The Creativity of Cosplay Culture

2018/02/01

Japanese content such as manga, anime, and games, which captivates people around the world—especially the youth—has created a way to enjoy these works not just by reading, watching, or playing, but by "becoming" the characters that appear in them. This is "cosplay." Characters like people or animals in a work are created by the author and expressed as attractive entities. People who engage with these works enjoy the individuality of the characters in the original source; eventually, they imagine the character's personality and daily life from the limited information visualized in the work, developing deeper affection and a sense of kinship. This world derived from the original work is called "derivative work" (secondary creation). One example of this is "cosplay," where people change their attire to become a character and share that individuality, and those who enjoy this are called "cosplayers."

At the World Cosplay Summit (WCS) 2017 held in Nagoya last summer, cosplayers from over 30 countries participated, performing and directing on stage in a contest to determine the cosplay champions. This major event was also broadcast over the internet. In this way, cosplay has established itself as a culture loved by young people worldwide.

For young people, the appeal of cosplay lies not only in the charm of the characters and the expression of affection for the work, but also in the concealment of the self and the discovery of a new self during the process, as well as the recognition and approval from others by sharing it. By cosplaying and masquerading as a character, one conceals their original personality and expresses a different existence by portraying a new personality—the character's personality created as a derivative work. Cosplayers conceal themselves further to show a "cute" version of themselves or a version different from their usual selves. To identify with the character, they cover their hair with wigs, match eye colors with colored contact lenses, apply makeup, and wear increasingly lavish costumes. Furthermore, some people completely conceal themselves by wearing full-body suit masks, active as "kigurumi cosplayers." Through this series of experiences of becoming a character, they discover or create a new personality and incorporate it into themselves. Although the original personality disappears and one becomes a new character, in reality, there is creative ingenuity involved in searching for and creating a new personality for oneself within that process.

To express this new character-self on social media and gain recognition from more people, it is necessary to post them in the form of photos or videos. To that end, they seek more beautiful and dynamic photos, sometimes going to suburban areas like parks, or visiting locations associated with the character and the work ("holy sites") to conduct photo shoots on-site with other cosplayers of appearing characters. They may conduct photo shoots that are faithful to scenes from the work or develop story-based photos based on derivative works. Sometimes, they introduce photography equipment that rivals that of professional photographers to create a special "work of art" in a photo studio.

Cosplayers enjoy cosplay at such contests, events, and photo shoots, creating "works" and sharing them through internet culture. By posting photos and videos of these moments on social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, they provide a new form of self-expression, receiving "likes" and comments from the "community"—the place of interaction formed by internet culture. Within the activity of cosplay, they receive approval from others in the community for the self that has changed through effort and experience, indirectly gaining recognition for their new personality. Here too, in order to become the ideal character, they satisfy a higher desire for recognition through various information circulating in internet culture.

Furthermore, people who see these "works" posted by cosplayers online are captivated by them and begin to immerse themselves in the world of cosplay.

In that sense, the global penetration of cosplay culture can be said to have internet culture as its source of influence. Through cosplay as a "work" posted on social media, young people encounter new expressions and charms, follow them, stimulate each other, and develop further by adding creative ingenuity. The characters born there as derivative works branch out as new content and, in some cases, grow into works with high commercial value. This spiral of consumption and creation as content holds infinite possibilities for generating new content, making it an attractive presence for young people and for future commodity value.