Photos by David Ng

Ed Elric leans tensely over the microphone.  "Bachelorette #2, would you describe yourself as a people person?"  The audience bursts into laughter, then, after a tense silence, Rei Ayanami's monotone answer drifts from the other side of the curtain: "No."

The Anime Dating Game is a new cosplay phenomenon spreading through the US convention circuit, and by far the funniest cosplay event I've ever seen.  The stage is divided in half by a curtain.  On one side sit three or four "competitors," cosplayers representing eligible "bachelors" or "bachelorettes" from a variety of different series, who compete, in costume and in character, to win a date with the "prize," another cosplayer sitting on the other side of the curtain.  The "prize" doesn't know who the competitors are, but is given a list of hilariously stupid questions to ask them to find out which is the most appealing.  At the end of the game, based on the competitors' anonymous answers, the prize will pick one lucky winner to go on an in-character date.  It's a simple format borrowed from the old game show The Dating Game, but classic questions like, "If we were married, would you like lots of children?" or "Do you think blondes have more fun?" take on a whole new meaning when answered by Ayame Sohma, Cloud Strife or Integra Hellsing.

No peeking, Battousai... Winry, Lust and Cardcaptor Sakura compete for a date with Kenshin.

"It's pure fanservice," recalls Jordan 'The Paper' Persson, who competed as Naruto at Anime Boston 2005, winning a date with the vivacious Faye Valentine. "What happens on stage is the stuff of fan-fiction, only without the confusing inside jokes.  Also, there's room for both prepared events and ad-libbing, so it can be well-rehearsed and still have those spontaneous moments."  In many Dating Game matches the contestants get to see the questions ahead of time to prepare better answers, but even that only goes so far, since the dynamic on the stage changes. 

"Character development is key," advises Jonny Davidson, a veteran of several matches. "Improv without character is funny for a few seconds, but after a while, it'll get monotonous.  You need to have a handle of who you are at all times, and be able to give clues as to who you are, even when the question is outlandish or has nothing to do with you."  Li Izumi recalls such a curveball from Connecticon 2006: "I was playing Lirin (Saiyuki) and was asked 'Do you prefer samurai or ninjas?'  After a moment’s pause as I tried desperately to think of the right answer for Lirin (and as the crowd 'assisted' me by shouting out their preference) the answer came to me: PRIESTS!"  It was a good match, though nothing quite matched the look on Cloud's face at the end of that round when he choose "bachelorette" #4 only to discover it was Shuichi Shindou.

As is inevitable when anime touches on romance, shounen ai and shoujo ai have their place in the Anime Dating Game too.  Planned content ranges from suggestive questions like, "Do you like yaoi?" to Connecticon including one bishounen among the bachelorettes, to Anime Boston 2006's special Yaoi/Yuri session. Jonny Davidson, cosplaying Link, won a date with Roy Mustang. "My favorite question I was asked was 'Do you like faeries?'  I totally exploded on stage and the crowd went wild."  But even in the "straight" games, yaoi often creeps in on its own, as cosplay veteran Mario Bueno recalls:  "I accidentally 'outed' Sasuke because I'm so used to joking about him being *ahem* 'intimate' with Orochimaru."

Lucky demoness Kagura from Inuyasha has her pick of Mario, Duo Maxwell or Miroku.

Perhaps the best thing about the game is how easy it is to run.  While Masquerades and Cosplay Chess can require a lot of tech, expense and many participants, all the Dating Game needs is four good cosplayers and a curtain – easily within the budget of any small anime club, or store trying to put on a promotional event.  A round should last about half an hour, since that is about as long as one group of cosplayers can keep the funny coming.  Usually a session will have two or three rounds in a row, with new contestants for each.  Staff must prepare a list of questions ahead of time, usually twenty-five for each round, with some traditional questions like "If you were a tree what kind of tree would you be?" and some anime-related questions, such as, "Do you prefer guns or swords?" "Would you play DDR in Public" or "Do you like hentai?"  Staff should also prepare dating-game style introductions for the characters.  These introductions are read aloud as the characters enter, and describe the character first, teasing the audience into guessing who it might be before the name is revealed.  Here are some examples:

Bachelorette #1:  Our third bachelorette is a student, hailing from Tokyo. Fifteen years old, she says she doesn’t have time for favorite activities, and her goal is to gather all the shards of the shikon jewel without failing her classes.  Please welcome Kagome Higurashi from Inuyasha.

Bachelor #2:  Our second bachelor is a Mercenary from Balamb Garden.  He is seventeen years old, his goal is to beat the last boss, and his favorite activity is leveling up.  Please welcome Squall Leonhart from Final Fantasy VIII.

Bachelorette #3:  Our fourth bachelorette is technically fourteen.  Hailing from Tokyo III, she is a student and in her spare time she saves the world in her giant robot.  Her goal is to utter as few syllables as possible, and her favorite activity is doing what she’s told.  Please welcome one of the unrivaled idols of the anime world, Rei Ayanami from Neon Genesis Evangelion!

"Prize": Finally, let me introduce the delectable bachelor these three contestants will hope to win.  Coming to us from England, but originally from parts more mysterious, this ageless bachelor is fond of midnight strolls, heinous violence and big guns.  His favorite color his red, his favorite food is virgin blood, and his favorite activity is blowing the brains out of hordes of zombies. Please welcome the No-Life King, Alucard from Hellsing!

The casting is the most important part, since the event only works if the players are confident enough and familiar enough to be entertaining on stage – stage fright is death.  Another important factor is popularity, since the best cosplayer in the world isn't going to entertain an audience who doesn't know who the character is – casting from the most popular series makes for the most entertaining show.  Larger cons usually have those who want to participate apply online in advance, submitting sample cosplay photos and answering interview questions so staff can pick the best costumes and roleplayers.  Others post signup sheets at the convention and pick the best from those who sign up.  Having a fun host for the match can help, as at AB's Yaoi/Yuri session which was hosted by the Bad Luck band from Gravitation, who let the audience pick one of their members to compete in the final round.  More planning can add something special to the game.  This usually takes the form of extra characters, such as having Ed Elric come on to sweep Winry away at the end of a match, or infinite ninjas turning up one by one to harass Sasuke.  But even matches where the participants are recruited from the audience at the last minute can work well.  All it takes is some good questions and good costumes and the comedy will flow.

"With masquerades," writes Mario Bueno, "I know who's going into the skit and I know what the characters will say and do. In the dating game, it's purely improvisation, so I have to really be secure with the character and their history AS WELL AS the histories and characters of the competition in order to be able to role play effectively... it challenges the individual's ability to improvise and, to an extent, their knowledge of the anime fandom."

It's hard to choose between these lovely ladies.