What Is Cosplay

Cosplay is when people play, act and feel like their character from their favourite anime, manga, western comic, cartoons etc. This originated in Japan, but is actually based on the English words Costume and Play. When people cosplay, they wear the signature clothing of a specific character, for example, this person wants to cosplay as Goku from Dragon Balls, he will style his hair like Goku, wear Goku’s uniform and probably wear a monkey’s tail. It is true that cosplaying costs a lot of money, but it’s actually fun.

TYPES OF COSPLAY

Echo from the anime Pandora Hearts

There are two types of cosplay, which is the basic cosplay, where you simply attempt to look like the character from anime/ manga or etc., you don't need to act like the character, and it’s just like modelling. The second type of cosplay is masquerade; this is harder than the basic cosplay because in masquerade, you are going to attempt to act as the character, their personality and their common catch phrases (or what they commonly say ex. “Mada mada da ne” – Ryouma Echizen). This just like role playing, it’s very fun, acting like your character and trying to get the feel of the character. Cosplaying has become a hobby of millions of people around the world. You’re sure to have fun, you’ll get to meet new people, and you’ll get to know how it feels like to be your character. Some cosplayers are otakus—fans of manga and anime, and some are gamers who commonly cosplay their favourite character from a game. An example of this is Devil Jin from Tekken.

Little boy: “Hey, nee-san, is cosplaying like Halloween; do we get free candy for cosplaying Conan Edogawa?”

Big sister: “No, Cosplaying is NOT like Halloween, there’s a big difference.”

Big sister is right, Cosplaying is not like Halloween. You don't need to be in a special event to cosplay. You can cosplay any time. In cosplay, you don't scare people away with your costume... unless you’re trying to cosplay a Yokai (demon) that’s when you have to look scary. You can’t scare people away wearing Yui Hirosawa’s costume. Cosplaying isn’t all about scaring people for candy – that’s Halloween. Cosplaying is for general fun, role-play and contests. We need anime/manga fashion, not scary monsters of the night fashion, unless that’s the description of your anime/manga character.

Soul Eater Medusa and Eruka Frog (background) cosplay

*A girl in Ciel Phantomhive’s clothes passes by*

Boy: Look nee-san *points at Ciel Phantomhive* It’s a girl in a tuxedo, that’s cosplaying!? O_o

Big sister: Don't be shocked when you see girls cosplaying as boys, and vice versa, it’s normal in cosplay culture.

Again, Big sister is correct, in cosplay, some girls cosplay as male anime characters because of the bishounen or “pretty boy”—males with delicate and somewhat feminine features.  Some boys cosplay female characters because some female characters are masculine i.e. General Armstrong (Fullmetal Alchemist). These things are normal in cosplay, so, do not be shocked.

Cosplayers often meet during cosplay conventions. In these events, cosplayers meet together to compete, show off their costumes and even role-play as their favourite character. Other cosplayers make a live action remake of their favourite anime or manga including the character they choose to cosplay. Other cosplayers have photo shoot showcasing their costumes and their props. These are some examples of what the cosplayers do while cosplaying.

COSTUMES

People can’t just cosplay using their normal clothes; people will not be able to identify you as that character. You need to be in a special outfit to cosplay, and make sure that you will be easily recognized as that character in that outfit. So for this you will need to be able to have several things to cosplay. Like time, if you have free time, you can try to make your costume or you can just order it online, you should be free to spend time practicing your cosplay skit if you're joining a cosplay contest. Most professional cosplayers decide to make their own costumes. Next is money, cosplayers need the money to be able to afford the props that they use, and borrowing money isn’t advisable because you might not be able to pay for it on time. There are people online who sell the needs of cosplayers, and the price differs depending on the character they want to cosplay. So with that in mind, for those who have limited funds, they have to take into consideration the amount of money they will spend to be able to cosplay. Canvassing helps before you actually decide your character of choice.

NOTABLE COSPLAYERS

Since cosplaying is popular, there are several notable cosplayers, like Lee Teng-hui the first popularly elected president of Taiwan, and the popular Alodia Gosiengfiao, the Cosplay Queen of the Philippines, a cosplayer and a model. She ranked no. 87 in FHM Philippines 2009 poll of the Sexiest Women in the World, and is also named as one of Philippine’s most influential women by UNO Magazine. Anyone can cosplay, as long as you want to. 

COSPLAYING AROUND THE WORLD

Cosplayers around the world put a lot of effort, time and money into cosplaying. They work hard to make their costumes, they use their creativity and resourcefulness to make their costumes look authentic – this type of motivation and enthusiasm is what makes cosplaying a fun hobby.  Cosplaying in groups, or cosplaying individually, or cosplaying as a form of profession, whichever way you would like to cosplay, it doesn’t matter, as long as you're having fun. So grab a friend or get together with your group and try cosplaying, it might turn into your favourite hobby.