COSPLAY origin
Speaking of the original origin of COSPLAY, it is generally believed that the birthplace of COSPLAY is in Japan. Of course, if it is based on the concept of COSPLAY in today's era, this can be said. But in a broad sense, the real birthplace of animated COSPLAY is definitely the United States in the western hemisphere, and even if we really want to discuss the original form of COSPLAY, the author can tell you without hesitation that COSPLAY first appeared in the centuries before the first year of AD! Because both the costumes of Greek sacrifices that existed around 1000 BC and the bard who co-authored two great Greek epics, the Iliad and the Odyssey, in the 8th century BC were actually playing the role of others. The former became the prophet and prophet of later generations, and successfully cosplayed the existence of the apostles, while the latter, like the originator of today's stage plays, cosplayed the deeds of those epic heroes. In fact, the meaning of COSPLAY's inclusion and dressing up is not only an external visualization, but more importantly, it should go deep into the hearts of COSPLAY people. Okay, let's get down to business. Next, let's talk about the real birthplace of COSPLAY-the United States.
Can American COSPLAY be molded?
Since the Jesuit priest athanasius kircher invented the "magic slide" in17th century, the appearance of animation has become a necessity. In the following century, this kind of "magic slide" became popular in Europe until the end of 19, when Walter? Only after the appearance of Disney's "Charming Mouse" did the American animation style have a clear definition, and it was during this period that the first real COSPLAY with animated characters began to be staged. Yes, there is no doubt that the cute and funny Mickey Mouse is popular all over the United States and even the world. Walter. Disney seized the opportunity to create the world's first Disneyland in 1955. At the same time, in order to promote the product itself and attract tourists better, Walter? Disney also specially invited employees to wear Mickey Mouse costumes for tourists to enjoy or take photos as a souvenir. Therefore, it can be said that this group of unknown "Mickey Mouse" players are the true ancestors of COSPLAYER all over the world in today's era. From this, we can also know that the original purpose of COSPLAY is still a commercial form, rather than popular consumption as it is now. There is actually a very important basis for taking the United States, or more accurately, Disney as the real birthplace of COSPLAY, that is, the professional production of COSPLAY clothes worn by Disney dressers at that time. Although in the current COSPLAY clothing, many of them are sewn by the dressers themselves. However, as the origin of COSPLAY, a standardized and systematic clothing production organization is needed.
At first, it was Walter who made role-playing costumes for Disney characters in Disneyland, such as Mickey Mouse, Brutu, Gu Fei, Donald Duck and others. Disney's early prop department. Shortly after the park was officially established, Walter? Disney has expanded the scale of its prop department. In addition to making props for film and television works, he is also responsible for all COSPLAY costumes needed for the work in the park. Of course, these early so-called COSPLAY clothes are just a "big paper bag" with a fixed shape, which has no aesthetic feeling at all, and the finished products are relatively rough. It is easy to make the dresser breathe poorly after wearing this kind of clothes. But in any case, compared with that time, Disney's COSPLAY clothing production at this time has already had a certain scale.
Is Japan the founder of COSPLAY in the true sense today?
At the moment, Japan has set off a new cartoon craze in Japan because 1947 Osamu Tezuka, the god of comics, adapted the red book cartoon "New Treasure Island" from Sakai Seven Horses. As a result, the whole ACG (animation, comics, games) market in Japan is booming, thus laying a solid foundation for truly establishing ACG's position in Japan. At this time, Disney's COSPLAY was introduced to Japan and imitated by ACG circles. As a result, this has become a trend and a normal activity in Japanese ACG circles. The earliest Japanese COSPLAY appeared in the 30th year of Showa (AD 1955). At that time, the so-called COSPLAY was just a costume for children's playroom. The year I remember happened to be the year when Masked Moonlight and Young Jeter were broadcast in Japan, so many children were the protagonists of these two works at that time. COSPLAY at this time is purely a toy between children, but it is still very particular about clothing, of course, the premise is to have money. At that time, there was no special COSPLAY clothing store in Japan. If a child wants to have the same clothes as the protagonist in the animation, he must first ask someone to draw the design, and then go to the department store to ask someone to sew it. Oji Hiroi, a famous game producer today, invited a geisha to draw the costume design of his childhood COSPLAY in a geisha street near his home. This relatively rough situation lasted for nearly twenty years. It was not until 1970s and early 1980s that ACG in Japan experienced a period of exploration and growth, and COSPLAY, as a subsidiary culture of ACG, gradually got real development. It can be said that the concept of COSPLAY today is completely inherited from Japan at that time.
