SINGAPORE, Jan 15 — An unlikely relationship began to form between Maoru and cosplay when she was in secondary school. “(At first), I was actually not a big fan of cosplay,”...
SINGAPORE, Jan 15 — An unlikely relationship began to form between Maoru and cosplay when she was in secondary school.
Cosplayers like her portray animated, fictional or sometimes historical characters by using costumes and props.Besides connecting her with fellow enthusiasts, some of whom have become close friends, cosplaying has made Maoru interact and talk to people more frequently, which has helped her “gain a lot of confidence”.
Exposed to cosplay in 2013, he began to partake in it more consistently in 2019 “as an outlet for expression” and to keep himself busy to prevent the “worsening of mental state”. “As such, cosplay can be a space to fulfil fundamental human needs for self-expression and acceptance.” Anime Festival Asia, a three-day-long annual anime convention organised by Sozo, is one of three major events for cosplayers in Singapore. — Anime Festival Asia 2022 / SOZO Pte Ltd pic via TODAY
Singapore Comic Con drew an overall attendance of about 56,500 in 2022. EOY’s organisers did not reveal the number of attendees at its event. Industry players attributed the increase in following due to easier access to anime and animation shows via streaming platforms, as well as more prevalent promotion of such programmes here.
Narumi also sells digital images via Ko-Fi — a platform where fans can donate money to content creators in exchange for a set of new content. “I found myself really just going home straight after work, and then spending all my remaining evenings doing my livestream, or filming sponsored content or just doing up my costume in general.
Enako, dubbed as the top cosplayer in Japan, reportedly made over ¥200 million last year, four times that of 2020. “You are your own wig stylist, you are your own costume person, your own prop maker, your own makeup artist, you are your own photo editor, you are your own location site recce person, you are also your own concept artist,” Mr Tan said.Like many cosplayers, National University of Singapore undergraduate Isaac Soh, 23, sees cosplay mainly as an extension of his love for the characters he plays.
Dr Elizabeth MacLachlan, who co-authored a 2005-2008 study on Singapore’s growing cosplay community, traced its early days to around the period where Japanese comics, or manga, were translated and made available here, along with the airing of some anime programmes. “They are the reason why I’m still actively going for events and staying at events for seven hours despite how tired I am,” she said.
The cosplay subculture also provides an avenue for its participants to experiment and explore “personalities that may be challenging to express in their everyday lives in a safe and accepting environment”, Mr Quek added. Furthermore, meeting crossplayers — those who dress up as characters of the opposite gender — made her feel that she “belonged as well and that there are people out there who also feel the same way”.
“Escapism to avoid dealing with negative emotions, stressors, or traumatic experiences can prolong or worsen our problems,” he added.While cosplayers find joy and comfort in their hobby, they also acknowledge that the industry does have its flip side, with some of the problems linked to several misconceptions that the public has towards cosplaying.
Agreeing, Maoru said: “You don’t see someone wearing a dress and you suddenly grab her arm and go ‘let’s take a selfie’, right?” “By keeping their real identity private, cosplayers can protect themselves from harassment and doxxing.”how he was approached on Instagram by an eight-year-old.He has also observed a growing number of younger cosplayers — “the PSLE type of age” — who lack “self-preservation” by putting on outfits inappropriate for their age and asking for “borderline inappropriate” photos with other cosplayers.
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