Cosplay Subculture
Cosplay is a youth subculture originating in Japan. The moniker hails from what “costume” and “play”, and it is thought to happen to be very first believed up in 1984 by a Japanese studio executive named Nov Takahashi. When he wrote for Japanese science fiction magazines about the impressive costumes worn by attendees in the La Planet Science Fiction Convention, he gradually adopted the portmanteau term cosplay, which is used to explain the popularity nowadays.
The main characteristic of cosplay is the fact that participants enjoy dressing as their favorite characters from anime, comic books, and video games. It has developed to include, particularly when adopted in the western world, individuals dressing as characters from well-known non-Asian fantasy and science fiction movies and games, such as Harry Potter, Lord from the Rings, Physician Who and World of Warcraft.
Like a fashion concept, cosplay has also been noticed to increase towards a style of dressing not only as established, famous characters, but as characters that the enthusiast is promoting themselves. This is often a crossover to the Japanese Lolita style of dress, where girls wear a distinctive, cute style. This allows girls who choose the look along with want to totally adopt the Lolita style as street dress to enjoy the less serious “Cosplay Lolita” style at cosplay events and venues.
Additional trends and sub-genres in cosplay contain “crossplay”, that involves wearing the costume of the character of the opposite gender, and participants referred to as “dollars”, who put on full body suits and masks to experience characters devoid of their very own faces on show, rather like sports mascots.
is generally something that happens at parties, concerts, conventions and venues exactly where likeminded men and women meet to show off their (often hand made) costumes, socialize, and photograph other enthusiasts. Typically the most popular area for such actions may be the fashionable Harajuku section of Tokyo. Within the district of Akihabara, numerous cosplay themed cafes happen to be opened during the last decade to focus on the cosplayers, and also the staff all wear anime themed costumes themselves.
Twice a year, hundreds of thousands of cosplayers flock to Tokyo to visit the Comiket convention and marketplace - the biggest event on the planet for cosplay enthusiasts.
The idea of dressing up as well as getting involved in role play based around common characters also exists in the western world, where cosplay style outfits are worn to attend science fiction and comic conventions. The largest of these is held annually in North park.
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