is a comedy anime

Anime

is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....

 original video animation

Original video animation

, abbreviated as media , are animated films and series made specially for release in home-video formats. The term originated in relation to Japanese animation...

 that is centered around the after school cosplay

Cosplay

, short for "costume play", is a type of performance art in which participants don costumes and accessories to represent a specific character or idea. Characters are often drawn from popular fiction in Japan, but recent trends have included American cartoons and science fiction...

 club at East Oizumi Academy. The girls in the club practice so that they may one day be able to compete in cosplay competitions.

East Oizumi Cosplay Club

Chako Hasegawa: Chako, a primary character of the anime, is a pink haired girl who is cheerful although clumsy. She joins the cosplay club which is lacking official members. She has an overly bubbly outlook and spawns catchphrases, such as "Have a Chako-riffic day".
Voiced by Sakura Nogawa

Sakura Nogawa

' is a voice actress born in Toyohashi, Aichi on March 1, 1978. Her height is 153 cm and her weight is 54 kg.-Notable voice roles:*Ryunmei Ranka in Arad Senki: Slap Up Party*Tsubasa in Angel Tales*Misha Arsellec Lune in Ar tonelico...

 (Japanese), Larissa Wolcott

Larissa Wolcott

Larissa Wolcott is a voice actress who primarily does voice work in anime dubbing for ADV Films and Funimation Entertainment. She is most known for her role as Excel from Excel Saga in episodes 14-26, when she replaced Jessica Calvello after Calvello injured her vocal cords performing Excel.-Voice...

 (English)

Maria Imai: Maria is a dark haired bespectacled girl. A miko

Miko

is a Japanese term that anciently meant a "female shaman, spirit medium" who conveyed oracles from kami , and currently means a "shrine maiden; virgin consecrated to a deity" who serves at Shinto shrines.-Word:...

, she is one of the original members of the club. She is very protective of her little sister, especially from Jenny.
Voiced by Saeko Chiba

Saeko Chiba

is a prolific Japanese seiyū and singer, born on August 26, 1977 in Hachinohe, Aomori. She grew up in Tokyo, Japan, and married on her 30th birthday: August 26, 2007. She is contracted to the Space Craft Group...

 (Japanese), Carla Witt (English)

Athena Imai: Maria's little sister, she is too young to attend the academy but is a part of the cosplay club nonetheless. She is the object of Jenny's sexual desires, though Maria often has a fainting spell whenever the two interact.
Voiced by Ai Shimizu

Ai Shimizu

is a Japanese voice actress who is employed by Haikyou. She also has a career as a singer an signed to Lantis. She has released 14 singles and four albums. She covered Yumi Matsutoya's "Toki o Kakeru Shōjo" as the B-side of her first single "Angel Fish" in 2003...

 (Japanese), Tiger Darrow (English)

Jenny Matel: Jenny is a foreign exchange student from Italy, though is featured as a stereotypical large-chested and blonde American. She also has a Lolita Complex

Lolicon

, also romanised as lolikon or rorikon, is a Japanese portmanteau of the phrase "Lolita complex". In Japan, the term describes an attraction to underage girls or an individual with such an attraction...

 and is attracted to Athena.
Voiced by Akeno Watanabe

Akeno Watanabe

is a Japanese voice actor born in Funabashi, Chiba, Japan. She works at Osawa Office and her nickname is Akenon. She currently stars in Pokémon Best Wishes as Ash's newest rival, Shooti and from Episode 17 onwards has begun voicing Ash's Scraggy.-Anime:...

 (Japanese), Jenny Smolins (English)

Reika Aoshima: Reika is stubborn compared to the other cosplayers, sometimes appearing to be unfriendly towards them. She is the leader of the crew and is often exasperated by their inability to focus on their cosplay goals.
Voiced by Chiaki Takahashi

Chiaki Takahashi (actress)

is a Japanese voice actress. Her hometown is Yokohama, Japan. On October 10, 2000, she changed the kanji lettering of her name, though the pronunciation remains the same. She was a member of the J-pop group Aice5 as well. Currently freelance , she was previously represented by Aoni Production and...