However, in 1980s, although Japanese COSPLAY developed in a higher age group and more groups, there was still no real pure COSPLAY activity. At this time, COSPLAY is more attached to another peripheral culture brought by ACG-fan club (its works are called fan records). The word "Fanshi" originated in Japan and originally meant "a group of like-minded people jointly create their own literary works, which is called Fanshi". In other words, as long as like-minded friends combine their published literary works into a book, they will not be published by commercial publishing houses, but will be printed at their own expense and circulated among fellow friends, which can be called "Fan Zhi". Due to the prevalence of Japanese animation and video game culture at that time, many good popular works were very popular among fellow friends, and "adapting commercial works and writing comic fan stories in the form of rumor" gradually became the mainstream of the fan community. As a result, a large number of fan clubs have sprung up like mushrooms after rain, and in order to recruit members and promote themselves (the first fan club started in197565438+February, when it was just a small fan club with 32 organizations and more than 600 participants, it became a super-large fan club two or three times a year in the 1980s). As a result, this trend, like an explosion, quickly caused a trend among fellow friends, and the number of people joining the COSPLAY ranks increased rapidly. Later, the popularity was even comparable to the instant sales meeting of fans.
After the naivety in the 1960s and 1970s and the start-up in the 1980s, COSPLAY in the 1990s began to get on the right track and became a subsidiary culture of the ACG industry with the rapid maturity of the game industry in Japan (the most typical one is the next-generation model dispute between Nintendo, Sega and Sony) and the endless emergence of visual orchestras. In 1990s, ACG industry in Japan successfully held a large number of animation exhibitions and game exhibitions. At this time, in order to promote their products, Japanese cartoonists and video game companies found some men and women to COSPLAY as ACG characters at these game exhibitions and comic festivals to attract exhibitors. This move is exactly like Walter, right? When Disney opened Disneyland, it was exactly the same. It can be seen that the key to the formation and development of COSPLAY lies in the commercialization of ACG itself. It can be said that only by taking COSPLAY as a means of commercial promotion can COSPLAY itself be greatly developed and recognized.
How about COSPLAY in Chinese mainland, Taiwan Province and Hongkong?
COSPLAY was introduced to China late. The earliest recorded COSPLAY in Taiwan Province Province was on1August 27th, 995, located on the first floor of Saga World in Kaohsiung. However, it was reported that the scale was not large at that time, and most of the characters were in video games. After that, in June 1996 65438+ 10/3, Taipei Baby Bear Restaurant held an autumn party by "Super Orange Group". Although widely publicized before the meeting, many people know it, but the scale is still very small. This situation lasted until mid-February, 1997, and three events were held in succession, and the number of COSPLAY people began to increase, thus forming the characteristics of COSPLAY circles in Taiwan Province Province. Since then, the number of COSPLAY activities in Taiwan Province Province has increased year by year, and the venue has also developed from the north to the south-central. This shows the popularity of COSPLAY activities in Taiwan Province Province.
COSPLAY appeared in Hongkong before Taiwan Province Province. It is said that Hong Kong had its own COSPLAY as early as 1993. At that time, there were no fan clubs in Hong Kong. Generally speaking, fans will exhibit and sell through the venue of the annual art festival held in Hong Kong at that time. It was in that year (1993) that a fan organization named "400 feet" appeared in the venue wearing the uniform of the allied forces in Legend of the Galaxy, and they became the earliest COSPLAY in Hong Kong. In the same venue next year, they also played the role of allies, but this time they also brought another group of fan clubs called "UVRZ" for role-playing. The female members of "UVRZ" put on Japanese witch costumes and prayed for visitors with witch sticks. 1995, "400 feet" played the role of "mobile policeman", while "UVRZ" began to play some famous ACG roles that year, such as You Jing in "Jumping Horse 1/2" or Berudandi in "My Love". Since 1996, the "400ft" club has withdrawn from any COSPLAY, but at the same time, other fan clubs have begun to change their clothes one after another, which makes the number of COSPLAY circles in Hong Kong keep rising. Shortly after this, the first fan story charity sale in Hong Kong was jointly held by "UVRZ", "Comic Baby" and "Fire Dog Workshop" (but it was also the only time, and there was no such performance in Hong Kong since then), which of course expanded COSPLAY's influence in Hong Kong again.
Let's look at the complete solution of cos. Super detailed.
