Cosplay is basically the term that defines people who have as a hobby, or desire, to dress up as characters, whether characters from anime, manga, comics, movies, games and others.
The art of cosplay emerged in the mid-30s and 40s, and over the years, it has become something popular and even admired by many, whether in the East or the West.
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Cosplay history
In 1939, during the first Worldcon, Forrest J. Ackerman in the company of Myrtle R, wore a costume for the first time during an event. The garment he wore was titled “future-costume”, being his own creation. And her outfit was inspired by a dress from the 1936 film “Things to Come”. Since that day, the act of dressing up has become an annual practice at the event.
The first Cosplayers inspired by manga/Anime only appeared after the 70's in the USA, cosplay only became a phenomenon in Japan in the 80's, through Nobuyuki Takahashi, who had been delighted with this practice after visiting the Worldcon event.
In the beginning, Japan was restricted to Science Fiction, but other ways of dressing up emerged with the “Comic Markets”, an event held in Odaiba (Tokyo), place of purchase and sale of Dōjinshi.
What makes a good Cosplayer?
- One of the main points is to have passion and charisma for the character you are dressing up;
- Good clothing;
- The act of behaving like the character, even though you are not in the Cosplayer position;
- Knowing that you shouldn't please yourself, but other people, like children who are amazed to see their favorite heroes in the middle of the City;
- Be charismatic;
- Not wanting to look cool just because it looks trendy, but being cool because it's something you like;
- Have it as a hobby, and not aim for profit;
- And something interesting (which is not necessary) is the act of honoring another person, as a character and as a person;
Cosplay in Brazil
In Brazil, the term Cosplay and the first Cosplayers only began to emerge from the end of the 90's, with the popularity of the anime "The Knights of the Zodiac", and thus also emerged the first anime and manga conventions in our country. .
In Brazil, Cosplay was only used for characters from animations, manga, comics and Japanese games, but over time other styles and inspirations were incorporated, such as American comics, movies or books, such as Harry Potter or Pirates of the Caribbean. .
Currently, Anime Friends, organized by Yamato Comunicações e Eventos, is the biggest event in Brazil, with numerous categories and different cosplay contests.
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Cosplay Events
Anime Expo - The event that has been taking place in Los Angeles/USA for 24 years (!) is the biggest event of its kind in North America. Visitors come from all over the world to attend the event, which in addition to having cosplay competitions (obviously), brings to the public several shows taking place simultaneously on the various stages of the event. In addition to anime, games and manga, the event brings other aspects of Japanese culture, such as dance and cuisine. The event also has distinguished guests from the Japanese and American anime industry.
Japan Expo - Japan Expo is an event that has been taking place for 16 years in Paris. Needless to say, the event is also full of cosplays, and things related to anime, manga and games, right!? And as the name of the event already announces, it exposes various aspects of Japanese culture, there are Visual-Kei style rock concerts, there is also a Gothic Lolita fashion show. Other cultural aspects that appear there are calligraphy, martial arts, shogi (a kind of Japanese chess but much more difficult) and origami. The event also always brings famous mangakas and idols of J-Pop culture.
World Cosplay Summit (WCS) - The World Cosplay Summit is just what you're thinking, it's the Cosplay World Cup! In fact, the event has been taking place since 2003, and with its success, this world cosplay tournament has been taking place since 2005. All the other events have a lot of cosplay, but this is certainly the one that gives the most emphasis, imagine that the classifieds from all over the world (actually 17 countries) go to Japan to compete for this title, so people from all over the world will honor the event. The idea is exactly the same, bringing together cosplayers and fans from everywhere for a great party and interaction.
Cosplay VS Cospobre
There are still those who prefer to follow a style of the poor variation of Cosplay or also known as Cospobre, which consists of producing characterization prioritizing low-cost and low quality materials instead of the faithful resemblance to the character for which Cosplayers so long, that is in part of the lack of resources and excess of creativity of the practitioners of Cospobre.
Hope you enjoyed the article. Feel free to comment your opinion and suggestions on this matter.
