Otalab, a Japanese marketing research site specialized in otaku culture, reported the 2012 cosplay ranking on February 20th. The ranking is based on the number of cosplay photos posted by Japanese cosplayers on a popular cosplay community site Cure between January 1st and December 31st, 2012. Vocaloid dominates the top spots in all categories, followed by Kuroko's Basketball, Macross Frontier, and Uta no Prince-sama♪. Check the top 20 rankings for each categories.

Popular series TOP 20

1. Vocaloid

2. Uta no Prince-sama♪

3. Kuroko's Basketball

4. The Prince of Tennis

5. Macross Frontier

6. Original

7. Gintama

8. Hetalia: Axis Powers

9. Inu x Boku SS

10. Tiger & Bunny

11. Touhou Project

12. Blue Exorcist

13. Hakuouki ~Shinsengumi Kitan

14. Puella Magi Madoka Magica

15. Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic

16. Black Butler

17. Nintama Rantaro

18. Fate/Zero

19. Inazuma Eleven GO

20. Final Fantasy Type-0

Popular Character Top 20 (overall)

1. Hatsune Miku (Vocaloid)

2. Original characters

3. Sheryl Nome (Macross Frontier)

4. Kagamine Rin (Vocaloid)

5. Len Kagamine (Vocaloid)

6. Kurusu Syo (Uta no Prince-sama♪)

7. Megurine Luka (Vocaloid)

8. KAITO (Vocaloid)

9. Itoki Otoya (Uta no Prince-sama♪)

10. Tetsuya Kuroko (Kuroko's Basketball)

11. Ryota Kise (Kuroko's Basketball)

12. Tokiya Ichinose (Uta no Prince-sama♪)

13. Ririchiyo Shirakiin (Inu x Boku SS)

14. Plain clothes (portraits)

15. Haruka Nanami (Uta no Prince-sama♪)

16. Ren Jinguji (Uta no Prince-sama♪)

17. Ranka Lee (Macross Frontier)

18. GUMI (Vocaloid)

19. MEIKO (Vocaloid)

20. Rin Okumura (Blue Exorcist)

Popular Female Character Top 20

1. Hatsune Miku (Vocaloid)

2. Sheryl Nome (Macross Frontier)

3. Kagamine Rin (Vocaloid)

4. Megurine Luka (Vocaloid)

5. Haruka Nanami (Uta no Prince-sama♪)

6. Ririchiyo Shirakiin (Inu x Boku SS)

7. Ranka Lee (Macross Frontier)

8. GUMI (Vocaloid)

9. MEIKO (Vocaloid)

10. Karuta Roromiya (Inu x Boku SS)

11. Homura Akemi (Puella Magi Madoka Magica)

12. Madoka Kaname (Puella Magi Madoka Magica)

13. Kagura (Gintama)

14. Mami Tomoe (Puella Magi Madoka Magica)

15. Chizuru Yukimura (Hakuouki ~Shinsengumi Kitan)

16. Inori Yuzuriha (Guilty Crown)

17. Stocking (Panty&Stocking with Garterbelt)

18. Super Sonico (Nitro Super Sonic)

19. Satsuki Momoi (Kuroko's Basketball)

20. Sakuya Izayoi (Touhou Project)

Popular Male Character Top 20

1. Len Kagamine (Vocaloid)

2. Kurusu Syo (Uta no Prince-sama♪)

3. KAITO (Vocaloid)

4. Itoki Otoya (Uta no Prince-sama♪)

5. Tetsuya Kuroko (Kuroko's Basketball)

6. Ryota Kise (Kuroko's Basketball)

7. Tokiya Ichinose (Uta no Prince-sama♪)

8. Ren Jinguji (Uta no Prince-sama♪)

9. Rin Okumura (Blue Exorcist)

10. Hijirikawa Masato (Uta no Prince-sama♪)

11. Shinomiya Natsuki (Uta no Prince-sama♪)

12. Kotetsu T. Kaburagi (Tiger & Bunny)

13. Ciel Phantomhive (Black Butler)

14. Barnaby Brooks Jr. (Tiger & Bunny)

15. Gintoki Sakata (Gintama)

16. Yukio Okumura (Blue Exorcist)

17. Shintaro Midorima (Kuroko's Basketball)

18. Kamui Gakupo (Vocaloid)

19. Daiki Aomine (Kuroko's Basketball)

20. Izaya Orihara (Durarara!!)

Source: Otalab via Nikkan Vocaloid Guide

image © Otalab