Before  mentioning the word Cosplay, one would need to understand  what 'Otaku's are. I am writing this Blog to  report on the otaku culture because I want more people to understand Otakus . also one of the otaku's number one  hobbie is cosplaying.  I am also investigating this issue because it relates to me.

 Otakus are everywhere however they are nearly impossible to be  noticed. So what are Otakus? Otaku are people who are obsessively interested in anime and manga (Japanese comic) fandom. This name “Otaku” was created by a man named   Ansaku Shibahura    which was published in   Manga Burikko a popular book in Japan. The word otaku refers to someone who stays home (taku = Home) all the time and doesn’t have a social life. The worse case is  Otaku can be used  as a negative term.

In other country’s (outside of Japan), for example in New Zealand the otaku culture has flourished. Otakus in New Zealand do the exact same things that Japanese otaku do e.g. Attend conventions, create fanzies, Cosplay, attend screenings, interact with each other over the net and create fan sites act.  The major difference between the Japanese and New Zealand otaku is the term ‘Otaku’. In  New Zealand  ‘Otaku’ isn’t a negative  and insulting word unlike  the Japanese  public , Otaku in the New Zealand  simply means anime fans and the  anime fans in New Zealand  find it exiting calling themselves Otakus. 

Anime 

Its a term for Japanese animation. Unlike American cartoons are speculated as children amusement. However anime is for all ages, however not everyone thinks that’s way.  A percentage of these shows are centered for kids, adolescents or young adults.  However there are anime that points to older crowds even businessmen Anime has over 50 genres’s the basic examples are comedy, Romance, Action and Drama.

The early anime artists were heavily influenced by Disney characters such as The Seven Dwarves which appears in snow white and also Miki Mouse was a huge influence.   The most obvious and the different between Japanese animation and American is the art work. Bright hairs large eyes, gorgeous female characters, exaggerated emotional expressions and gestures.

Cosplay

Nobuyuki Takahashi a member  of  Studio Hard striped the term Cosplaying as a connotation  of the English language  words “costume party” he gain the  inspiration after attending  a masquerade  costuming 1984 los Angels SF world con, and his enthusiastic reports of it in Japanese  SF magazines sparked the Cosplay movement.

This gave the Japanese readers the idea to start dressing up as their favorite characters from anime/manga. The Japanese fans quickly adopted and began to dress up as anime character s at comic book and sci-fi events around Japan. Then in the mid 90’s when anime/manga and all the other things related started to appear in America, Cosplay was reintroduced but this time in a bigger magnitude. Which led to a lot of American cosplayer being totally unaware of their history believe it was invented in Japan.

The approaches and attitudes towards costume play are very different in the Japanese Otaku Culture and American. American cosplaying is still primarily along the Worldcon Model   in which people create their own costumes and compete at a local fandom conventions. Original consents and segns are welcomed and creativity is encouraged.

In Japan cosplaying is more about being a pre-existing character so the aim is to look as much alike and act similar to the character as posiable. To this end there not much emphasis on making on making one own. There are also not the same kinds of competitions as in America. The aim is more to just have fun with your friends and have pastures taken and have pictures taken. Cosplay is more of a woman’s hobby in Japan, Where in America it’s for all ages.

Auckland Armageddon Expo (Youtube Links)

Anime Cosplay Photographs 

Cosplayers Con Interactions