History Anime / CosplayComplex

[[quoteright:199:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cosplay_complex.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:199:''Let's together go to another world!'']]

''Cosplay Complex'' (こすぷれCOMPLEX) is a 2002 {{OVA}} series, focusing on the hijinks of the East Oizumi Academy's [[{{Cosplay}} cosplay]] club. The main character is Chako Hasegawa, a somewhat [[TheDitz ditzy]] girl who absolutely adores cosplaying, despite the fact that she isn't very good at it.

The rest of the club is a weird bunch, even as total cosplay [[{{Otaku}} otakus]] go: there's Reika Aoshima, a silver haired control freak; Maria Imai, a {{Meganekko}} {{Miko}}, her adorable younger sister Athena Imai, and Jenny Matel, an Italian transfer student. The only guy in the club is Gorō Yorozuyo, who is prone to extreme bouts of method acting that would give Creator/JackNicholson a run for his money. Luckily for the club, he ''is'' actually pretty darn good at what he does.

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[[caption-width-right:200:''Let's together go to another world!'']]

* BigEater: Delmo often asks for food in exchange for getting Chako out of cosplay related mishaps.

* HotSpringsEpisode: The first half of the second episode shows the cosplay club member's going to a hot spring, ostensibly for training.

* ShoutOut: The creators use the premise of a cosplay club to make a ''ton'' of references. The ADV release included a feature where they showed stills from across all three episodes of the various outfits worn, a gold star listing the character the outfit belonged to. This lasts for ''five minutes'', and its entirely possible there are some deep cuts they missed. Needless to say, a list of all of these references would get quite long. Some of the more notable shout outs include:

* CliffHanger: The final episode has a mysterious blue-haired woman leaving flowers at Sachiko's husband's grave. Sachiko is later shocked to see her in the audience of a cosplay contest but it is never explained who she is. The last shot of the episode shows the blue haired woman chauffeuring the rival cosplay club's members.
* CliffhangerCopout: The final episode teases a blue-haired woman who seems to have a connection to Sachiko: the mystery woman leaves flowers for Sachiko's dead husband and Sachiko herself is shocked to see her in the cosplay battle's audience. The mystery woman also seems to work with or for the Shin-Takarazuka Academy's cosplay club. However, a sequel was never made, leaving all of these threads to dangle.

The rest of the club is a weird bunch, even as total cosplay [[{{Otaku}} otakus]] go: there's Reika Aoshima, a silver haired control freak; Maria Imai, a {{Meganekko}} {{Miko}}, her adorable younger sister Athena Imai, and Jenny Matel, a blonde girl who lusts after Athena. The only guy in the club is Gorō Yorozuyo, who is prone to extreme bouts of method acting that would give Creator/JackNicholson a run for his money. Luckily for the club, he ''is'' actually pretty darn good at what he does.

* ShoutOut: The creators use the premise of a cosplay club to make a ''ton'' of references. The ADV release included a feature where they showed stills from across all three episodes of the various outfits worn, a gold star listing the character the outfit belonged to. This lasts for ''five minutes''. Needless to say, a list of all of these references would get quite long. Some of the more notable shout outs include:

** Later on, Jenny dons a martial arts outfit akin to [[Franchise/TheKingOfFighters Yuri Sakazaki]]'s.

** Another eyecatch that same episode shows Chako as [[Manga/CardcaptorSakura Sakura]] and Delmo as [[Manga/CardcaptorSakura Kero-chan]].

* VisualPun: As part of the nurse outfit portion of the competition, Jenny wears a giant eggplant costume with the word "Nasu" in big bold letters. In Japanese, the word for eggplant is "nasu" which is also the phonetic way to say "nurse".

** One of the eyecatches in Episode 3 shows Sachiko and Ikebukuro dressed as [[Anime/GalaxyExpress999 Maetel and Tetsuro]] respectively.

''Cosplay Complex'' (こすぷれCOMPLEX) is a 2002 {{OVA}} series, focusing on the hijinks of the East Oizumi Academy's [[{{Cosplay}} cosplay]] club. The main character is Chako Hasegawa, a somewhat [[TheDitz ditzy]] girl who absolutely adores cosplaying, despite the fact that she isn't very good at it (a [[RunningGag recurring joke]] is her tearing up her clothes when trying them on).

** Pedophile Jenny tries to sneak into the bed of TokenMiniMoe Athena so she can sleep with her. However she ends up in the bed of Chako's mom, Sachiko, who says that she's a lonely widow who is glad to have some company in bed. She then rapes the reluctant teenager. All of this is PlayedForLaughs.

* ShoutOut: The creators use the premise of a cosplay club to make a ''ton'' of references; the ADV release included a feature where they show stills from across all three episodes of the various outfits worn, listing the origin of each. This lasts for just over ''five minutes''. Needless to say, listing all of these references would get quite long. Some of the more notable shout outs include:
** Jenny cosplays as [[Anime/KikisDeliveryService Kiki]] for the magical girl prompt.
** Later on in the competition, Jenny dons a martial arts outfit akin to [[Franchise/StreetFighter Ryu]]'s.

