SINGAPORE - Call it the underboob show, the breast display. I call it cosplay.

No need to dial 999 for the decency police, people. Set real-life cops on real-life criminals, not those whom you deem guilty of baring way too much at costume events.

To the woman who called the police at last month's Anime Festival Asia 2013, why?

Why single out the young cosplayer dressed as Ryuko Matoi from popular anime Kill la Kill? Her "crime" - showing too much underboob - paled in comparison to what the actual character showed.

Witnesses said there was another girl with breast-to-navel cleavage standing behind "Ryuko". Why didn't the auntie seize her? Or complain about a guy flaunting his bits and bobs?

There are lines many cosplayers do not cross. Showing nipples is a no-go. Playing peekaboo with private parts? Definitely a boo-boo.

Are your eyes hurting from the cleavage attack? Sanity affected from supposed transgressions of taste? Turn away now. If you don't like what you see, then don't look.

Yes, I'm a cosplayer, someone who dresses up as a character from a manga (comic), anime (cartoon) or video game. Of course, I'm sympathetic towards my counterparts.

Do you know how much courage it takes to put yourself out there, PVC cape, fake fangs and all? It's like issuing a free pass to Mockery-ville, when all I want is to join the mothership of the weird, wacky and mildly cool.

Home for assorted demons, death gods and demi-humans comes by only three or four times a year, at events like the Anime Festival Asia or last Sunday's EOY Cosplay Festival 2013 at the Marina Barrage.

That's when those of my ilk gather to pay homage to our kindred spirits, boob-baring or not.

We are the kind who will judge you solely on colour (does the outfit resemble the actual character's?), creed (do fellow cosplayers appreciate the efforts taken?) and chemistry (with fans only; pervert shutterbugs, take your upskirt fetish somewhere else).

The rules are simple. If you're comfortable in another character's skin, go for it. It's fun.

And it's a family affair. Just ask mother of one, Sylvia (see other report), who raised the temperature several notches on a sweltering Sunday afternoon.

Every cosplayer has a list of characters they want to bring to life. Just listen to your imagination and your guts.

As a friend put it, why call the police to arrest a Smurf for being blue?

Share your views with Hui Theng at [email protected]

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