Because of its increasing influence year by year, the Hong Kong Comic Association began to hold the first comic exhibition which really belongs to comic fans from July 30th to August 3rd, 1998. At that time, the admission fee was 25 Hong Kong dollars. It is said that COSPLAY in this exhibition is the most popular one in history, and many people have played roles in battle games, such as Ba Shen and Cao. At that time, the winner of the first COSPLAY competition in Hong Kong-"Fun Fun Costume Competition" was a girl dressed as Dhritarastra in The Legend of Gods. Afterwards, SE Corporation, TG Workshop and Hong Kong Art Supplies Professional Center held the first indoor sports cartoon world in Macpherson, Mong Kok on August 30th, 1998. For the first time, a "dressing photography area" was divided in the venue to facilitate participants to take photos as a souvenir. Surprisingly, at that time, someone had already started Inuyasha! ? In the following years, exhibitions among university communities gradually began to emerge, becoming another active venue in the COSPLAY community in Hong Kong.
In contrast, COSPLAY appeared late in Chinese mainland. Until 1998, there were some sporadic and spontaneous individual COSPLAY shows in China, and before that, there was no fan ambition sales meeting of a certain scale. So even if there is COSPLAY, the number is extremely rare. However, due to the maturity of COSPLAY in Japan, Taiwan Province Province and Hongkong, COSPLAY in Chinese mainland developed rapidly and steadily, and successfully held the first COSPLAY Competition in Chinese mainland in August 2000. The following year, Huayi Company started the "200 1 Best Stone Tool COSPLAY Competition" under the name of its main product "Stone Age" by virtue of its great influence on online games. At the same time, comic book exhibitions and fan exhibitions have been held frequently in Shanghai, Guangzhou and Beijing in recent years, which has made Chinese mainland's COSPLAY have a certain scale.
appendix
Detailed explanation of cosplay vocabulary
Costume (noun) = costume of the character, costume
Clothing (verb) = clothing
Costumer = someone who dresses like a character, similar to cosplayer.
Cosplay-origin: the abbreviation of English "costume drama" put forward by Hiroshi Takahashi Yi. His inspiration came from the international masquerade ball in San Francisco, USA, and his enthusiasm for cosplay expressed in the article (1982) published in the Japanese magazine My Animation triggered the cosplay movement in Japan. Although cosplay did not originate in Japan, the current cosplay in the United States has been greatly influenced by Japanese cosplay.
Cosplay (noun) = wearing clothes about anime characters.
Cosplay (verb) = Put on clothes about cartoon characters.
Cosplayer = the man in costume.
Crossplay (verb) = part of cosplay: play the opposite sex in cosplay.
Crossplayer = a person who plays the opposite sex in cosplay.
Cross dressing = wearing clothes of the opposite sex. Just because a person is cross-dressing, it doesn't mean that he is cross-playing (that is, pretending to be a man, and the latter likes girls' clothes, so the former is cross dressing, not cross-playing). Crossplay has nothing to do with cosdressing, it is only related to the gender of the actor and the gender of the object.
Example: (Sorry, I can't translate the name: P)
Boys cos Nuriko, Kamatari or Mana are not cross-dressing but cross-dressing.
Because Nuriko, Kamatari or Mana, a girl, is playing through, but not cross-dressing.
Cos Utena, or Sakura, a boy, is a horizontal board and a reverse string.
Because Kenshin or Vash, a girl, is a cross and a cross.
Cross-dressing and cross-dressing do not fully explain a person's sexual orientation. You can't tell whether a traveler is gay or bisexual. As for cross-dressing in life, it more or less implies a person's sexual orientation, but please don't assume that you may be completely wrong.
Grawp
Definition: A hug (sometimes an attack) to express congratulations or greetings.
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For COSPLAY, the most important thing is not what you look like, but how you make clothes. Generally speaking, there are four ways to get COSPLAY clothes, which are to give them to others, buy them in specialty stores, make them yourself or ask a tailor to make them tailored.
1: sent by others
Of course, this must be popular. Some COSPLAY friends you know in comic-con or life can invite them over when they don't want COSPLAY clothes, but this kind of opportunity is rare.
2: Go to the store to buy.
This is very rare and common in Japan. For example, there are official COSPLAY clothes for sale in Japan, and COSPA is a good example. Their clothes are officially recognized. There are also some shops that make COSPLAY clothes, because they are privately made, so they are not official. In Taiwan Province Province, there are basically unofficial COSPLAY clothing stores, but there are second-hand COSPLAY clothing stores, which are both economical and convenient. As for Hong Kong and Chinese mainland, there are few shops specializing in COSPLAY clothing, and they generally need to be customized.
