Everything about cosplay: history, psychology, essence (+ photos)

Comic-Con 2017

“... On the one hand, this is undoubtedly a triumph of geeky, freemanship and escapism. And on the other hand, why not? ”

Cosplay is called the art of reincarnation. If during the masquerade you need to change into another person, then in cosplay the level of fusion with the character is important. It’s not enough to look like, you need to speak in the tone of a hero, copy his manner of speech, facial expression, use the same words and phrases, react in a similar way - the cosplayer should feel his character from the inside.

Cosplay is said to have Japanese roots

But it is not so. No one knows exactly where it began to form as a separate subculture, but it is undeniable that in Japan it has grown wider and deeper than anywhere else.


Nipponbashi Street Festa 2014

Perhaps it is in the centuries-old traditions of the amateur Japanese kabuki theater, which has existed since the beginning of the 17th century. It was a synthesis of music, dance and drama. In the performances, the actors paid special attention to the complex makeup, which reflected the essence of the character, and the costumes, which had a strong symbolic load. The traditions of the theater penetrated deep into the culture of the country, allowing cosplay to harmoniously separate itself as an independent cultural branch.

It is believed that the first cosplay appeared in 1939 in the United States: at the world's first annual science fiction convention World Science Fiction Convention, science fiction writer Forrest J. Ackerman dressed in an unusual futuristic costume , prompting thousands of imitators to follow his example.

By 1956, the tradition was already relatively settled, even a competition for the best outfit was held at the convention. In 1984, Nobuyuki Takahashi, a Japanese writer who was in awe of the costume presentation and began to spread this idea in his native country, became a judge of the next contest. It was picked up first by anime fans, who were able to transform into their favorite characters. Around this time, the term “cosplay” appeared in Japan.

At the same time, the idea of ​​cosplay continued to develop in America. For the USA, the 1960s were the period of the emergence of many social movements and subcultures: punks, rockers, hippies. The youth sought self-identification and self-expression. Then the fascination with comics and fantasy resulted in a fan environment, the adherents of which changed into their favorite characters. At the same time, a wave of tolkinists appeared at the same time with fans of comics, more connected with role-playing games, “voles” than with cosplay. However, Tolkiens also influenced the creation of cosplay culture.

“Voles” migrated to Russia and have been held there since the 1990s.

Thus, in the CIS cosplay came from several sides: through the role movement of the Tolkinists and the growing popularity of the anime. Over time, cosplay has ceased to be the prerogative of frikovatoy youth and has become a diverse cultural phenomenon, which enthusiastic people are engaged in whole families. Modern cosplay no longer has a direct relationship to either the Tolkinists or the anime.


Comiket 2015

Cosplay and LARP - what's the difference?

The elements of masquerade and acting are also used in LARP's - live action role-playing games, where the heroes not only reincarnate and play their role, but also actively interact with each other: they communicate, they go through the linear quests, go to the taverns, suffer captive or in the ghoul.

For LARP, dressing up is a game tool. For a rolevik, immersion in a character is more important, and the costume is secondary: he can do a minimal entourage without working out details and textures. For a cosplayer, costume design is in the first place, but in the image it is not non-stop, but only for the duration of a photo shoot or a defile.


Nipponbashi Street Festa 2013


Nipponbashi Street Festa 2010


Nipponbashi Street Festa 2014


Nipponbashi Street Festa 2017

“The triumph of geekhood, freezing and escapism” - LARP, cosplay and public opinion

Grown-up people dress up in characters from films and run around the forest in heavy armor and with a sword from foam. Looks weird? Perhaps, but you would be surprised to know how diverse the public is going there. For example, Oxxxymiron, a popular Russian rapper, was once seriously fond of field role-playing games. He talks about the movement as follows:

“Fantasy games are a niche topic, but in general, all of humanity plays some form of such games: someone works as an office clerk, and on Friday he changes clothes on Stone Island and goes to Mahach.

Honestly, I have an ambivalent attitude to many subcultural phenomena - on the one hand, this is undoubtedly a triumph of geeks, frieness and escapism. On the other hand, why not, the concentration of intellectuals in such an environment is quite high, just often it is people who are squeezed and poorly capable of communication in the real world. So after all, I am partly the same - and nothing much has changed here. ”

Public opinion about role-playing games and cosplay is ambiguous, perhaps due to a lack of information in this area. An increasing number of non-African, perfectly normal in the general sense of the word, people are now coming to the movement. Perhaps due to the fact that cosplay makes it possible to manifest versatile creativity - sewing, visage, reincarnation, sometimes art, design and photo. LARP allows you to completely fall into another reality: to experience a day somewhere in a pine forest among bards, merchants, elves, undead and dangerous creatures - sounds much more fun than just going to the movies.


Yukicon 2018

The essence and meaning

Going deeper into the essence and psychological base of cosplay, you can find not only the fan.

This is evidenced by Polina Khanova, a graduate student at the Faculty of Philosophy of Moscow State University, a cosplayer and a specialist in modern popular culture:

“There is a great temptation to assume that cosplayers are driven by a simple desire to feel like a particular character, to use a ready-made way, but I find it harder and harder. Trying on the roles of various heroes, a person gets the opportunity to study ways of constructing a personality based on the experience of different characters. Understand from which elements the image is built, how it affects self-perception and behavior. And then the mastered tools are used to build yourself and search for your own unique place in the world.

