Contests and Judging Categories

Contests

• Craftsmanship: Traditional judging of craftsmanship and display of one’s costume.

• Skit: Skit contest at Anime Milwaukee

Divisions

• Chibi - Those in the Chibi category are 12 years old or younger. Chibi entrants are allowed to receive help from a Parent, Guardian or Sensei to complete the cosplay.

  • Qualifications: Young cosplayers (12 and under) may compete in this category and not against adults, unless they wish to.  They must have helped in at least 50% (at the Department Head's discretion) of their costume in some way. A child wearing a costume designed and built entirely by an adult should be entered either in the adult's appropriate skill division, with the adult as a group, or an exhibition, out of competition, piece. This is to encourage children to create.

• Novice - Novice entrants are either new to the competition scene or still learning the craft. If you are worried about your division please reach out to our Masquerade Head for clarification.

  • Qualifications: The Novice division exists to encourage people who are new to cosplay and masquerades to compete. Professional cosplayers may not enter in the Novice division. If a contestant has won an award for "Best in Show", "First Place Journeyman", or "First Place Masters" they may not compete at the Novice level. Hallway awards and judges choice do not affect placement. If you have placed in the Novice division in prior years at AMKE you are not eligible for the same award 2 years in a row.

  Journeyman - This category is for competitors who have either been competing for a long time, or who have been moved up a category by prior judges. If you are worried about your division please reach out to our Masquerade Head for clarification.

  • Qualifications: This division is for cosplayers who have won awards in, or whose skill exceeds, the Novice division, but who feel they are not yet ready to compete in the Master division. Professional cosplayers may not enter in the Journeyman division. A contestant who has competed and won in the Master division at another Masquerade, including previous AMKE Masquerades, may not enter in the Journeyman division. This includes “Best in Show” and “Best Master” (or equivalent), but does not include any Hallway Cosplay Competitions. A contestant who has won more than three major awards in the Journeyman division (or equivalent) in a Masquerade competition may not enter in the Journeyman division. Minor awards may be counted towards placement at the discretion of the cosplayer and the Masquerade Department Head.

• Masters - This division is for cosplayers at the top of their craft. Anyone may compete in the Master division if their skills and awards are at this level.

The Masquerade Department Head reserves the right to move a cosplayer up to a more competitive level, or down a level suiting their skills. A cosplayer may always request to compete in a higher division than that in which the Masquerade Department Head has placed them. They may not choose to compete in a lower division.

Judging

Judging will happen prior to the Masquerade on Friday and Saturday. As a Skit competitor, you do not have to compete for Craftsmanship. If you opt out of Craftsmanship judging you will be scored on your stage performance alone.

Performances will have extended judging slots to both go through Craftsmanship (if they so choose) and to do a full rehearsal of the skit for our judges. This allows our talented judges to give pointers and feedback before you make your Stage debut.

When opting in for Craftsmanship, it is highly recommended to bring color reference photos of your character and progress photos to show off your work. Printed build books are always preferred, but we understand if you can only bring digital reference.

Judging is based on accuracy, complexity, execution of techniques, creativity, along with other elements of your cosplay.

If you have pre-registered for the contest and are unable to attend, Masquerade Staff must be notified by Friday of the convention. Failure to do so will result in the contestants participation in the following year to be forfeit. If you fear you may not have your cosplay finished in time, wait until you are at the convention to register. 

You are required to walk the stage or be in a Skit for craftsmanship awards.

Awards

• Best in Show

• Best Chibi

• Judge’s Choice: One award per judge.

• Craftsmanship: Based on close examination of the costumes backstage. If you do not want to be judged on Craftsmanship, we recommend our Exhibition division. The Exhibition division is not eligible for awards.

  • Novice Division

    • First Place

    • Second Place

    • Third Place

  • Journeyman Division

    • First Place

    • Second Place

    • Third Place

  • Masters Division

    • First Place

    • Second Place

    • Third Place

• Performance

  • First Place

  • Second Place

  • Third Place

If you still have questions please feel free to contact us at CosplayEvents@AnimeMilwaukee.org

See you on stage!