"Best $2k I Ever Spent!" The Magic Of Cosplay At Anime Los Angeles

Even as someone who absolutely loves Halloween, I confess that I sometimes don't really get the whole "cosplay" thing. For the same reason that Jay-Z and I (independently) decided that grown men wearing sports jerseys is a bad look, I can't really fathom how putting on face paint and cradling a foam sword enhances the experience of watching a cartoon. I don't dress up like Lennie Briscoe before watching "Law & Order." Nevertheless, some people clearly disagree with me, and they gathered en masse at the Los Angeles Airport Marriott for Anime Los Angeles 2012. What did they dress as? Let's wildly speculate...

[all photos via Shannon Cottrell/LA Weekly]