Cosplay (コスプレ kosupure?), short for "costume play",
[1] is a type of
performance art in which participants don
costumes and
accessories to represent a specific
character or idea. Characters are often
[2] drawn from popular fiction in
Japan, but recent trends have included American cartoons and Sci-Fi. Favorite sources include
manga,
anime,
tokusatsu,
comic books,
graphic novels,
video games,
hentai and fantasy
movies. Any entity from the real or
virtual world that lends itself to dramatic interpretation may be taken up as a subject. Inanimate objects are given
anthropomorphic forms and it is not unusual to see
genders switched, with women playing male roles and vice versa.
Cosplayers often interact to create a
subculture centered around role play. A broader use of the term
cosplay applies it to any costumed role play in venues apart from the stage, regardless of the cultural context.
Terminology
The term
cosplay is a
portmanteau of the English words
costume play. The term was coined by
Nobuyuki Takahashi of the Japanese studio Studio Hard while attending the 1984 Los Angeles Science Fiction
Worldcon.
[3] He was impressed by the hall and the costumed fans and reported on both in Japanese
science fiction magazines. The coinage reflects a common
Japanese method of abbreviation in which the first two
moras of a pair of words are used to form an independent compound.
Costume becomes
kosu (コス), and
play becomes
pure (プレ).
Cosplayers typically come from the ranks of
otaku--that is, fans of Japanese comic books, known as
manga. They gather at public events such as comic-book and video game trade shows, as well as at dedicated cosplay parties at
nightclubs or
amusement parks. In Japan teenagers gather with like-minded friends in places like Tokyo's
Harajuku district to engage in cosplay. Since 1998
Tokyo's
Akihabara district has contained a large number of cosplay
cafés, catering to devoted anime and cosplay fans. The waitresses at such cafés dress as game or anime characters;
maid costumes are particularly popular. In areas outside of Japan, cosplay is primarily done at
manga and anime conventions.
The single largest event featuring cosplay is the semiannual
doujinshi market,
Comiket. This event, held in Japan during summer and winter, attracts hundreds of thousands of
manga fans. Thousands of cosplayers congregate on the roof of the exhibition center. The largest event for cosplayers outside Asia is the annual
San Diego Comic-Con held in the
California city in the
USA. The biggest event in the UK is the
London MCM Expo at
ExCeL London
Cosplayers in Japan refer to themselves as
reiyā (レイヤー?); pronounced "layer". Those who photograph
players are called
cameko, short for "Camera Kozō" or "Camera Boy". Originally the
cameko give prints of their photos to
players as gifts. Increased interest in cosplay events both on the part of photographers and cosplayers willing to model for them have led to formalisation of procedures at events such as Comiket. Photography takes place within a designated area removed from the exhibit hall.
Cosplay at fan events likely originated in Japan in 1978.
[4] Cosplay nevertheless gets a mixed reception in Japan even today. Events in districts such as Akihabara draw many cosplayers, yet there is no shortage of people in Japan who regard cosplay as a frivolous endeavor.
