You must be a registered Anime Ocean City attendee in order to compete.  Each member of your group must have a wristband, badge, or other form of attendee membership.

All costumes must cover “swimsuit areas” – no nudity. Body-paint costumes are not eligible for craftsmanship.

The contest is open to characters from published works; movies, TV shows, comic books, cartoons, video games and card games.

Anime Ocean City adheres to the “PG‐13 rule” when it comes to language and hand gestures on stage. Violation of this rule may cause you to be disqualified from the competition.

During the contest enter and exit the stage at the designated points only. Costumes must be handled by the contestant or by handler(s) the contestant brings to help.  Handlers are required to be registered attendees of the convention, and Anime Ocean City cannot provide on-stage assistants.

Contestants are not allowed to throw anything off the stage, nor use projectiles or use anything on stage that will leave a mess. This includes (but is not limited to) liquids, glitter and confetti.

No pyrotechnics, fire, explosive devices, live animals or similar special effects can be used during the competition; this includes smoke/smog machines and flash powder. Anyone who violates this rule may be disqualified from the competition and be asked to leave the convention area depending on the severity of the incursion. All prop weapons must conform to the Anime Ocean City prop policies, including being checked.

Children (age 15 and below, see Children’s Cosplay Competition for more details) who need a parent to accompany them on stage will need to compete in the Children’s Costume Competition instead of the main stage Costume Contest. However, parent/child teams are allowed to compete in the main stage competition together.