Basic Requirements

• All costumes must be based on Japanese anime (such as Trigun), Japanese manga (such as Sanctuary), or a Japanese-origin anime-style video game (such as Final Fantasy) or a Japanese J-rock or J-pop group (such as Malice Mizer). Generally, if the series and/or character originated anywhere else than Japan, it doesn't qualify. Obviously, Japanese adaptations of foreign material that are nevertheless extremely Japanese are permitted - for example we would not exclude Marie Antoinette (Rose of Versailles), the Count of Monte Christo (Gankutsuou), Lupin (Lupin III) or Utena (Revolutionary Girl Utena) for being adapted from French works. When in doubt, contact the Hall Costume Contest Coordinator.
  • Exception 1: If you have a group costume based on a Japanese series that includes western characters but focuses on the Japanese ones, you may petition the Hall Costume Contest Coordinator for an exception. For example, if you were planning a Kingdom Hearts group featuring Sora, Riku, Kairi and Ansem and wanted to have Donald and Goofy as well, that would probably be approved.
  • Exception 2: If you wish to use materiel from a Chinese or Korean series or movie that is popular with American anime fans, you may petition for an exception by notifying the Hall Costume Contest Coordinator in advance of the name and series. For example a costume from Demon Diary would be considered.

  J-ROCK AND J-POP ENTRIES ARE ACCEPTED in the Hall Costume Contest. Unlike the Masquerade, the Hall Costume Contest is about craftsmanship, and not a show to entertain an audience of anime-fans, we do allow J-pop and J-rock costumes. You must, however, bring a reference picture for the costume, just as you would for an anime costume.

  With permission from the Hall Costume Contest Coordinator, we do allow costumes based on promotional art for anime and manga, even if the costumes do not appear in the actual series. In these cases you must notify the Hall Costume Contest Coordinator ahead of time that you will be using promotional art as the basis of your costume, to ensure that the judges are prepared for the unusual costume design. Be certain to bring the promotional image with you to judging as a reference picture.

  Costumes for original characters are not accepted in the Hall Costume Contest.

  You may not enter a costume in the Anime Boston 2007 Hall Costume Contest that was worn for any previous Anime Boston Masquerade, nor may you enter a costume that you are also entering in the Anime Boston 2007 Masquerade.
  Please note: this does not mean that we that someone can't dress up as Eternal Sailor Moon every single year. All it means is: if you want to dress up as Eternal Sailor Moon every year, you will need to have a new and different costume and each year (and it can't look exactly like the costume you used in a previous year). Costumes that have won ribbons in the Staff-Vote Costume Contest this year or in previous years are accepted. Costumes that have entered contests and won awards at other conventions are accepted, though we encourage people to bring new work to Anime Boston 2007.

  Individuals serving as judges for the Anime Boston 2007 Masquerade may participate in the Anime Boston 2007 Hall Costume Contest, and vice versa.

  Anime Boston staff members may not participate in the Hall Costume Contest.

  YOUR COSTUME MUST BE HOME MADE. Costumes purchased or rented from a costume shop, designer direct, eBay, Yahoo Auctions, Yahoo Japan Auctions, Cospa, any other costume store or online resource, or any costumes made for you by a professional designer or seamstress, are prohibited. Ignoring this rule will negate your eligibility (and your group's eligibility; even if only one person in the group has a disqualified costume) to participate in the contest. Honesty is always the best policy; tell us if one person in your group made all the costumes. That person (as long as they are a member of your group) is still eligible for a Design Award (see the Awards section for more details). There are exceptions to the "purchased or rented" policy:

  • Exception 1: "Found Item" costumes are allowed. This is basically a costume that was built by collecting various appropriate pieces from normal clothing stores and combining them together in a unique way (with or without sewing) to make a costume.
  • Exception 2: If one or two minor components of the costume were professionally purchased, if you describe precisely which and why, and IF THEY ARE NOT MAJOR ELEMENTS OF THE COSTUMES, we may, at the Hall Costume Contest Coordinator's discretion, permit the costume. In such a case you MUST indicate all such items to the Hall Costume Contest Coordinator and judges, and these items will not be considered as part of the costume by the judges when they evaluate the costume for craftsmanship eligibility. For example, if you were Naruto from Naruto and used an official store-bought Naruto headband, that would lower your chances of winning an award compared to a Naruto with a homemade headband. On the other hand, if you take the store-bought item and transform and improve it substantially, it is considered largely your own work. For example, a store-bought plastic Cardcaptor Sakura wand would not score well, but if you used a store-bought plastic Cardcaptor Sakura wand as the basis and then modified it substantially with clay, paint, ribbons etc. to make it look more like the real one, that would score much better.

