2025 Old School (Pre-2001) Cosplay Gathering

[InsaneDavid]

Greetings old school cosplayers!  The Old School Gathering last year was a blast as always, thank you all for your amazing attendance, awesome cosplay, being genuinely considerate of your fellow cosplayers, and continued representation of the fandoms that created anime conventions!  Of course I'm back to host yet again!  Continuing the tradition of the gathering that got me into cosplay, I announce the...

Fanime 2025 Old School (Pre-2001) Cosplay Gathering!

Come celebrate the rich history of Japanese entertainment culture!

This is a hugely open gathering for those of you / us who cosplay as characters from the previous century.  Essentially if your cosplay character appears in Anime, Manga, Video Games or Live Action that began PRIOR to 2001, then this is the gathering for you!  Although I like to have a decidedly Japanese lean to this gathering, it is not completely exclusive.

Day : Friday, May 23rd, 2025 (Day 1).
Time : 6PM - 7PM.
Meeting Place (MP) : Same as Location.
Location (L) : Gatherings G3, Panels Wood Stairs.

This will be our eighth consecutive year hosting and TEN YEARS since we began hosting duties!

Gatherings G3 is the wooden tiered platform area along the stairs that lead down to the panel rooms inside the convention center on the lower level.  We will be on the downstairs wooden tiered platforms between the stairs and the escalators.  We weighed a lot of options for location and decided upon continuing to be at G3 as it provides better protection for some of our younger cosplayers and better accessibility for some of the older.  We also really like the tiered platforms.


Cosplayers : If you would like, please post who your cosplay character is, what title it is from and what year you are representing!  As this gathering is a total wildcard mix of different characters, series, studios, and genres - spanning time rather than properties - a definitive list is otherwise not provided.  Part of the fun of the OSCG is seeing just who shows up.


Legal Statement : Fanime / gathering co-host will likely be taking group pictures during the Gathering/Event this year. If you do not want to be included in those pictures please step aside for those photos. By remaining with the group when the pictures are being taken you give your consent to be photographed.


Photography Order : If there is any specific setup or shot you would like, just let me know!  This gathering is to celebrate all of us as cosplayers who keep the vintage fire alive.

Group shot.
By era - 1960's (or earlier).
By era - 1970's.
By era - 1980's.
By era - 1990's (to 2000).
Characters who use swords / knives / blades / etc.
Characters known to get physical / fighters / brawlers.
Military / rank and file / soldiers.
Characters with psychic powers / spiritual powers / espers / magic / etc.
Pilots / drivers / craft operators / mech jockeys.
Teachers / students / faculty / school attendants / etc.
Characters who use firearms / laser guns / projectile weapons / etc.
Magical girls.
Animals / pets.
Spacefaring characters / those who live off-world.
Robots / androids / synthetic people / mecha.
Characters who are mysterious / shadowy.
Public servants / government organizations / secret organizations.
Characters with secret identities.
Characters in uniform of any type.
Battle teams.
Video game characters.
Characters who are on the run / fugitives / scoundrels / bounty hunters.
Monsters / demons / youma / zombies / etc.
Characters who are technically minded / deductive / intelligent / geniuses.
Great warriors / legendary masters.
Civilians.
Aliens.
Heroes.
Villains.
Heroes vs Villains.
Cosplayers representing the manga version of their character.
Age vs Youth / old characters vs young characters.
Live Action only characters.
Pairings / couples.
Group shot for late attendees (regular / humorous).

Series groups (dependent on attendance / cosplayer request).
By studio / production team (dependent on attendance / cosplayer request).
Solo shots (cosplayer request).
Additional requests (cosplayer request).

I am always up for future ideas to add to the list!  A good portion of the photo order is built upon suggestions from previous years.  We have continued to consolidate the list to get the order cycled faster.


Facebook Event Link: https://www.facebook.com/events/1536511654404113


This is an excellent gathering to psyche you up for the convention weekend.  If you're an old school cosplayer, stop by and join us!  Feel free to pop in for a moment to say hi, see some incredible cosplay, pose for some pictures, and continue to prove that just because it's old doesn't mean it isn't awesome!


Thank you so very much.  Let's have another great turnout and continue this wonderful Fanime tradition!

[InsaneDavid]

Gathering location at FanimeCon 2025 - we are at Gatherings G3.

[InsaneDavid]

Unofficial co-host gallery is here:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1093978822752443&type=3

[InsaneDavid]

Good afternoon old schoolers!

