Japanese cosplay has only recently become popular in the US

Japanese cosplay has only recently become popular in the US, boasting some 20,000+ individuals of every race, creed, and color. Yet Western cosplay does deviate from Japanese cosplay in that there's masques (masquerades), cosplay competitions that occur at conventions where cosplayers will display their costume(s) for judging and/or perform a skit on stage by themselves or with others. Prizes consisting of money, dvds, etc. are offered to the winners, varying on the category of difficulty the cosplayer entered. Many cosplayers also attend conventions for panels on various topics, Cosplay Chess (Human Chess in cosplay), and the Anime Dating Game. Japanese cosplay has even become common at movie theaters on opening nights for popular science fiction and fastasy films (like Lord of the Rings and The Matrix).