  You may wear a costume that was not made by you but by a friend or relative. In this case, any Craftsmanship award is presented to the creator of the costume, not to the model wearing it.

  Remember, no costume made by a professional tailor is eligible, no matter who wears it.

  Each contestant may present (wear) one and only one costume, or a group of people may wear one costume at the same time (i.e., a large costume that requires several people inside to move it). Multiple entries worn by the same person, or one entry worn by multiple people at different times, will not be allowed. No exceptions.

• NOTE ON EXCEPTIONS: If for some reason you believe you have good cause to petition for an exception to one of the basic rules, you must contact Hall Costume Contest Coordinator. If you can justify your special request, it may be permitted.

Divisions

• All entries will register under ONE of the following skill Divisions:
  • NOVICE: No member of the group has won three or more major prizes at Novice level (or equivalent) at previous conventions, and no member of the group has won any major award above Novice level (Advanced, Journeyman, Craftsman or the equivalent).
  • ADVANCED (equivalent of Journeyman or Craftsman): At least one contestant in the group has won three or more major prizes at Novice level (or equivalent) or one major award at Advanced (Journeyman or Craftsman) level at previous conventions.
  • NOTE that there is NO separate YOUTH category for the Hall Costume Contest.

• A major prize is any prize that starts with the words "Best," "Most," "First," "Second," or "Judge's" or "Hall Costume Contest Coordinator's" or the equivalent. Honorable Mentions count only when they are the equivalent of second place, so if a contest had First place, Second place, Third place and Honorable Mentions then Honorable Mentions, like Third Place, is not a major prize, but if the contest had only First place and Honorable Mentions then Honorable Mentions counts as a major prize. Both performance and craftsmanship awards count, as do Hall Costume Contest awards. Note that the Hall Costume Contest does count performance awards at Masquerades as well as craftsmanship awards when evaluating a participant's level, so if you have won three major awards for performance but none for craftsmanship you must still compete at advanced level. When in doubt about your eligibility for a division, contact the Hall Costume Contest Coordinator.

• Novice participants may opt to register and compete the Advanced division if they wish. If you think the quality of your costume is above the usual standards of Novice level, due to extra preparation, a more ambitious project, extensive stage experience, or for some other reason, then you are encouraged, though not required, to participate at Advanced level.

• If you have opted to register and compete in a higher skill division (Advanced, Journeyman, Craftsman) in the past, and won one or more major prizes in that division, you are obligated to compete in that Division thereafter. Knowingly entering Novice division when you ought to be in Advanced is grounds for disqualification. When in doubt about your division, contact the Hall Costume Contest Coordinator.

• We will allow parents into the judging area with participants aged 14 & under. This is not required, just recommended (and encouraged), especially for participants aged 12 & under.

• Groups and individuals are both accepted into the Hall Costume Contest. There is no separate category for groups, but they are judged with all the other entries. NO SEPARATE JUDGING OF MEMBERS OF GROUPS is possible in the Hall Costume Contest – you must either register as individuals for separate judging or all be judged together.

• Please don't wear or use any messy substances that might ruin the costume of another contestant. If you are wearing body paint or make-up, please make sure it will not come off in casual contact with others.

• Costumes must be self-contained. Connections to electrical sockets will not be available.

• Nothing the Anime Boston staff feels that may pose a danger to people or the facilities will be allowed.

• Display weapons are allowed if appropriate to the costume. Display means display; live steel (metal) will not be allowed under any circumstances. If you have any questions concerning what qualifies as "live steel", please ask the Hall Costume Contest Coordinator ahead of time. There will be no exceptions to this rule. Please bring your weapons when you check in, because it may need to go through a security check. Any weapons not checked in will not be allowed on stage. Please see our full Weapons Policy.

• NO COSTUME IS NO COSTUME. We do not allow nudity or semi-nudity that is forbidden by Massachusetts state law or make our convention attendees (and Hall Costume Contest judges) uncomfortable.

• We have the right to cancel your registration at any time for any reason.

Awards

• List of Awards: The awards are awarded based on the design, construction, execution, and general presentation of your costume:
  • First Place, Novice Division, Craftsmanship
  • Second Place, Novice Division, Craftsmanship
  • First Place, Advanced Division, Craftsmanship
  • Second Place, Advanced Division, Craftsmanship
  • Best Costume Design
  • Best Accessory or Weapon
  • Judge's Award (three or four awarded)
  • Honorable Mention (awarded at judges' discretion)

• No single entry may receive more than one award.

