Saturday, 19 May 2007

Moon Costumes

The following is my very first sponsored site review!

During my stay in Japan, several images I had had of the country and it's people prior to my coming here have been shattered: Most polite people in the world? "Sure push me some more on the street, in public, wherever you want." Cleanest people in the world? "No that's okay. I don't need soap to wash my hands." Everyone speaks English! "Wakanai!"

There has been a few stereotypes of Japan that ring true almost every day though. One of which is the fact that quite a few people do dress up in cosplay (Engrish for "costume role-play") just like you see on tv. Whether it's the girls in "sexy" French maid outfits handing out flyers or serving tables or even the 50 year old man selling his body in the streets of Shinjuku in a full body Pikachu getup, cosplay is truly a part of Japanese culture (whether the Japanese like to admit it or not) and this doesn't include the massive anime and manga conventions that take place throughout the year.

The cater to this craze, numerous shops have popped up throughout Japan to sell costumes and supplies for cosplayers looking to perfect their look.

For those people unfortunate enough to live outside Japan, several great websites are available to take care of your cosplay needs. One such site is Moon Costumes.

The site is very easy to navigate with the surfing style designed around the anime and manga series and characters rather than the individual items of the costume you want (which would have been stressful to say the least).

There's a huge selection of costumes to choose from, ranging from classics such as Sailor Moon (if only I was a girl, though maybe if I....) to some modern popular series like Bleach and Kingdom Hearts 2 with even a few non-anime characters thrown in such as that crazy schoolgirl, Gogo from Kill Bill and even the ghost twins from the Matrix Reloaded.

There's something for everyone here and even if there's not the Cosplay & Anime section is part of a much larger site with movie costumes and your average Halloween and other holiday costumes and decorations.

The prices are very cheap (well cheaper or on par with what these costumes sell for in Tokyo anyway) and your item is shipped within 24 hours of purchase.

The only negative I could really find on the site would be that some of the anime information is incorrect. A prime example would be the mixing of the Sailor Moon character's English and Japanese character names, something that reminds me of Sailor Moon sites from the late 90s. (What can I say? I'm a fan of the show). It's even stranger that they call them by their civilian names instead of the much better known "Sailor" codenames such as "Sailor Mercury", "Sailor Jupiter", etc.

But I guess if you're visiting this site, you're after costumes and not anime series information, though only a Sailor Moon fan would buy a Sailor Moon costume and a fan would be able to tell what information is a little off and what's not.

As a whole though, Moon Costumes is one amazing cosplay online store! The selection of costumes alone places it above the competition.

Next time you're going to a costume party (or handing out flyers). Give Moon Costumes a go.

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Labels: Cartoons, japan, Review Me