Once again cosplayers turned out in force for AX 04, and reflecting the growing American trend costuming, there were more cosplayers than ever. By far the most popular series for cosplayers was Naruto. Ninjas here, ninjas there, ninjas everywhere. Even though the series has not even been released nor announced for America, avid anime fans are already smitten by the popular series. Closely following Naruto for costuming popularity was FFX2, Advent Children, and the ever-popular Nicholas Wolfwood.

For both professional photographers and amateur fans with disposable cameras alike, cosplay gatherings for specific anime, manga, and games happened almost around the clock in the front of the glass doors outside of the convention center. Hilton and Disneyland guests who weren’t necessarily there to join the 25,000 rabid anime fans were treated to a parade of costumes that might have rivaled Disney’s own parades.

The hundreds of brightly colored cosplayers were a great build up to the highly anticipated Masquerade on Sunday evening. The AX Masquerade is quite possibly the most popular event that takes place year after year. Hardcore cosplay fans take precious time out of their busy AX schedules, missing panels and exclusive viewings simply to stand in line for what can literally be hours for a chance for a good seat at the Masquerade. Around 6PM patient fans and press are seated to await the 8PM curtain time. With a two or more hour wait just to get a seat, a 6PM seating time, an 8PM curtain time, and a 12AM end time, attending the Masquerade requires almost inhumane patience, a backpack full of snacks, and a Gameboy advance with plenty of battery power.

This year the Masquerade fielded 55 contestants (or groups of contestants) who were required to put together a brief skit displaying their costumes and characters. Skits ranged from the strangely absurd to the wildly hilarious and everywhere inbetween. The highlights of the show were a transforming Subaru WRX from the new Transformers Alternators series complete with working headlights, a 15 foot tall Optimus Prime, and a comparably sized Gundam straight from Japan.

Between the roaming cosplayers at the show and the bolder Masquerade contestants, it’s very clear that American cosplayers are getting more and more sophisticated in their costuming. Whatever you may think of costuming, it cannot be denied that incredible amounts of effort are being poured into these costumes.