• Winners will be announced at the Masquerade on Saturday night. Winning entries may have their pictures projected on the video screens. Winners will not be invited to come onto the stage to receive their prizes; they must pick up their prizes at Masquerade Headquarters either after the Masquerade on Saturday Night or on Sunday. Winning entries who are unable to pick up their prizes from Masquerade Headquarters by the end of the convention may e-mail the Hall Costume Contest Coordinator after the convention and have them sent by mail.

Judging Format

• Judging will take place on Friday and Saturday. Precise details on times and locations for Judging will be posted closer to the event.

• When you register, you must register either for Friday or for Saturday judging, and you come to judging on the day on which you registered. If you If you miss Friday craftsmanship judging and have not arranged ahead of time for Saturday judging, we cannot promise that we will have time to judge you, but you may come to Masquerade Headquarters and ask. We encourage groups when possible to register for Friday judging, since Saturday judging tends to be more rushed.

• Judging will consist of a panel judges examining the costume and asking questions about its construction and design. The contestant should be prepared to answer questions. Judges may request to touch the costume, but the contestant is entitled to refuse if this makes him or her uncomfortable. To find out what kinds of questions the judges will ask, see the Masquerade Craftsmanship Judging Sample Questions.

• All participants must bring at least one color picture, preferably two, of each character the costume entry represents. A black and white image is acceptable if you have designed a manga-based costume. We recommend that the images you choose show the character from head-to-toe (especially if they are in the costume you are presenting), but this is not required. This means you should bring an actual image from the anime or manga – a screencap, a manga page or a piece of promotional art. A photograph of yourself in your costume is not a sufficient reference picture because it does not allow the judges to compare the costume to the original character design. Failure to bring a reference picture may disqualify you from craftsmanship judging, since if the judges don't know what your costume is supposed to look like, they cannot judge it.

• Digital photographs of all costumes will be taken at Craftsmanship judging. The photographs of winning entries, and possibly others, may be projected on the video screens during the awards ceremony to allow the audience to see costume details. These photographs will become property of Anime Boston and may be used for promotional purposes.

• One major craftsmanship judging criterion is how closely the costume matches the original. If some portion of your costume is never shown, such as the back or the shoes, then you should design the missing components based on other costumes from the same series – in such a case we recommend that you bring supplementary images showing the other costumes you have used as the basis of your design. Many craftsmen also like to embellish simpler costumes with details that would not be visible in the stylized images that appear in anime, such as complicated layers underneath the surface layer, detailed embroidery, or beadwork. These embellishments are permitted so long as they are in line with the style of the original artist, and so long as the costume as a whole matches the reference pictures. A costume that deviates too much from the original may be impossible for our judges to evaluate fairly. When in doubt, look at the Craftsmanship Judging sample questions, or contact the Hall Costume Contest Coordinator. Note that an embellished costume does not necessarily have any advantage in competition over a costume that strictly follows the original design.

• For groups, the entire group has to participate in the Craftsmanship judging. Group members may not be judged as individuals.

• If one person in your group made all of the costumes for that group, solely that person is eligible, and only for the "Best Costume Design" Award.

• Every contestant needs to be prepared to answer the judges' questions about his/her role in the construction of his/her costume. Here are some sample questions that the judges may ask.

• Each contestant may present (wear) one and only one costume, or a group of people may wear one costume at the same time (i.e., a large costume that requires several people inside to move it). Multiple entries worn by the same person, or one entry worn by multiple people at different times, will not be allowed. No exceptions.

• A costume designer for a costume or costumes being modeled by another person may win the Best Costume Design award. If possible, the designer should be present to receive the award; otherwise it will be presented to the model on the designer's behalf.

Weapons Policy

• Please review Anime Boston's Weapons Policy.

Special Requests

• If you have any special requests or concerns, contact the Hall Costume Contest Coordinator as soon as possible. Because of the complexity of the convention events, few special requests will be able to be met, but the sooner you notify us about them, the more likely it is that we can accommodate you. Please contact us in advance. Special requests made at the convention itself are likely to be impossible for us to accommodate.

• If you have other questions which were not answered here, check the Masquerade FAQ, which answers many questions about craftsmanship judging -- with the exception of the Masquerade allowing members of groups to be judged separately (which is not permitted in the Hall Costume Contest), craftsmanship judging for the Hall Costume Contest and Masquerade are identical. With other questions, contact the Hall Costume Contest Coordinator. She is always checking e-mail.

• Hall Costume Contest Basic Information
• Hall Costume Contest Rules
• Participation Form for Minors
• Hall Costume Contest Registration Form
• Craftsmanship Judging Sample Questions (same as Masquerade)
• Masquerade FAQ (answers many craftsmanship questions)