** Chako wears a lookalike to [[Anime/RevolutionaryGirlUtena Utena Tenjou]]'s battle outfit. Tsukasa even says that she's "dressed like a revolutionary girl".
** For the sudden death round of the cosplay competition, both Chako and Tsukasa dress as [[Franchise/SailorMoon Princess Serenity and Queen Serenity]] respectively.

* CliffhangerCopout: The final episode teases a blue-haired woman who seems to have a connection to Sachiko: the mystery woman leaves flowers for Sachiko's dead husband and Sachiko herself is shocked to see her in the cosplay battle's audience. The mystery woman also seems to work with or for the Shin-Takarazuka Academy's cosplay club. However, a equal was never made, leaving all of these threads to dangle.

** Jenny dons a martial arts outfit akin to [[Franchise/StreetFighter Ryu]]'s.

* CliffhangerCopout: The final episode teases a blue-haired woman who seems to have a connection to Sachiko: the mystery woman leaves flowers for Sachiko's dead husband and Sachiko herself is shocked to see her in the cosplay battle's audience. The mystery woman also seems to work with or for the Shin-Takarazuka Academy's cosplay club. However, a sequal was never made, leaving all of these threads to dangle.

%%* {{Cosplay}}: Duh.

* DoubleStandardRapeFemaleOnFemale: Lesbian pedophile Jenny tries to sneak into the bed of the TokenMiniMoe Athena to sleep with her. However she ended up in the bed of Chako's mom, Sachiko who says that she is a lonely widow that is glad to have some company in bed. She then rapes the now reluctant teenager.
** Another episode had a near miss as Ranko the head of a rival cosplay club and the defending champion cornered Reika in a storage room and began to molest her.

%%* FireballEyeballs: Chako after getting a RousingSpeech.

%%* HotSpringsEpisode
* MeaningfulName: Ikebukuro is named after a commercial district in Tokyo, known for "Otome Road", an {{otaku}} shopping area aimed at women--which also has an owl statue behind the station.

%%* NonHumanSidekick: Ikebukuro.

%%* OpaqueNerdGlasses: Gourou.

''Cosplay Complex'' is a 2002 {{OVA}} series, focusing on the hijinks of the East Oizumi Academy's [[{{Cosplay}} cosplay]] club. The main character is Chako Hasegawa, a somewhat [[TheDitz ditzy]] girl who absolutely adores cosplaying, despite the fact that she isn't very good at it (a [[RunningGag recurring joke]] is her tearing up her clothes when trying them on).

%%* BalloonBelly: Delmo in opening.
%%* BigEater: Delmo
* CliffHanger: In the third episode, a mysterious blue-haired woman leaves flowers at Sachiko's husband's grave. Sachiko is later shocked to see her in the audience of a cosplay contest but it is never explained who she is. If the producers never intended for there to be a sequel, this could be a CliffhangerCopout.
%%* ClothingDamage

* PhenotypeStereotype: Jenny is "Italian", but looks and acts stereotypically American.
* RedHerring: The woman at the end of episode 1 implied to be the club's sponsor. The characters break the fourth wall when it turns out their sponsor is someone entirely different.
* ShoutOut: Like, ''LOTS''.
** ADV's (dual-audio) release includes a feature where they show stills from across all three episodes of the various cosplay outfits worn, and list the origin of each. This lasts for ''just'' over five minutes (it's named "Cosplay Identification 101",

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cosplaycomplex1.png]]

''Cosplay Complex'' is an {{OVA}}, focusing on the hijinks of the East Oizumi Academy's [[{{Cosplay}} cosplay]] club. The main character is Chako Hasegawa, a somewhat [[TheDitz ditzy]] girl with pink hair who absolutely adores cosplaying, despite the fact that she basically is not so very good at it (a [[RunningGag recurring joke]] is her tearing up her clothes when trying them on).

The rest of the club is a weird bunch, even as total cosplay [[{{Otaku}} otakus]] go. We have our silver haired control freak, a {{Meganekko}} {{Miko}}, the Miko's little sister who is actually way too young to even attend college and a blonde girl lusting after the aforementioned one. The only guy in the club is prone to extreme bouts of method acting that would give Jack Nicholson a run for his money, but he actually ''is'' pretty darn good at what he does.

The weirdest "members" though are Delmo, a miniature bunnygirl, and her friend [[MeaningfulName Ikebukuro]], an owl who can't speak but still somehow gets his message across. Delmo has the magical ability to change into all kinds of clothing, which saves Chako on more than one occasion, even though Delmo always has to be bribed with food (of which she consumes an awful lot).