Step 3 do it yourself
In fact, COSPLAY's greatest pleasure is to make its own clothes and props. Of course, if you want to do it yourself, you must first know how to tailor, and it is best to have a sewing machine at home. Generally speaking, it takes a month for a person to choose materials, design and manufacture. During this period, besides having skills and tools, it is also necessary to concentrate. It is really a very difficult thing for a dress to go from the initial pattern to the completion. But at the same time, the pleasure you can feel when the clothes are ready is beyond others' reach.
4. Tailor-made shop
It is a common practice for COSPLAYER in Hongkong and Chinese mainland to go to a tailor's shop to tailor. One of the advantages of this is that it is cheap, and the other is that it is convenient for you to make your own demands. Generally speaking, tailor shops are easy to find in Chinese mainland, but few people can really make COSPLAY clothes. Usually in Chinese mainland, you can get your clothes within one to two weeks after you submit your order. If you are dissatisfied with the clothes at this time, the shopkeeper will usually change the system for you on the spot.
In fact, it's really expensive to make a COSPLAY suit. The finished clothes in specialty stores usually cost nearly 1,000 yuan. Although it costs less to make their own costumes, according to the complexity of COS costumes, it sometimes costs nearly 600 yuan or 700 yuan, and it also requires considerable efforts and labor. In view of this, in Taiwan Province Province, COSPLAY is called a waste of life and money by some people. But for the vast number of COSPLAYER, all this is worthwhile. (Editor: Ikki)
How was COSPLAY today?
After a long period of development and exploration, today's COSPLAY has been quite perfect. It can not only play people, but also anything in comics and games, such as animals and robots. You can play as long as you want, without any restrictions. However, sometimes it is very difficult to get out of every step as a robot. It's incredible that some people dress up as space warships and have to crawl on the ground like warships. COSPLAY, as a subsidiary culture of ACG, has increasingly become the mainstream of youth culture and entertainment in today's society. COSPLAY can be used to enliven friends' birthday parties, large and small animation exhibitions, or "masquerade parties" between lovers. More importantly, while COSPLAY, you may make some mentors and friends by making and learning other people's COSPLAY, and you can also entertain the public while satisfying your body and mind.
In today's Japan, apart from the annual Tokyo Spring and Autumn Video Game Exhibition and various animation exhibitions? The timid and joyful annual meeting of OSPLAY Jia can be said to be a gathering of Japanese national COSPLAY elites, providing them with an opportunity to dress up as special people. In addition to young people, Japanese COSPLAY enthusiasts also have children involved, and some children even dress up with their parents and practice a COSPLAY of various sizes. In addition, COSPLAY is still a profession in Japan. Japanese pop singers Takashi Kashiwabara and Yoshihara Fujiwara also like COSPLAY very much, which shows that the charm of COSPLAY in Japan has a great influence.
However, while enjoying the fun, in order to reduce unnecessary troubles, Japan has restrictions on tourists shooting COSPLAYER. Visitors are not allowed to take photos at will except for the COSPLAY photography area specially set up in the venue. Take the Tokyo Game Show every year as an example. COSPLAY has no so-called activities. Just in the corridor outside the venue, many cosplayers will come and take photos for everyone. Of course, they will also appear in the venue, but in principle, cosplayers are not allowed to take pictures in the venue. Some people may promise to let you take pictures, but you must take pictures outside. As for the reasons, first, because the venue is the activity of the manufacturer, we can only shoot the show girl of the manufacturer. Although the manufacturer does not necessarily care, COSPLAYER himself does not necessarily like such disorderly behavior. The Japanese always come according to the regulations. It's not the case that they should take pictures, and they will refuse! Secondly, because most of them pay more attention to their identity, I hope you can respect them, so when they want to have a good visit, they may not want someone to take pictures of them all the time. As for the third type, because many Japanese COSPLAYER have high requirements for self-expression, they don't want to be filmed in this way when the shooting conditions are not good. If they want to take pictures, they would rather go outside where they can take pictures, where there is enough sunshine, and pose satisfactorily so that you can take beautiful pictures. Of course, it is also worth noting that it is absolutely impolite to ask others for permission to take pictures!
In addition, as a symbolic culture of Japan, COSPLAY team can also be seen in street performances. Near the shrine bridge, it is the base camp of Cosplay, an internationally renowned street show in Harajuku. COSPLAY here is simply divided into several factions, such as Palace Doll Department, Star Vision Department, Kaman Department, shiina Nursery Clothing Department, White Face Department, Self-created Department and so on. The crowds are most concentrated on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. In fact, this culture of self-expression first became popular after the opening of the clothing store "BUDEIKKU Bamboo" in Harajuku, forming an atmosphere of gathering in a "pedestrian paradise" on weekends. Therefore, this group of people wearing strange clothes was once called "bamboo", which reached its climax in the 1980 s, but this name has gradually been forgotten.