 (Japanese), Jenny Larson (English)

Gourou: President and only male member of the cosplay club. He has a tendency to over-act, but is the most skilled cosplayer in the group. He is the only one who knows that Reika wears glasses and has a large crush on her. He has a tendency to read dirty stories aloud, often leading to some awkward character interaction between Reika and himself or another female.
Voiced by Susumu Chiba

Susumu Chiba

, born September 13, 1970, is a seiyū . He is contracted under the Office Osawa Co. LTD. One of his best known roles is as Fujiwara-no-Sai from the anime Hikaru no Go. Also called as Chibashinpo or PUROGURESU.-Anime:*07-Ghost '*A.D...

 (Japanese), Corey Gagne (English)

Delmo: A small magical bunnygirl, Delmo is able to conjure up cosplay costumes as well as alter the girls' bodies to fit them. This includes enlarging their breasts. Voiced by Rie Kugimiya

Rie Kugimiya

is a Japanese voice actress affiliated with I'm Enterprise.Kugimiya's most famous roles include Alphonse Elric in Fullmetal Alchemist, Happy in Fairy Tail, Kagura in Gintama, Nagi Sanzenin in Hayate no Gotoku!, Shana in Shakugan no Shana, Louise in Zero no Tsukaima, Taiga Aisaka in Toradora!, and...

 (Japanese), Samantha Inoue Harte (English)

Ikebukuro: A small owl-like creature who is Delmo's friend and assistant. Helps sewing, ironing and helping Chako and Delmo with costumes and usually acts as a judge for cosplay competitions, despite his inability to speak (though everyone understands him just fine).
Voiced by Kenichi Ono

Kenichi Ono

is a seiyuu, tarento, and actor from Tokyo. His birth name is .-TV anime:* Super Pig * Zillion * Martian Successor Nadesico * Kindaichi Case Files...

 (Japanese), Arthur Tilotson (English)

Coach Kuroba: The teacher sponsor of the Cosplay Club. His frequent hospitalization is a running gag.

Other characters

Kosuke Tamiya: A male college student who enjoys photography. Chako's main love interest.
Voiced by Takahiro Sakurai

Takahiro Sakurai

is a voice actor who was born in Aichi. He is a member of 81 Produce; his height is .Many of his roles are handsome men. However, he has also voiced reluctant heroes as well as the occasional villain...

 (Japanese), John Minnich (English)

Tsukasa Tomii: A member of the Shin-Takarazuka Cosplay Club, an expert seamstress, and Ranko's assistant. She is very shy and reluctant to participate in cosplay contests. However, she overcomes her fear with the help of Chako and Ranko.
Voiced by Masumi Asano

Masumi Asano

is a Japanese voice actress from Noshiro, Akita who works for Aoni Production. She is also known by her nickname, Masumin.- Notable voice roles :Anime* Saga in A Little Snow Fairy Sugar...

 (Japanese), Camille Chen

Camille Chen

Camille Chen is a Taiwanese American actress. She was born in Taiwan and raised in the U.S. She began her career in show business, doing voiceover work for the English version of anime TV series such as Lost Universe and Devil Lady.-Filmography:*Spilled *The Ringer *Heavenly Beauties as Asian...

 (English)

Ranko Takara: The head of the Shin-Takarazuka Academy Cosplay Club, the World Series champions. She is an extremely talented cosplayer, able to modify the bodies of herself and others as well as inject the characters she plays with personality. She is Tsukasa's boss and Kazuke's girlfriend. She is very hard on Tsukasa but sincerely believes in her talent as a cosplayer.
Voiced by Kikuko Inoue

Kikuko Inoue

is a popular Japanese voice actress and singer. She has been part of the singing groups DoCo and Goddess Family Club, among others, and is the manager of her voice-acting company, Office Anemone. Inoue tends to play the "perfect girlfriend" or "motherly" role in many series, but she has also played...

 (Japanese), Kimberly Dilts (English)

Blue-haired woman: A woman who is first seen leaving purple roses at the grave of Sachiko's late husband. Sachiko is later shocked to see her in the audience at the cosplay battle between Chako and Ranko.

Anime references

The audience in the first episode's opening is made up entirely of characters from the director's previous anime. Many of the costumes worn by the characters are references to characters from other anime, for example Delmo's bunnygirl costume is a reference to the white rabbit in Miyuki-Chan in Wonderland

Miyuki-chan in Wonderland

is a yuri manga series created by Clamp and serialised by Kadokawa Shoten in its Japanese edition of Newtype from 1993 to 1995. In 1995, an image album and an OVA version of the first two stories was released. The English language version of the manga was published by Tokyopop in 2003.The manga is...

.