It's most
likely that you're visiting this site because of the costuming pictures,
and Nobuyuki Takahashi can take some of the credit for that. Before he
founded Studio Hard, started producing live-action movies and working on
the start of the Raijin Comics translated manga project. Takahashi was
a writer who covered science fiction conventions and the famed Comic Market
doujinshi convention. Twenty years ago, "Comiket" was still a small gathering
and the closest thing there were to costumers were fans who drew anime
characters on their T-shirts. It was in 1983 that costuming started at
Comiket when the first Lum costumers from the then current Urusei Yatsura
appeared. In 1984, Takahashi went to the World Science Fiction Convention,
held that year in Los Angeles, and was impressed by the costuming fans
who were in Star Wars and Star Trek outfits.
Takahashi
went home to Japan and decided to encourage fans at home to make their
own costumes to celebrate anime and manga creators. Some conventions use
the phrase "masquerade" for their costume contests, but it had a different
meaning in Japan and Takahashi wanted something different. After playing
with English-language phrases, he invented "cosplay" as a contraction for
"costume play" and wrote cosplay columns in his magazine. What followed
was the costuming boom at Comiket and other Japanese events, a boom that
crossed the Pacific when anime conventions started to rise in North American
popularity. In the years to come, cosplay will head back west across the
Pacific to Japan with Anime Expo Japan in 2004 and the Tokyo World Con
in 2007. In each event, game designer Susumu Sakurai (on the left) will
be one of the organizers, and he'll encourage North American and Japanese
cosplayers to come together and celebrate their hobby.
There's
a difference between American and Japanese cosplay, and Takahashi prefers
the American version - even if some U.S. convention organizers disagree.
In Japan, cosplayers match their favorite poses. In the U.S. and Canada,
most anime conventions feature costumers who stage short skits and dance
presentations. Takahashi prefers the American system - he thinks Japanese
costumers are too shy to be coaxed on state - and he once asked Americans
why they were so comfortable in front of an audience. "They said the U.S.
schools require you to do that. We don't have that kind of background in
Japan," said Takahashi. "In the United States when I ask them for pictures,
they show more of their own character instead of becoming that character.
Japanese cosplayers are good at being copycats."
It's most
likely that you're visiting this site because of the costuming pictures,
and Nobuyuki Takahashi can take some of the credit for that. Before he
founded Studio Hard, started producing live-action movies and working on
the start of the Raijin Comics translated manga project. Takahashi was
a writer who covered science fiction conventions and the famed Comic Market
doujinshi convention. Twenty years ago, "Comiket" was still a small gathering
and the closest thing there were to costumers were fans who drew anime
characters on their T-shirts. It was in 1983 that costuming started at
Comiket when the first Lum costumers from the then current Urusei Yatsura
appeared. In 1984, Takahashi went to the World Science Fiction Convention,
held that year in Los Angeles, and was impressed by the costuming fans
who were in Star Wars and Star Trek outfits.
Takahashi
went home to Japan and decided to encourage fans at home to make their
own costumes to celebrate anime and manga creators. Some conventions use
the phrase "masquerade" for their costume contests, but it had a different
meaning in Japan and Takahashi wanted something different. After playing
with English-language phrases, he invented "cosplay" as a contraction for
"costume play" and wrote cosplay columns in his magazine. What followed
was the costuming boom at Comiket and other Japanese events, a boom that
crossed the Pacific when anime conventions started to rise in North American
popularity. In the years to come, cosplay will head back west across the
Pacific to Japan with Anime Expo Japan in 2004 and the Tokyo World Con
in 2007. In each event, game designer Susumu Sakurai (on the left) will
be one of the organizers, and he'll encourage North American and Japanese
cosplayers to come together and celebrate their hobby.
There's
a difference between American and Japanese cosplay, and Takahashi prefers
the American version - even if some U.S. convention organizers disagree.
In Japan, cosplayers match their favorite poses. In the U.S. and Canada,
most anime conventions feature costumers who stage short skits and dance
presentations. Takahashi prefers the American system - he thinks Japanese
costumers are too shy to be coaxed on state - and he once asked Americans
why they were so comfortable in front of an audience. "They said the U.S.
schools require you to do that. We don't have that kind of background in
Japan," said Takahashi. "In the United States when I ask them for pictures,
they show more of their own character instead of becoming that character.
Japanese cosplayers are good at being copycats."