How can I join COSPLAY?
As an unofficial entertainment activity, there are basically no restrictions on its participation, whether in Japan, Chinese mainland, Taiwan Province Province or Hongkong. As long as you have your own COSPLAY clothes, you can participate in COSPLAY activities of various exhibitions as a community or an individual.
COSPLAY itself is not limited to roles, so before the exhibition, you should first choose the role you want to play from various ACG magazines, and then start collecting all kinds of information and materials about this role. For example, the costumes, props and image characteristics of the characters are all things that need to be investigated. Then you can prepare the clothes. As for the specific operation method, it has been mentioned above.
In this way, you can happily run to the venue and participate in COSPLAY performances until the launch day.
What does COSPLAY bring us?
It's hard to say what COSPLAY has brought us. After all, everything has two sides. To outsiders, COSPLAY is an uneconomical and meaningless activity. I remember a real incident in Taiwan Province Province, which resulted in false reports because the media didn't understand COSPLAY. So what did COSPLAYER get?
In fact, as the author said in the last article, the real COSPLAY is not only to dress up its appearance, but also to communicate with the soul. Imagine that in such a fiercely competitive urban society, everyone will suffer from various pressures and puzzles because of their unsatisfactory work or study. If we can put these aside at this time and COS gives birth to another self, wouldn't it be a great liberation of self-mental pressure? We can relax ourselves by changing roles, so we don't just position COSPLAY in the role of ACG. In fact, everyone plays a different role in society, doesn't he? After all, every human being in real life must have his own troubles. Today, whether you are a poor beggar or a rich man, you have your own troubles. The so-called ACG characters have nothing to worry about in the real world (three dimensions) where COSPLAYers exist. Through cosplay becoming ACG role, Cosplayers can also get spiritual liberation, temporarily escape from reality and temporarily change their minds. Even though the sacrifice of ACG has passed, we still have to face the reality, but the joy we felt at that time and the ease of escaping from the pain of reality can make us more positive, confident and expecting.
Finally, what should I say for you?
Dream, I wonder how many people have such a gorgeous word in their hearts. Think of countless dreams when I was a child. Now some have been realized, and some are still out of reach. However, on second thought, this is exactly what COSPLAY can do. Go to COS to talk about my childhood dream. Although this has not changed anything for reality, my body and mind will be relieved and satisfied in an instant. Go to COSPLAY, this kind of attempt may make you live younger (laughs).
Role-playing security tutorial-preventing being
June 5438+February 3, 2003 Author: Taiwan Province Dream Network Source: PConline
In recent Cosplay circles, people often take photos, or photos are put on controversial forums. Especially the photos, after the previous activities, there were indeed some corrupt elements in the venue. Therefore, in this case, Dream Source not only tries not to be obtained by itself after the photos are made public, but also hopes that everyone in cosplayer will pay attention to their own safety.
The premise is that 99% of the endangered cosplayers are female cosplayers (if someone wants to take a photo of a male cosplayer, then ... discuss it; )), so female cosplayer should not only pay more attention to whether there are people with cameras or people with the wrong lens direction at the venue, but also cosplayer itself may not have time to cover everything in the activity. Considering all aspects, it is also very important to make full preparations for cosplay dress.
Basically, the easiest way to avoid being caught is not to have a sexy role in cos, but if cos is necessary or interested, I hope cosplayer can make perfect preparations in advance, so that even if they shoot, they can't have any dangerous shots, which is the last guarantee of cosplayer.
In fact, because ... the management group of Mengyuan is all boys, and Liulixiang doesn't appear at the meeting place, so she can't provide opinions || So the following methods are to ask the female cosplayer friends around her for information. I hope that female cosplayers with dangerous roles in cos can understand the following items _ _, and please send an email to the webmaster if there is any supplementary place (it should be full ||).
First of all, I would like to remind you that no matter what role cos plays, it is best to wear a cotton dress inside, so as to completely avoid the so-called "infrared perspective" photographic equipment, and when posing, it is best to avoid actions that are too easy to expose (such as short skirts to avoid squatting, etc.). ) and some more sensational movements (such as people wearing low chests bending over and so on. ). There used to be people who shot important parts of women at the venue to avoid it.