Of course, the community has a special meaning: the cosplay movement exists through parties, festivals. For fans, this is an opportunity to be in an environment where geek hobbies are not a matter of condemnation, where mutual understanding prevails. Each costume, complex or simple, gets its share of attention and approval. ”

Of course, when you come to cosplay, personality construction is the last thing that interests you: as a rule, beginner cosplayers just like fantasy, cool costumes, create images and have fun. From an interview with Carioka and littlegenius666:

“It all started with the fact that we chose our characters, made costumes and performed with funny scenes, which we thought out at parties in anime clubs. Nobody thought much about the quality of these costumes at the time, as well as about the character wagering - we just did what we liked, had fun together. ”

Later it turns into a serious passion, with orders of serious costumes from the studio or self-design outfits.

What is cosplay

Cosplay can not be clearly delineated by genre, but it can be divided into six types.

1. Standard cosplay

Dressing up, make-up and reincarnation. This includes cosplay by manga or anime, characters from movies, cartoons, popular artists.


Comic-Con 2017


Comic-Con 2017


WEGAME 3.0 (2017)


Yukicon 2017

2. Cosplay with entourage

This type of cosplay provides not only costume and make-up, but also the surroundings: weapons, scenery, landscapes.


WEGAME 3.0 (2017)


WEGAME 3.0 (2017)


Comic-Con 2017


WEGAME 3.0 (2017)

3. Photosplay

Sometimes cosplay is prepared not for festivals, shows and role-playing games, but for a photo shoot. The image has to be embodied without plasticity, gait and speech: using only mimicry, costume, gestures and atmosphere.




Photo: Kira Winter

4. Crafting Cosplay

The main principle of craft cosplay is the independent creation of a costume and, if necessary, scenery from scratch. Cosplayer himself buys materials and creates an image with his own hands. This is aerobatics.




Cosplayer Maria Hanna creates costumes with her own hands

5. Original cosplay

Cosplayer does not choose a character, but creates it. This kind of cosplay is not limited to any framework, but it is also difficult to evaluate because of the lack of a prototype.

6. Cosplay body art

Clothing is used to a minimum, most parts of the costume are drawn on bare skin.

“Want publications - take off your clothes”

In RPG games and anime, girls on the screen are often more stripped than dressed. The cosplayer needs to exactly recreate these costumes, which sometimes looks provocative.

At the same time, frank cosplay is popular - this is a good way to quickly recruit subscribers. Cosplayer and head of Golden Hamster agency Margarita Teplyakova comments on it this way:

“Everything here is explained quite easily. Want to publish in big publics in social networks, fame and money - take off your clothes! The more clothes you have, the less attention you get. ”


Komiket 2017

Much depends on what kind of audience the cosplayer wants to attract, but in this case the quality of the costume and wagering matters. In the society of cosplayers, this method of gaining popularity is treated with a coolness:

“I admit that there are cosplayers who have made a name for themselves on the so-called bad-quality boobies, but the corresponding name is then unlikely to be followed by enthusiastic exclamations from like-minded people. The pledge of popularity is the quality of the costume, the ability to get used to the role of the character and good makeup, again patiently selected. The most important thing for me is the love of my work and the joy of each new cosplay. ”
Kumori

“I completely disagree with the opinion“ if you want publications, take off your clothes ”. If you are really passionate about your business, you like to make high-quality photosets with thorough preparation, then you will definitely be noticed. ”
Ninel Nuretdinova

In any case, frank cosplay requires good form, acting skills and photogenic. This is also a skill.

About the creation of costumes

Many cosplayers sew costumes on their own. How they create their image, what difficulties they face and what they emphasize:

Daria Pasechnik
Cosplayer, artist and poetess. Ukraine
“I order accessories at online auctions, and I sew things to order. Sometimes it is difficult to understand what to make this or that detail, but there are many people in the circle of cosplayers who do everything with their own hands, and I often consult them. The costumes are in the closet, I don’t want to sell them or give them away: I am such a cosplayer-plushkin. ”

Maria hannah
Cosplayer and crafter. Russia
“The preparation of complex images can take up to six months, while simple costumes can be sewn in a day or two. Frankly, nothing motivates as well as deadline. When time is running out, there are strengths, inspirations, and many different unexpected abilities. ”

Marianna de mort
Cosplayer, director, TV presenter and judge of the WEGAME 4.0 cosplay show. Ukraine
“I use everything that is at hand: various boxes, plastic bottles, packages, even toilet paper. With the help of the latter, she once created the mask of Non-Death Joe, the character in Mad Max.

For a long time, I remember, I looked for lifehacks on YouTube for its production, but found only complex and expensive ways. Then suddenly the idea came to cut out the shape of the six-liter eggplugs and glue it over with pieces of shredded toilet paper mixed with PVA. Instead of metal parts, I glued cardboard — and all that was painted. It turned out very impressive. ”

What can cosplay do?

WEGAME 3.0 (2017)

Cosplay gathers like-minded people and gives you the opportunity to have fun. It allows you to express yourself in any of the selected faces: someone wants to show themselves as an actor, someone as a designer, someone has a beautiful body or the ability to present themselves.

Why is all this necessary? For the same reason that each of us from time to time likes to fall into the world of books, films and festivals. Business, applied sciences and everyday life provide us with life, but we need carnivals, reincarnations, adventures and romance, as air is what we live for.