We moved through the massive event complex with its hundreds of shops methodically, setting up a meeting point if anyone got lost in the crowd. To be safe I kept a close eye out for the others. There were so many different kinds of shops with anything you could imagine that was anime and comic related. Some shops that caught my attention were the cosplay shops. I have been to a number of them in Japan but I hadn't been to one abroad yet.
For those who do cosplay there is always the ethics concern of buying or making your own costume. The true layer will make their own and frown upon the purchased versions. Now there are many differing views about what cosplay is but if we think about the word itself "costume play", the range of forms that this hobby could take are very wide. Regardless of how you view things, picking up a costume, throwing it on and becoming a different character isn't really hurting anyone. They seemed to be doing some brisk business.