Despite all the weirdness, the makers of the show display quite a bit of affection for the characters, coming very close to a declaration of love for cosplay and its performers. The number of [[ShoutOut shout-outs]] to other shows is truly staggering and it's a lot of fun to try to discover where all the costumes come from.

!!Tropes:

* CliffHanger / SequelHook: In the third episode, a mysterious blue-haired woman leaves flowers at Sachiko's husband's grave. Sachiko is later shocked to see her in the audience of a cosplay contest but it is never explained who she is. If the producers never intended for there to be a sequel, this could be a CliffhangerCopout.

''Cosplay Complex'' is an {{OVA}}, focusing on the hijinks of the East Oizumi Academy's [[{{Cosplay}} cosplay]] club. The main character is Chako Hasegawa, a somewhat [[TheDitz ditzy]] girl with [[YouGottaHaveBlueHair pink hair]] who absolutely adores cosplaying, despite the fact that she basically is not so very good at it (a [[RunningGag recurring joke]] is her tearing up her clothes when trying them on).

%%* {{Meganekko}}: Maria, Tsukasa

* CliffHanger / SequelHook: In the third episode, a mysterious blue-haired woman leaves flowers at Sachiko's husband's grave. Sachiko is later shocked to see her in the audience of a cosplay contest but it is never explained who she is. If the producers never intended for there to be a sequel, this could be a CliffHangerCopout.

The rest of the club is a weird bunch, even as total cosplay [[{{Otaku}} otakus]] go. We have our silver haired control freak, a {{Meganekko}} {{Miko}}, the Miko's little sister who is actually way too young to even attend college and a blonde girl [[{{Lolicon}} lusting after the aforementioned one]]. The only guy in the club is prone to extreme bouts of method acting that would give Jack Nicholson a run for his money, but he actually ''is'' pretty darn good at what he does.

* DoubleStandardRapeFemaleOnFemale: Lesbian [[{{Lolicon}} pedophile]] Jenny tries to sneak into the bed of the TokenMiniMoe Athena to sleep with her. However she ended up in the bed of Chako's mom, Sachiko who says that she is a lonely widow that is glad to have some company in bed. She then rapes the now reluctant teenager.

%%* {{Lolicon}}: Jenny's obsession with Athena.

* BalloonBelly: Delmo in opening.
* BigEater: Delmo

* ClothingDamage
* {{Cosplay}}: Duh.
* CosplayOtakuGirl: Duh again.
* CuteLittleFangs: Delmo & Jenny.

* FanService
* FireballEyeballs: Chako after getting a RousingSpeech.
* FistPump
* HotSpringsEpisode
* {{Lolicon}}: Jenny's obsession with Athena.

* {{Meganekko}}: Maria, Tsukasa
* {{Meido}}: What would cosplay be without them.
* NonHumanSidekick: Ikebukuro.
* NoseBleed: Jenny's response to Athena.
* OpaqueNerdGlasses: Gourou.
* {{Otaku}}

* DoubleStandardRapeFemaleOnFemale: Lesbian [[{{Lolicon}} pedophile]] Jenny tries to sneak into the bed of the TokenMiniMoe Athena to sleep with her. However she ended up in the bed of Chako's mom, [[{{HotMom}} Sachiko]] who says that she is a lonely widow that is glad to have some company in bed. She then rapes the now reluctant teenager.

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cosplaycomplex1.png
''CosplayComplex'' is an {{OVA}}, focusing on the hijinks of the East Oizumi Academy's [[{{Cosplay}} cosplay]] club. The main character is Chako Hasegawa, a somewhat [[TheDitz ditzy]] girl with [[YouGottaHaveBlueHair pink hair]] who absolutely adores cosplaying, despite the fact that she basically is not so very good at it (a [[RunningGag recurring joke]] is her tearing up her clothes when trying them on).

Tropes:

* NerdGlasses: Gourou.

The rest of the club is a weird bunch, even as total cosplay [[{{Otaku}} otakus]] go. We have our [[WhiteHairedPrettyGirl silver haired]] control freak, a {{Meganekko}} {{Miko}}, the Miko's little sister who is actually way too young to even attend college and a blonde girl [[{{Lolicon}} lusting after the aforementioned one]]. The only guy in the club is prone to extreme bouts of method acting that would give Jack Nicholson a run for his money, but he actually ''is'' pretty darn good at what he does.

* FistOfEnthusiasm

** ADV's (dual-audio) release includes a feature where they show stills from across all three episodes of the various cosplay outfits worn, and list the origin of each. This lasts for ''just'' over five minutes (it's named "Cosplay Identification 101", if you want to look it up yourself on Youtube or pick up the DVD.)
* YamatoNadeshiko: Sachiko.

* TokenLoli: Athena.

** ADV's (dual-audio) release includes a feature where they show stills from across all three episodes of the various cosplay outfits worn, and list the origin of each. This lasts for ''just'' over five minutes (it's named "Cosplay Identification 101", if you want to look it up yourself on Youtube).