Although this website deals more with video games than with Japanese animation, there is one convention that demonstrates how the two subcultures co-exist in harmony.

The Anime Expo in Los Angeles is a remarkable anime convention where people are just as likely to see cosplayers dressing up as video game characters.

Ever since last year's convention, I've carried my digital camera to take photos of all the cosplayers at the Anime Expo. Many of the costumes of anime characters are magnificently detailed. However, some of the best outfits include characters from a wide range of video games.

People don't even have to dress up as anime characters in video games, such as Cloud in Final Fantasy. I've seen plenty of people dressing up as the unknown protagonist in Portal 2, or Darth Vader from Star Wars. Many of these costumes are still impressive in their own right.

In my opinion, the best costumes of the convention are the ones that feature the characters people wouldn't normally think off. My personal favorites are the three people who chose to dress up as the zombies from Minecraft. As one might imagine, it's pretty hard to move around the convention floor in these costumes.

The funniest cosplayer was the person who dressed up as Deadpool from Marvel vs. Capcom 3. This is definitely the character in the video game, because he was holding up a speech bubble with the words, "Taunt Button!"

However, some of the most difficult costumes involve guys or girls with minimal amounts of clothing. These are the dedicated fans who usually had to exercise and work out for months just to get their body to look sexy and buff. I was especially impressed with the guy who dressed up as Mayor Haggar from Final Fight.

There is also a huge amount of video game merchandise available at the exhibit hall. People can find many of the rare visual novel games, such as the horror computer game known as "Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni." Aksys Games also showed off an incredible lineup of products, many of which came with bonus items. I managed to buy the standard version of Record of Agarest War with a pillowcase and an arousing mouse pad for only $20.

If all that wasn't enough, gamers could check out some of the panels help by the video game companies. I wanted to visit the panel for Square-Enix's new MMORPG, Wakfu, but there were so many anime screenings and events that I literally ran out of time.

I'm definitely forward to next year's convention, where I'll be able to snap more photos of crazy cosplayers. Next year, I might even purchase a visual novel game, so that I can squeeze in a review. Anime Expo holds plenty of rare gems on sale and events that I still have yet to experience.

What sort of people have you met who are crazy enough to cosplay as a video game character? Feel free to share your thoughts/photos in the comments below.

Also be sure to check out more of my Anime Expo photos at my photobucket album.

Keep in mind that I haven't been able to post comments for quite some time now. I'm not sure if there's a glitch in the system, but I haven't been able to do anything about it lately. Hopefully, someone could address this problem in the future.

Edit: Problem fixed! No worries anymore.