of this entry form at the Cosplay Contest check-in at the convention.

1. Live steel is not allowed. This includes real swords, knives, blades, guns, etc. Prop blades must be fake and dull.
2. No real weapons whatsoever, including airsoft guns. Prop weapons must be obviously fake. Prop firearms must have an orange tip with no projectiles loaded. All ranged weapons may not be tightly strung. Ammunition may not be carried onstage.
3. Live projectiles are not allowed. Objects may not be thrown into the audience.
4. Replicas may not be pointed in the direction of another human being.
5. Fire, flames, explosives, flash powder, smoke, lasers, etc. are not allowed. Electronic flashes are only permitted with pre-approval.
6. No smoke or vapor of any kind will be allowed.

Those found to be in violation of these rules will be reprimanded.