Fans
at Anime Expo have come to enjoy the groups of Japanese cosplayers for
their amazing creations and enthusiasm for the hobby. It takes a lot of
perseverance to make the costumes, but these cosplayers said that's only
half the battle in enjoying themselves in costume. While there are more
cosplay events in Japan than in the U.S., costuming is restricted in ways
that don't exist at North American conventions, they said. To start, at
major cosplay events such as the twice-yearly Comic Market in Tokyo, the
costumes have to fit certain standards. They can't be too wide or considered
too dangerous; the "Sessho-maru" from Inu-Yasha on the left would be banned
at a Japanese event, its wearer "Kaie" said. Costumes must be approved
by event committees before they're worn, the cosplayers said.
Then
there's some added expense. At Comic Market, manga fans buy a thick, heavy
catalogue as the price of admission - but costumers must purchase an additional
pamphlet to be allowed to participate. Then, the North American practice
of wearing a costume and walking in that outfit to a convention hall isn't
allowed at most Japanese events. The costumers said that they must carry
their costumes to events such as Comic Market, put the costumes on in a
dressing room and then go to a cosplay area where they can be photographed.
Finally, the costumers head back to the dressing room and change into street
clothes - and then they can go into the main Comic Market rooms to buy
doujinshi. These restrictions don't seem to keep Japanese fans from cosplay;
they said around 8,000 people appear in costumes at a typical Comic Market.
Costuming
is something of an outlaw practice in a country where people are usually
expected to be reserved in public. "Japanese people aren't really showy.
The only showy people are the high school girls," one of the cosplayers
said. Still, there are enough anime, manga and video game costumers to
produce business for several costume companies that sell outfits at retail.
One of the costumers lamented that the retail sale of these outfits means
that several fans can show up at an event in the same costume. And while
J-rock costumers walk side-by-side with anime costumers at U.S. conventions,
the Japanese costumers said that those two groups don't seem to get along
- possibly because many Japanese see anime as being for children and J-rock
for adults.
Fans
at Anime Expo have come to enjoy the groups of Japanese cosplayers for
their amazing creations and enthusiasm for the hobby. It takes a lot of
perseverance to make the costumes, but these cosplayers said that's only
half the battle in enjoying themselves in costume. While there are more
cosplay events in Japan than in the U.S., costuming is restricted in ways
that don't exist at North American conventions, they said. To start, at
major cosplay events such as the twice-yearly Comic Market in Tokyo, the
costumes have to fit certain standards. They can't be too wide or considered
too dangerous; the "Sessho-maru" from Inu-Yasha on the left would be banned
at a Japanese event, its wearer "Kaie" said. Costumes must be approved
by event committees before they're worn, the cosplayers said.
Then
there's some added expense. At Comic Market, manga fans buy a thick, heavy
catalogue as the price of admission - but costumers must purchase an additional
pamphlet to be allowed to participate. Then, the North American practice
of wearing a costume and walking in that outfit to a convention hall isn't
allowed at most Japanese events. The costumers said that they must carry
their costumes to events such as Comic Market, put the costumes on in a
dressing room and then go to a cosplay area where they can be photographed.
Finally, the costumers head back to the dressing room and change into street
clothes - and then they can go into the main Comic Market rooms to buy
doujinshi. These restrictions don't seem to keep Japanese fans from cosplay;
they said around 8,000 people appear in costumes at a typical Comic Market.
Costuming
is something of an outlaw practice in a country where people are usually
expected to be reserved in public. "Japanese people aren't really showy.
The only showy people are the high school girls," one of the cosplayers
said. Still, there are enough anime, manga and video game costumers to
produce business for several costume companies that sell outfits at retail.
One of the costumers lamented that the retail sale of these outfits means
that several fans can show up at an event in the same costume. And while
J-rock costumers walk side-by-side with anime costumers at U.S. conventions,
the Japanese costumers said that those two groups don't seem to get along
- possibly because many Japanese see anime as being for children and J-rock
for adults.
