What is cosplay?
Cosplay, a portmanteau of “costume play,” is a hobby where individuals dress up in costumes and accessories to represent a specific character from a wide array of sources, such as anime, manga, video games, movies, TV shows, comic books, and more.
It’s disputed whether cosplay actually originated in Japan or America, but the term “cosplay” was coined by Nobuyuki “Nov” Takahashi, the founder of the anime publishing company Studio Hard, in the early 80s to describe the costumes he saw when he traveled from Japan to attend WorldCon in LA.
Cosplayers often meticulously design, create, or purchase costumes to resemble the chosen character as closely as possible, sometimes even imitating their mannerisms and behaviors. The community is incredibly diverse, with participants engaging in different aspects of the hobby. Some focus on crafting intricate costumes, while others concentrate on accurately portraying characters through makeup, props, and acting. Additionally, there are cosplay competitions where participants display their costumes and performances, often judged based on accuracy, craftsmanship, and showmanship.
Cosplayers often spend months making authentic costumes and acting in character. They are usually experts on the characters they are portraying. Cosplay is a growing industry. For some, it’s a hobby. For others, it’s a year-round profession. Many cosplayers regularly make between $100,000-200,000 per year. There are four levels of cosplay in competition: novice, journeyman, master, or professional. The levels are based on the complete costume, makeup, speech, and mannerisms.
