THE BALTIMORE SUN August 7, 2000, Monday ,FINAL SECTION: TODAY ,1F LENGTH: 790 words HEADLINE: Fans of anime take the time to dress the part Convention: For cos- players, months of effort went into putting their costumes together. BYLINE: J.D. Considine SOURCE: SUN MUSIC CRITIC BODY: Crossing the pedestrian bridge over Light Street, a young woman in a Japanese school girl's uniform and bright blue wig cheerily greets a friend dressed in a bright yellow leotard with a large, lightning bolt tail. A few blocks over, a fellow dressed in what appears to be an admiral's uniform crosses Pratt Street and heads toward the Burger King, where he ends up standing in line behind several samurai. Who says young people won't dress up to go out anymore? But if the Inner Harbor looked like the site of an elaborate costume party this weekend, that's because it was - a least for some people. Otakon, the "Convention of Otaku Generation," was in town, and roughly 7,750 fans of Japanese animation, or anime, were milling through the Baltimore Convention Center. For "anime otaku," as devoted fans describe themselves, the convention was an opportunity to watch video, attend panels, get autographs, do some shopping and hang out with their own kind. And for those interested in "cos-play," or costume play, conventions such as Otakon offer the opportunity to dress up as anime characters and strut their stuff. Dressing up for cos-play was no minor undertaking for Kate Davis, Carolyn Carnes and Nathan Weyer. The three Pennsylvanians were attired as characters from the series "Escaflowne" with Davis, 19, and Carnes, 21, as the catwomen warriors Naria and Eriya, and 20-year-old Weyer as the dark prince Folken. Getting into makeup and costume took four hours. "Mostly to do the makeup," explains Davis, as the group's makeup man adjusted her cat-style ear. Constructing the costumes took months. "I don't want to tell you how long I spent," says Carnes. Still, it was hard to argue with the results, for the three (who were attending with a group from the Pittsburgh Japanese Animation Club) looked so good that convention-goers kept asking them to pose for pictures. "It's taken us an hour just to get across the lobby, because people keep stopping us to take pictures," says Davis. Saturday was the big day for cos-play enthusiasts, who could compete for best outfit honors and perform "Masquerade" skits before assembled fans. Although many skits featured familiar characters from such fan favorites as "Pokemon," " Escaflowne" and "Fushigi Yuugi," other participants opted for more obscure titles. Susane Andracki, 19, and her mother, Susan, 45, from Warren, Pa., were dressed as Mama and Cabbit from the Japanese TV series "Kodomo no Omocha, " or "Child's Toy." Although the series has never been available commercially in the United States, the younger Andracki saw a "fan sub" - that is, a video with subtitles dubbed in by anime fans - while in college, and was instantly smitten. So how did Mom end up as part of the act? "I design the costumes," says the elder Andracki. A costumer by trade, she enjoyed assembling the outfits for Cabbit, a strange rabbit/bat creature, but took special pride in the hat she made for her daughter's Mama costume, which featured a squirrel riding an elephant that actually waggled its ears and trumpeted when activated. "It took about three months to assemble everything," says the elder Andracki. Perhaps the most amusing skit, which also took first place in the competition, was put on by a group from the Crownsville and Severn area. It was a parody of the Bill Murray comedy "Stripes," except that instead of dressing as GIs, seven of the group were dressed as Sakura, the fourth-grade heroine of "Card Captor Sakura." Fortunately, because Sakura is famous for wearing a new outfit for each caper (each lovingly stitched by her classmate Tomoyo), none of the seven Sakuras wore the same costume. Although many costumes clearly involved enormous effort, a few showed more skin than fabric. "There were some costumes here I would have sent home, if I were the parent," says Robin Holloway of Salisbury. She attended Otakon with her 13-year-old daughter, Jenna (who came dressed as Yuu from "Magic Knights Rayearth") and two of Jenna's friends. Holloway, who also attended Otakon last year with Jenna, makes a point of knowing what her daughter is watching, but on the whole finds anime to be a positive influence. "She has a huge interest in Japanese culture," says Holloway, adding proudly, "She's a straight-A student, and is teaching herself Japanese." Not every costume at Otakon was based on anime characters. One fan came dressed as a hand-held game console, while a group from Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania came dressed as Chairman Kaga and the chefs from "Iron Chef." "With an interest in Japanese animation," says "Kaga," who in real-life is 26-year-old David Taylor of Hagerstown, "comes an interest in Japanese culture." GRAPHIC: Photo(s) Obliging: Time and again Mama (Susane Andracki, 19, seated) and her mom (Cabbit) Susan, 45, posed for pictures. This time it's Giuliana Funkhouser, 18, of Vermont, with the camera.