The eighth annual Nipponbashi Street Festa stamped Osaka March 20, 2012 (Nipponbashi is Osaka’s geek district – much like Akihabara is for Tokyo). Cosplayers turned up in colourful outfits, dressing as characters from their favourite manga, anime, and video games. The street was closed to cars, and otaku flooded the streets, snapping pics, cosplaying, and hanging out.

A Canadian actress, pop singer and song writer Jessica Lowndes (she is best known for her role as Adrianna Tate-Duncan on TV series 90210) Jessica Lowndes attends a party at the Sugar Hut at Sugar Hut on May 4, 2012 in London, England. (Photo by Danny Martindale)

A tourist watches as the moon passing in front of the sun as it approaches a full solar eclipse in the northern Australian city of Cairns November 14, 2012. (Photo by Tim Wimborne/Reuters)

A visitor poses with a 3D art work during a Japanese Trick Art exhibition at a shopping mall in Jakarta, Indonesia, Tuesday, December 4, 2012. (Photo by Dita Alangkara/AP Photo)

Donna Vekic of Croatia poses during a portrait session held on February 9, 2012 in London. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

In this Wednesday, May 23, 2012 photograph, a young deer and a cat share a moment in Feench village near Jodhpur, Rajasthan state, India. (Photo by AP Photo)

A man crosses Canal Street in the wind and rain from Hurricane Isaac August 29, 2012. (Photo by David J. Phillip/Associated Press)