I'm really going to try to keep up weekly updates like we did prior to 2020. I'm stoked that this gathering is usually so well attended and the feedback has been great over the past few years.

The makeup of Fanime has changed, both in staff and attendees, so I wanted to reiterate that if anyone has any questions about the Old School Gathering - please feel free to ask!

[InsaneDavid]

Good evening old schoolers!

No confirmations yet but we're obviously on the submission list like everyone else at this point.  Next weekend we'll get back into the full swing of gearing up for the gathering.

[Mizu]

Looking forward to seeing folks there :)

[InsaneDavid]

Good evening old schoolers!

Fanime is fast approaching and all systems are still go for the Old School Cosplay Gathering!  I'll be honest in that things are in a bit of a crunch right now for our other Fanime programming, which is why I've been a bit quieter than usual while that gets worked on.  It'll all get done however, and we're looking forward to seeing everyone in just a few more weeks!

[InsaneDavid]

Good afternoon old schoolers!

Just about a week away and I wanted to post the gathering map if you're unfamiliar with Fanime's gathering locations.  No change from the past few years, we're in the same place - Gatherings G3, the tiered wooden steps on the lowest level down by the panel rooms.  These are NOT the tall wooden steps you see when you enter through the main entrance - you need to go around to the right and down to the lowest level. G3 is an alcove between the two staircases that lead down to panels.

The map is above in the second post of the thread.

[Barnes]

Oh boy, G3...not the best place for my camera. Darn lighting over there.

[InsaneDavid]

Oh boy, G3...not the best place for my camera. Darn lighting over there.

I know it's not everyone's favorite but the setup works out best for the size and makeup of our gathering.  I've seen a few really well-lit pictures from there, and they're almost always taken from the right side of the steps - as in facing them from an audience perspective, going over to the right side, and then turning to the left to set up the frame.  That's probably where we're going to be situated for the unofficial host gallery and I'm going to try to make sure we have space over there so photographers have a clear shot.

The year we were outside in the little alcove over by the non-entrance was nice as well, but with it being Friday and Gathering operations not up to what they once were, cosplayers can have difficulty getting over there.  It's also flat, more or less.  We also tend to pull in random passerby vintage cosplayers at G3.

[InsaneDavid]

Good morning old schoolers!

We're just about a day away from the gathering and we'll be onsite in just a little bit.  Years ago I used to post anime openings pretty much constantly on the run-up to the gathering. That changed mostly due to YouTube restrictions getting them removed, which caused many of the Japanese channels that used to host them to be pulled down.  Things have changed a little with that, and I'm looking to begin that again next year.

However for this year, I will post one opening to kind of get me in the mindset for the gathering and FanimeCon as a whole.  This is Cyber City OEDO 808, a spectacular one-shot three episode OVA that seems like a small part of a greater work but no, this is it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lu0bReALU6Y

We'll see all of you on Friday at 6pm at gathering location G3!

[InsaneDavid]

This is the gallery of unofficial pictures from the FanimeCon 2025 Old School (Pre-2001) Cosplay Gathering. Friday, May 23rd 2025 at 6pm. Please feel free to share, tag, download, crop, use on your cosplay pages, etc. This gathering is for you, for us, who cosplay as these characters! This was our EIGHTH consecutive year (10 years since we started!) hosting this amazing gathering featuring cosplay characters from before 2001.

We also had an official photographer at the gathering, and once that gallery goes live we will post the link as well.  We've had some photography equipment issues this year and last, but between these pictures and the upcoming official Fanime photos, there should be decent pictures of everyone.

This is the full set of the co-host's photos from the gathering. Feel free to tag anyone you may know and share! (Apologies if Facebook is being strange and not allowing tagging again) If you need a higher resolution version of a picture (because Facebook sometimes reduces resolution) - please message me and I'll send it to you directly. If there are any images that you would like removed, please message me as well and I'll accommodate you as best I can. Thank you to all who attended or showed interest in this gathering. We hope to see you all again for FanimeCon next year and the 2026 Old School Cosplay Gathering! It will always be held the evening of Fanime Friday!

Unofficial co-host gallery is here:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1093978822752443&type=3

[Barnes]

And I can't complain about the lighting this year. That device on the floor helped, I think. And a different angle for me. As for my photos, I need:
1) to get my new camera to connect to my computer
2) an alternative to PB to host my photos (a site that's NOT AI "art" friendly

Till next year, old school fans!