Heroes of Cosplay finally debuted on Syfy. I’m sure there were a lot of fans, convention attendees and cosplayers just waiting for this show to begin. I was definitely one of them. But as I wrote in my last post, I was also really nervous about it. And with good reason, too.
Just like Syfy’s other series, Face Off, it started with introducing who would be judging and who would be competing. Building costumes takes a lot of time, work, effort and money that go into each part. People freak out, become stressed and really worry how the end product is going to look. But in all honesty, Heroes of Cosplay felt like one big soap opera.
The show is an hour long and concentrates on a small group of people that already have status in the cosplay world. They are known for doing wonderful jobs of creating and becoming the character they choose. But like everyone else, drama still exists even for them. And that is one of the first points I have problems with in this show.
There was so much concentration on the drama for each of the main competitors, we really didn’t get to see much of the creation process for the cosplays. One girl was flipping out about not having every piece for her cosplay put together so she decided to have a night on the town before the judging the next day. A team of two other women were actually putting their friendship on the line over horns. Yes, stress does happen and strain relationships. But that is not all what cosplay is about. Though in this way, we got to see a glimpse at different kinds of cosplayers and what they go through.
Another issue I had was that Syfy basically embodied Yaya Han as cosplay itself, making her the queen in a way. I love her work, don’t get me wrong, but she is not the only one in this world that can pull off amazing cosplay. There are many dedicated and talented people out there that can do what she does. And the camera spent most of the show time on her and what she was doing for her own cosplay, time that I felt could be spent actually showing us what the competitors were doing. Yaya Han was a judge, not in the competition.
Basically my main points are that:
- Heroes of Cosplay is a drama more than anything. Too much screen time of people crying or freaking out.
- Instead of giving cosplayers that are new onto the scene a chance to really show what they have, the show picked competitors that already have presence in the cosplay world.
- The show should really be called Yaya Han: Hero of Cosplay. Even the other two judges were barely introduced (and one of them was Jason David Frank!).
- Cosplay should be about having fun and doing what you love. Not about competition or how much of a perfectionist you can be.
I have been a cosplayer for 10+ years now and watched the show with an open mind. As in my last post about this, I was anticipating how it would go and watch the first episode entirely. Everything that the competitors went through happens to regular people. But the overall display was more negative than I anticipated. And for someone new to cosplay who might be watching this show for inspiration or an idea of what it’s like, it might be overwhelming and make them change their mind. And this is not how cosplay should appear. I know I’m disappointed and think that Syfy should stick to Face Off. At least we get to see actual work as opposed to drama.