Izumi Konata Schoolgirl from Lucky Star Cosplay (All Photos By Gail)

We’ve been over this before. When I’m covering a fan convention like New York Comic Con, Flame Con or Anime NYC, I  just don’t really have the bandwidth — mentally, physically or creatively —t o do the kind of serious cosplay photography that most  of my fellow photographers do. You know the drill: stop someone, ask them to pose, find out exactly who they’re dressed as, photograph all the intricate details and then move on to the next character. Admirable, certainly, but it’s not my strength. My coverage takes much more of a hit-and-run approach.

This is directly related to the reasons I abandoned Halloween costume parties about 20 years ago: my costume ideas are lame and my competitive streak tells me that if I can’t be the best at something, I’d usually rather not play at all. While I have an enormous amount of admiration (read: jealousy) for the cosplayers who pour so much time and creativity into their costumes, I’m perfectly happy to remain an observer and leave the documentation to the experts.

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Don’t Lose Your Head

However, at this year’s Anime NYC, I decided to fully embrace my preferred pseudo-stealth approach to cosplay photography. Rather than stopping people and asking them to pose, I went looking for unposed captures — cosplayers behaving as though they were simply going about their daily lives, except they happened to be dressed like superheroes, anime characters or manga icons.

Mascot Pippa

Someone eating a donut? Perfect. Checking their phone? Even better. Waiting in line for the bathroom? Absolutely. There’s something inherently funny about seeing an elaborately costumed character engaged in the most mundane human activities. To me, those moments are often far more interesting than the standard stop-and-pose action shots. In the interest of full transparency, I did ask a few folks to pose for me (you can tell when), but most of these are what I call “Spy Pics” — or at least I made them look that way.

Carl Fredricksen From Up

And let’s be honest: without the passionate cosplayers who turn up at these conventions in their spectacular, often completely astonishing creations, the whole experience wouldn’t be nearly as much fun fr anyone — and I would to get learn so much!  Surely it can be agreed that Cosplayers are the Martial Artists and Fire Jugglers of the fan-convention world, and they deserve respect!

Before any more time passes (because it’s been a minute), let’s just get these photos online. Here’s a curated collection  of my favorite ultra-lame, backseat observations from Anime NYC — captured quickly, casually and, whenever possible, without interrupting anyone’s snack break. Enjoy!

Here’s fun one to start with. Someone dressed their dog as the character Okarun from the supernatural manga and anime series  Dandadan. 

Here’s what the character looks like, so you can see the resemblance is quite striking.

These fans all also cosplaying as characters from Dandadan, so you can imagine it’s quite popular.

These ladies are totally rocking it as Furina and Columbina from the role playing game Genshin Impact. Fierce!

One of my favorite candid captures is this lady  in her Officer Jenny cosplay from the Pokémon anime and video game series. I asked her if she would pose while  walking and eating her snack, and didn’t she do a great job? Love her.

How adorable is this cosplayer of Kasane Pearto, a viral internet meme and fan-made character that features the face of the virtual synth singer Kasane Teto edited onto a pear. I am dead now, from the cuteness. Their hair was a bit askew on the right side so I adjusted it before I took this pic. They seem grateful.

Meet Wattson from Apex Legends in her final fantasy collaboration Kupo skin. If you’re not sure what this means, do I what did and look it up!

I call this one Anime Mystery Date, but it’s just an excited fan getting a photo with a character from the  Silver Palace game.

In line for the ladies room, a promised, this is Asuka Langley Soryu from the anime franchise / tv series Neon Genesis Evangelion. The full head mask she wears is called Kigurumi.

Even the Furries need a break from all the excitement at Anime NYC!

Goku from Dragonball looking for Funko Pops.

Here’s a  Chinatsu Remiel, songwriter and composer for Angels of Delusion cosplay. Find her in Zenless Zone Zero, an urban fantasy action role-playing game. Her costume features a distinctive Pink Rotary Telephone Backpack, which you can buy online!

This character is called Moon Knight Samurai, a popular fan-made concept and artistic mashup rather than an official canon character in Marvel Comics. Good too know!

Cosplayers dressed as Marvel characters Namor and Emma Frost from Rivals, a free-to-play hero shooter video game. I love their little shark mascots! Emma reminds me of actress Elizabeth Banks.

Hornet, main hero of the game Hornet.

Do you think these two are BFFs? On the left (seated),  we have Sakura Kinomoto from the anime and manga series Cardcaptor Sakura. On the right we have Bowsette, also known as Princess Koopa, a popular, fan-made gender-swapped version of the iconic Super Mario villain Bowser. So. Much. World. Building. (BTW, that Backpack looks familiar).

Check out this fun cosplay of Kinger, a chess piece character from the animated web series The Amazing Digital Circus.

Here’s Kinger on a sticker sheet, so you can see that they can be portrayed by a man or woman. Inclusive!

This vendor is keeping the theme consistent, cosplaying  as a stylized, humanized version of Vaporeon, a popular Water-type creature from the Pokémon franchise.

Her booth, Fandom Garden, sells custom Pokémon terrariums shaped like Pokéballs. Clever!

Don’t you wish you could go out and do your daily shopping dressed as Zenitsu Agatsuma from the anime Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba? I know I do.

Huge Thanks to all of the Cosplayers and Fans Who Appear in This Post! Stay Tuned for More Anime NYC Coverage in the Coming Weeks!