Rules for participating in the Cosplay Show

1. Only costumes that haven’t been shown in any other Bulgarian cosplay competitions can participate.

2. The costumes must be based on a licensed character from anime, manga, video game, western movies/series, cartoons or comic books ( in other words fan art version of characters or own designs are not allowed. Gender bend cosplays are also not allowed - where for example the costume is for a male character with pants is transformed to a female character with a dress. Crossplay is allowed as long as the costume is kept the same as the original. ).

3. All participants with a gaming cosplay ( a costume from a game ) will showcase their performance during the first day of the event, which is Saturday. All other cosplayers (other than gaming) will be performing on Sunday. Performing with gaming costume on Sunday is prohibited, so is performing with any other type of costume (than gaming) on Saturday. If your character appears in both an anime/manga/movie etc. and a video game with the same costume, you can choose in which day you want to participate.

4. All willing to participate will go through evaluation, before the actual event, based on the complexity of the costume and stage performance. You will not be able to attend the competition if your cosplay is way too simple – jeans, shirt, neko ears, ready bought spandex cosplay – for example.

5. The cosplay show will be with а limited amount of participants. The gaming show will have up to 60 cosplayers, and the Sunday show  up to 90. The order of registration ( when the form was sent and how many people have already registered ) does not matter and all willing to participate will be reviewed. In other words the registration is not until all spots are filled, but all registrations are accepted and then reviewed to choose the best ones.

6. All participants will be informed personally if they are accepted to participate or not.

7. You can participate on stage as a solo cosplay ( just yourself ) or with a group of people (two, three or more).

8. Participants can choose if they want to have a performance ( a dance, talking with a microphone, short stage play and so on ) or just walk on the stage, fashion show style.

9. Each participant will have limited time to showcase his/her cosplay.

- Solo cosplays without any stage performance will have up to 30 seconds.

- Those who are Solo, but have a stage performance, will have 1:30 minutes.

- Those who are two people together and also have performance will again have 1:30 minutes.

- Those who are three people together and also have performance will have 2:00 minutes

- Groups with 3 or more people will have 2:30 minutes.

10. All cosplayers approved for the cosplay show will get free 2 day passes for Aniventure Comic Con. The passes will be for 1 person, reserved with his/her name. If a participant has an assistants, the assistant will have to buy their own ticket, and also have to be registered with the organizers so they are entered in the lists which will allow them access to the backstage area. Cosplayers which weren’t approved for the review can showcase their costume freely within the two days of the event, but they have to buy a ticket.

11. There cannot be any pyrotechnical devices or substances on the stage on Aniventure Comic Con, as well as sharp swords, knifes or anything similar. The participants cannot throw any objects (balls, shuriken, arrows) at the audience. Nakama reserves the right to disqualify any participant from the review if his performance is judged to be harmful to the audience.

12. For the show to have a maximum effect all participants are forbidden from showing their costumes in the halls of the convention prior to the review. Once you enter the dressing room and put your costume/make up participants can not leave until the review is over.

13. You can sign up for the review by filling in the form for participants and sending it via e-mail to  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . You can see the form at the bottom of this page.

14. Nakama reserves the right to change these rules without a notice. The rules are published on our website and all participant must be familiar with them. Signing up for Aniventure Comic Con  is a written agreement with the rules.

15. Taking pictures/videos in the dressing rooms without the knowledge of staff members is forbidden.

16. Signing up for the cosplay review in Aniventure Comic Con  confirms the agreement of any participant to be photographed or filmed on video for marketing use by Nakama.

Deadlines

1. The deadline for registering for Aniventure Comic Con 2023 cosplay review is the 18th of June 2023.

2. Up until the 18th of June 2023 all participants must send a picture of the finished costume. Only finishing touches will be allowed to be done after that. Costumes that are barely started as of the 18th of June will not be permitted to attend the review. We will appreciate any participants that sign up earlier than the final date and send pictures of the finished costume later, but not later than the deadline. Please make sure the pictures are with a high quality, as they will be presented to the Cosplay Judges of the event.

Awards

1. Aniventure Comic Con 2023 awards will be given for the following categories, which apply for both cosplay competitions:

- Best Resemblance to the Original – an award for best resemblance to the original character. The costume, the look of the cosplayer, and their stage performance are all taken into account here. Prizes in this category will 1000 BGN for gaming day and 1000 BGN for anime/movie day.

- Best Costume – an award for the costume that has the best resemblance to the original costume. What is taken into account here is only how complex and well crafted the costume is, the look of the cosplayer is not. Prizes in this category will be 700 BGN for gaming day and 700 BGN for anime/movie day .

- Best of show – This category awards the most charismatic cosplayer which appealed the most to the jury and the audience and gave the best show. Prizes in this category will be  300 BGN for gaming day and 300 BGN for anime/movie day.

- Best Armor - Award for best crafted armor. The assessment is based on the complexity, detail, ingenuity, efficiency and scale of the work. Prizes - themеd materials for making cosplay provided by the specialized shop https://cosplayshop.be

- Best Prop - Awarded for the best weapons, accessories or decorations to go with the costume. The assessment is based on the complexity, detail, ingenuity, efficiency and scale of the work. Only props handmade by the participant are contested. Prizes - themеd materials for making cosplay provided by the specialized shop https://cosplayshop.be

- Best make-up - award for the most complex and spectacular make-up. The category also includes the manufacture of special prostheses used to change the shape of the face or body. Prizes - themеd materials for making cosplay provided by the specialized shop https://cosplayshop.be

2. International qualification for Cosplay champions ( for more info please click here ) 

Form for signing up for the Cosplay Review

If you are participating along with other people in a group, the organizer of the group must send one e-mail with information about all other cosplayers.

1. Two Names (First Name, Last Name).

2. Your age.

3. Facebook account (Link towards your Facebook profile).

4. Phone number.

5. City of residence.

6. Name of the anime/manga/movie/video game that you character comes from.

7. Name of the character you want to cosplay.

8. Multimedia for your performance, which should include:

- video ( format mp4 1920х1080)

or

- image and song ( image format jpg 1920х1080 pixels, song format mp3 44 kHz/192 kbps or higher ) 
* the video/image can not contain any screens or text with links/names to social media profiles

9. Reference image in which your characters costume is fully visible. It will be used by the jury to compare the accuracy of your costume.

10. Pictures of the finished costume. (it is not mandatory to send it when signing up - you can send it at a later point, but not later than the 18th of June. Please make sure the images are with high quality as they will be shown to the judges of the cosplay contest.)

 11. Do you wish to participate in Cosplay Champions? Yes/No

12. Did you make your costume yourself or was it purchased (purchased would mean made by a hired tailor, made by a friend, bought from a store, etc. - when you did not make the costume yourself. Making the costume yourself will not be a qualifying criteria for participation. But it is criteria for competing for prizes and only personally made costumes can participate in them. )? - Personally made / bought

For sign ups and questions email to  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION: All qualified participants from the city of Sofia will have to plan to attend general rehearsals on Friday the 7th of July from 10:00 to 20:00. Please note, as there will be a lot of participants who are working, that it will not be possible for everyone to rehearse after 18:00. If necessary, please plan a vacation day from work, so that you may rehearse during the day. We will not be able to guarantee that people who arrive for rehearsals after 18:00 will be able to go on stage. Participants that are not from Sofia can choose to rehearse on Friday OR in the morning of the cosplay show for which they qualified.