Getting animated

Welcome to the weird world of cosplay

For the PortConMaine convention, Robert Scholz dressed as the character Jiraiya (above). (Globe Photo/Joel Page)

Robert Scholz of Beverly had more important things going on than fireworks and cookouts on the Fourth of July.

Scholz, 27, was in Maine, cheering on one of his male friends, who had been drafted to dress up as a "pretty, pretty princess" as a challenge in the Extreme Geek Game, one of PortConMaine's most popular Friday evening attractions.

About 1,650 people showed up for Portland's seventh annual PortConMaine anime and gaming convention. Scholz - or "Sketch," as he is known at these events - was one of the guests of honor.

"They're more [focused on] generalized geekdom," Scholz said of PortCon, comparing it to other anime and sci-fi conventions. "It's basically, 'Let's get a group of adults together and be idiots.' "

It was convention chairwoman Julie York, codename "Oriana," who created the surprise "Pretty Pretty Princess" contest. She had prepared by taking fabric and hats and other things, and then asked a member of each of the eight teams competing to pick four items and be the pretty, pretty princess.

After tying back his hair, draping various pieces of frilly fabric about him, and donning a pirate's hat, Michael Terracciano - known as "Mookie" in the Web comics community - was the last princess to take the stage. Terracciano, 29, is best known for his Web comic "Dominic Deegan: Oracle for Hire."

Scholz has been cosplaying - elaborately dressing up as an anime character - since 2004's Anime Boston convention, and he has accrued many awards and much fame in fantasy circles. This year in Boston he introduced his most famous costume: Canti, the 7-foot-tall friendly red robot from the anime "FLCL."

"Canti was an inspiration of both genius and insanity," he said. "With the cosplay world increasing in talent and competing against my past creations, I figured I'd go overboard. I decided on Canti because it was challenging."

Scholz is an anime celebrity - a play-actor, expert, and advocate - and his world is getting more and more popular.

Anime's popularity continues to grow nationwide, highlighted by Nickelodeon's 2004 release of "Avatar: The Last Airbender." This year the Anime Boston gathering at Hynes Convention Center attracted more than 14,000 visitors with 66 vendors, including Cambridge's Tokyo Kid shop in Harvard Square.

The Canti costume is a 7-foot metaphor for anime's rise in popularity in the United States. Three years, 204 individual LEDs, and 40 pounds of fiberglass and foam went into Canti. It was an expensive and patience-testing endeavor. The final product earned him his own panel at PortCon on making cosplay costumes. The panel - titled "Cosplay Props, Flutes and How Not to Make a Robot" - was a nod to his occupation as a flute-maker.

Scholz didn't have 7 feet of headroom in Portland, so he dressed up as Jiraiya from the popular anime "Naruto."

Patrick Delahanty, the director of guest relations at PortCon, who has known Scholz since his debut at Anime Boston in 2004, said he recognized the character when he saw it. "He had on a white wig and was wearing platform shoes," Delahanty said of Scholz's costume. "I was worried he'd step on my feet and crush a toe."

Delahanty said most of the people who attended PortCon were in costume. "There are a lot of costumes that I recognized from shows that I've seen and then some that I recognize from other conventions, and then some that I have no idea what they are, but they still look cool," he said.

Anime, which refers to Japanese animation, is different from what comes to mind when most Americans think of cartoons. Pokémon is a good example of the archetypical anime style - big eyes, big hair, and exaggerated limbs cast over quickly delivered, dramatically styled dialogue. Anime originated in Japan in the 1960s but didn't really begin to grow as a major cultural export until the '80s. "Robotech" and "Dragon Ball Z" were early hits in America, while today's audiences are following hits like "Naruto" and "Bleach."

Scholz started watching anime when he was a kid. He said he was the first person in middle school and high school to get into shows like "Sailor Moon" and "Dragon Ball Z."

"Like most of the US public, we didn't realize we were watching anime," he said. "Rerun shows like 'Speed Racer' and 'Battle for the Planets' were some of the anime I watched back when I could actually willingly wake up before sunrise [to watch them]."

As a guest of honor at PortCon, Scholz got to interact with other fans much more than he had at other anime conventions. In addition to the panel he hosted, Scholz judged skits performed by cosplayers. He also had his own table in the exhibitor's room, where he sold his art, drew impromptu Web comics, and talked about cosplaying.

Delahanty said that he has been begging Scholz for a while to create for him a costume of a tachikoma, a 6-foot-tall, 10-foot-long robot from the famous anime "Ghost in the Shell."

While people have told him that it will probably take around $1,000 to make the costume, Scholz's success with Canti gives Delahanty hope.

"It's probably not going to happen," he said, "but it's a nice dream to have."

Terri Schwartz can be reached at tschwartz@globe.com. John M. Guilfoil can be reached at jguilfoil@globe.com.