Cosplay, building communities
through self expression
As a child, many of us would in some way or another play dress up and adorn the costumes of our favourite characters. It was an experience to dress up like a princess or a pirate, be it for plays or special celebrations.
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For some, this passion carried on beyond childhood. Regardless of age, some would dress up as their favourite characters from various TV shows, books or media.
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The phrase “Cosplay” (コスプレ kosupure) was derived from the word Costume Play. The hobby originally started up in Japan to describe the act of dressing up to look like characters from anime, manga, video games, Japanese rock or even from Jpop. People who partake in cosplay are known as cosplayers.
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Although the hobby originated in Japan, it soon gained popularity throughout in the 1990s, following the J-pop wave that was a bomb back then. It eventually began to gain traction overseas, garnering fans and enthusiasts from all over the globe. Naturally, the scope of what would be considered as Cosplay have also been broadened since then too.
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Here in Malaysia, we have a steadily growing and modest population of enthusiastic hobbyists, in the local cosplay scene. Usually most of them are scattered on a normal day. But just wait till convention or Festival rolls by and you’ll almost guaranteed be greeted by the sight of cosplayers at the scene.
The hobbyists all hail from different backgrounds, demography and professions. Every one of them are in it for different reasons.
Describe your image
Describe your image
Describe your image
Describe your image
Here we have Lok Xin Yee, or more well known as Agnes Lok or Lok Lok in the community.
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She has been interested in trying the hobby for some time, but lacked the courage to do initially. It all started when she wanted to attract more people to her booth’s activities back in 2017. After the activities ended, she realised her love for the hobby and her passion for her favourite character.
And so she continued to pursue Cosplaying as her side hobby.
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It is known fact that Cosplaying can get very costly. So she tries to thrift whenever she can by buying second hand-costumes instead of custom making new ones. Same goes for her accessories.
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As of the date writing, Lok Lok only cosplays in, when there are ACG (Anime, Cosplay, Gaming) Events in Pulau Pinang, where she currently resides or her home town. “Since the events mostly fall on the weekends, it doesn’t affect my time studying”, she added cheerily.
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When asked about her experience in competitions, she replied that she had involved herself in a cosplay photo competition held in her hometown. “Unfortunately, I didn’t win that competition”, she replied.
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In cosplay, she would focus a lot on the make-up, clothing and props. At first glance, the hobby merely requires one to dress up in costumes, but there is more to it when it starts going. To bring a character to life, she would meticulously put on makeup to try and recreate a flawless cartoon-like look. This process would take her one to two hours, depending on the character she is going for that day. Surprisingly, putting on the costume itself takes a far shorter amount of time to do. Lok Lok shared that it only takes about 10 minutes to do a costume on average, only if the costume is not too complicated to wear.
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Aside from the makeup and costume, cosplaying sometimes require additional equipments such as props to complete the whole look. Agnes revealed that she sometimes she would make her own props via D.I.Y. or just buy them from online shops if she cannot make it herself.
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When she is done with her costumes after photo shoots and conventions, she chooses the ones that she likes and keeps them as collections. As for the ones that she does not favour as much, Agnes would just sell them off as second-hand costumes at a lower price. As of the time writing, she shared that the most that she have paid for a costume is RM330.
Her must-haves while cosplaying at a convention are:
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Costume (of course)
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Wig
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Props
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Make up
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Manners (very important)
The farthest that she would go for a convention would be to Kuala Lumpur or Singapore at the moment. Currently, the largest convention that she has been to is Comic Fiesta (CF) in Kuala Lumpur and Penang Anime Matsuri (PAM) in Penang, both of which are annual events. To give a scale on how big the events are, CF attracted approximately 60,000 visitors in 2018 whereas PAM also saw approximately 42,000 attendees the same year.
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Even with the increasing awareness of this hobby, Agnes also shared that not many people are accepting or open to this hobby. There are some who will treat them like ‘weirdos’ because of the dressing up differently or elaborately. “There are also many individuals who like to criticize other peoples’ costumes, but then again there will be haters everywhere”, she added.
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“Some would say that cosplaying is a waste of time and money”. Lok also shared about certain stereotypes that come together with this hobby. “There are also many who would think that females who cosplay characters in sexy or revealing outfits are bad mannered and inappropriate ladies”.
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At the same time, are also some instances where people would think that cosplaying equals consent. “I am often stalked by a creepy guy that I have met only once before,” Lok added. “He even stalked my friend while we are strolling at an event. After that, he tried to chat with me on weird conversation topics”. She shared that just because someone is dressing differently doesn’t mean that they are open to everything, and they are definitely not open to sexual harassment from strangers.
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When asked if the field is currently dying, she agreed that certain issues would affect the field’s reputation within and outside the circle. “Issues such as the arrestment of four foreign cosplayer during a convention in Malaysia,” she added. The organizers of the said convention obtained tourist visas for the foreign guests instead of working permits, leading to the arrests. “This gives cosplaying and its community a bad name on a whole,” she added.
In fact she had unknowingly built a community of cosplay lovers and enthusiasts on her Facebook page. “It was initially a place to express my feelings and share my experiences with others,” she said. Every day the page is bumped with updates from her daily life and her experiences while cosplaying. Her most discussed post was one that almost every cosplayer could relate to. The post had garnered fans from near and far, from Penang to Kuala Lumpur to Thailand and even Hong Kong and Taiwan. She and her page manager cum cosplay partner was shock at the amount of attention the comic got from fans. Her partner, Hui Cheng, or also known as Jenn in the community encouraged Lok to submit and publish her experience and comics online. The inspiration came from seeing a junior actively post contents and comics about their daily life on Facebook. Hence, the page started to grow and gather fans.
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“The page has also helped us to share information with new comers to hobby. We often have enquiries asking us how to start cosplaying and tips to cosplay”. Most of the frequently asked questions are usually replied on her page in comic form. Although each comic takes up different amount of time to create depending on the complexity, she usually uses approximately half an hour to draw and publish a comic which she draws using phone.
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Every now and then Lok and her partner would organize giveaways on the page to give back to her followers. “It is fun to give out positive vibes to others too”, Lok added that she had organized a trick or treat giveaway during Halloween to commemorate the occasion. Her outfit for that particular event was Halloween themed Miku Hastune, a voice synthesizing program, which is also her favourite character to cosplay. Before events, she would usually publish a sneak peek of her costume for the day so that her followers can figure out her costume and find her. The practice is not new in the cosplay community, but it is a fun way for people to connect with each other in this unconventional game of hide and seek.
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While FOMO asked about the average group today for people who join the hobby, Lok replied that age is actually irrelevant to cosplay. “The current average is maybe 14 to 27 year olds, maybe?” She added.
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To youths who are interested in the hobby, she recommends saving money before starting. “With costumes, wigs and makeup products, the costs can rack up really fast”, she noted.